The Wilson Special Collections Library offers funding for teaching and research fellowships as outlined below. All fellowship applications open on December 1 and close January 31 except for the Incubator Awards. Applications for the Incubator Awards open in October.
New Scholarship on the US South: A Wilson Library Fellows Symposium
New Scholarship on the US South: A Wilson Library Fellows Symposium is a capstone multidisciplinary symposium from the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It took place November 7 and 8, 2023, on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
Focused on emerging trends in scholarship of the American South, the symposium explores the cross-disciplinary currents in historical research created with support of the Southern Studies Doctoral Fellowship program at the Wilson Special Collections Library. These fellowships and the symposium are generously supported by the Watson-Brown Foundation.
Past fellows have been invited to submit proposals for papers presenting recent research and intellectual work. Papers will be organized into panels that reflect innovative and thematic approaches to Southern Studies, facilitated by invited discussants.
This hybrid conference is free and open to the public. Registration is requested for virtual and in-person attendees.
Teaching Fellowships
- Primary Sources Teaching Fellowship – Master’s of Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) students enrolled in one of North Carolina’s five public MLIS programs:
- Appalachian State University’s Department of Leadership and Educational Studies
- North Carolina Central University’s School of Library and Information Sciences
- East Carolina University’s College of Education
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Library and Information Science
Research Fellowships
Fellowships for Faculty and Independent Scholars
- Visiting Researcher Fellowships – researchers focused on North Carolina and the American South
- Marjorie Bond Research Fellowship – researchers whose research projects draw deeply and substantively on the Wilson Library’s Rare Book Collection
Fellowships for Doctoral Students and Candidates
- Southern Studies Doctoral Fellowships – doctoral students and candidates studying the American South
- Pre-Dissertation Prospectus Fellowship
- Dissertation Research Fellowship
- Rare Book Collection Fellowships
- Bond Research Fellowship – doctoral students and candidates
- Hanes Graduate Fellowship – Carolina doctoral students and candidates
- McLendon-Thomas Award – doctoral students and candidates focused on the history of medicine
Fellowships for Graduate Students
- Rare Book Collection Fellowships:
- Hanes Graduate Fellowship – Carolina master’s students
- McLendon-Thomas Award – master’s students focused on the history of medicine
- Incubator Awards: Research Grants for Creative Artists – Carolina master’s students
Fellowships for Undergraduate Students
- Incubator Awards: Research Grants for Creative Artists – Carolina undergraduate student artists
Fellowships for Performing and Creative Artists
- Visiting Researcher Fellowships – established artists with research focused on North Carolina and the American South
- Incubator Awards: Research Grants for Creative Artists – Carolina undergraduate student artists
All Wilson Fellowships
Current Fellowship Opportunities
- Primary Sources Teaching Fellowship
- Southern Studies Doctoral Fellowships
- Pre-Dissertation Prospectus Fellowship
- Dissertation Research Fellowship
- Visiting Researcher Fellowships
- Rare Book Collection Fellowships
- Bond Research Fellowship – all advanced graduate students
- Hanes Graduate Fellowship – Carolina graduate students
- McLendon-Thomas Award – master’s and doctoral students focused on the history of medicine
- Incubator Awards: Research Grants for Creative Artists
Other Fellowship Opportunities
Additional funding opportunities to support research in the Wilson Special Collections Library include:
- Wilson Library is pleased to participate as a host institution for the Archie K. Davis Fellowships offered by the North Caroliniana Society. The Davis Fellowships encourage research using North Carolina’s historical and cultural resources and have an annual application deadline of March 1.
Sponsorships
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Libraries and the Louis Round Wilson Special Collection Library gratefully acknowledge the generous gifts that support our Fellowships. We are especially grateful for the gift of $2 million from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust. $500,000 of that gift is a is a three-year challenge match to endow research and teaching fellowships at the Wilson Special Collections Library.
You can help unlock the $500,000 challenge match from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust with your gift. Contact the Library Development Office at (919) 962-4207 or librarydevelopment@unc.edu to learn how.
Fellowship Sponsors:
- Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program supports the Primary Sources Teaching Fellowship program.
- The Marjorie Bond and Hanes Family Funds support research with Rare Book Collection materials.
- The Watson-Brown Foundation supports research on the American South.
- The Documenting Social Change Library Fund supports the study of American culture, politics, and social changes from 1960 to 1975.
- The John Eugene & Barbara Hilton Cay Library Fund supports the study of literary culture and traditions of the American South.
- The Guion Griffis Johnson Fund supports research concerning women in the American South.
- The Hugh L. McColl Library Fund supports research about banking and business in the American South.
- The Parker-Dooley Fund for Southern History supports research about North Carolina.
- The J. Carlyle Sitterson Fund for the Southern Historical Collection supports research about Antebellum America.
- The Joel Williamson Fund for the Southern Historical Collection supports research about African American life, culture, and history.
- The Lucinda Holderness Wilcox and Benson R. Wilcox Library Fund for the North Carolina Collection supports research about North Carolina.
- The Bullitt Club Founder’s Endowment Fund: supports research about the history of medicine.