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Short-term Research Fellowships: Environmental Design Archives

The Environmental Design Archives (EDA) is pleased to offer two short-term research fellowships to support scholars conducting interdisciplinary and innovative research on-site at the EDA, located within the College of Environmental Design in Berkeley, California. Applications for these fellowships are due March 3, 2025.

Date:

Location:
Berkeley , United States

Contact: Betsy Frederick-Rothwell

Phone: 510-643-5655

Email: betsyfr@berkeley.edu

Website: http://ced.berkeley.edu/archives

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Committed to raising awareness of the significant architectural and landscape heritage of Northern California and beyond, the Environmental Design Archives collects, preserves, and provides access to primary records of its built environment. Its collections represent more than 200 of the San Francisco Bay Region’s most historically significant architects, landscape architects, urban planners, photographers, and designers.

The two fellowships, the Waverly B. Lowell Fellowship and the Alice Ross Carey Fellowship, will each provide funding of up to $4,000 to support travel to Berkeley to conduct research using the collections of the Environmental Design Archives. Fellowship recipients are expected to spend significant time researching within the collections. For finding aids to the EDA’s holdings, reference the following resources:


In general fellowship funds will be awarded based on scope of project and length of research visit. Extenuating circumstances will be considered, particularly for international travel, but applicants can assume an award equivalent of $1,000 per full week of research time. While the EDA supports multi-dimension research methods, this fellowship is not intended to support supplemental research activities, such as travel to sites, oral history gathering, or research at other institutions.

Some collections are located at the EDA’s off-campus facility in Richmond, CA. If a funded fellowship includes substantial work with off-campus collections, the fellow will be expected to complete their research at the Richmond facility. The fellow must arrange and account for transportation to this facility, as it is not accessible by public transportation.

Fellowship applicants are welcome to discuss research intent with the EDA curator, Betsy Frederick-Rothwell. For a consultation on how EDA collections could support research needs, send a brief project description to betsyfr@berkeley.edu at least one month prior to application deadline. 

Eligibility

  • The Alice Ross Carey Fellowship is open to doctoral students and emerging scholars in any related discipline. Students must be registered in an accredited graduate program and currently engaged in dissertation research. Other applicants may be academic or independent scholars.
  • The Waverly B. Lowell Fellowship is open to mid-career and senior scholars in any related discipline. Applicants may be academic or independent scholars.


Application Requirements

The following materials must be received by the deadline (March 3, 2025).

  1. An abstract limited to 150 words with project title
  2. A proposed list of materials to be examined during your fellowship including collection names. Projects that propose detailed and thoughtful lists including item locations (box or folder numbers) will be given greater consideration.
  3. A proposed duration for your research (1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks). Longer projects will be also be considered.
  4. A curriculum vitae (3 pages max)
  5. A project description (1,200 words max, not including citations) that outlines:
  • How your project will advance scholarship in your field and how it is positioned with respect to existing literature
  • In what ways the EDA’s collection will support and advance your research project
  • A description of your anticipated outcome (e.g. dissertation or book chapter, article, exhibit, performance, etc.).

All materials should be submitted via the application form by 11:59pm PST, March 3, 2025.

Applications will be reviewed by a committee of faculty and archivists. Awards will be based on the potential for the proposed research to make significant contributions to scholarship. Successful applications will demonstrate strong familiarity with EDA collections and make a compelling argument for the importance of those collections to the proposed project.

Applicants will be notified of all decisions after April 25, 2025. Research is expected to be completed no later than August 20, 2026.

For further information and questions, please contact edafellowships@berkeley.edu or betsyfr@berkeley.edu, or visit https://ced.berkeley.edu/research_design/environmental-design-archives/research-fellowships.

Upcoming fellowship event: Two past fellows will briefly present their projects on Friday, Nov 8, 12pm-1pm PST on Zoom. Register for this event here: https://ced.berkeley.edu/events/environmental-design-archives-research-fellow-talks