Samuel H. Kress Foundation Graduate Fellowships

SAMUEL H. KRESS FOUNDATION - TWO SHORT-TERM GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS (2014) 

The Medici Grand Ducal Archive (Mediceo del Principato), comprising over four million letters dating between 1537-1743, provides the most complete record of any princely regime in early modern Italy as well as an extraordinarily rich historical reservoir of European history. This collection offers an incomparable panorama of human history, expressed through the words of the people most immediately involved, opening new windows onto the political, diplomatic, gastronomic, economic, artistic, scientific, military and medical culture of early modern Tuscany and Europe. 

The Medici Archive Project (MAP) wishes to provide graduate and doctoral students from diverse disciplines with the opportunity to have exposure to original source materials and training in their use. For this reason MAP is offering five short-term fellowships sponsored by the SAMUEL H. KRESS FOUNDATION for graduate students in art history or rlated field who are in the early stages of their dissertation work. The KRESS fellowships have been developed to enable students working on their dissertations to conduct primary research using the Mediceo del Principato and other collections housed in the Archivio di Stato in Florence. 

This scholarly residence will be of considerable benefit in helping students to gain the necessary skills, experience and confidence to continue independent academic research in the later stages of their graduate trajectory. While undertaking primary research for their dissertation in the Florentine state archives, the Fellows will benefit from the supervision of the MAP Staff, academics drawn from a variety of disciplines who are experts in archival research, paleography and the digital humanities. The Fellows will also have the opportunity to expand their academic networks through contact with the many international scholars who regularly visit and collaborate with MAP. Finally, Fellows will be enrolled in the annual MAP Archival Studies Seminar. 

The fellowships last for an uninterrupted period of two-and-a-half months, taking place at any point between 1 March 2014 and 15 December 2014. The KRESS Fellows will undertake their dissertation research on-site in the Archivio di Stato. 

Candidates must be enrolled in graduate programs at United States universities, and working on dissertation topics that treat any aspect of Italian Renaissance or Baroque art history; Tuscan art history topics will be given preference. 
The stipend is $5,000 plus an allowance for travel expenses for the spring/summer term (2 - 2 1/2 months); 8500 plus an allowance for travel expenses for the fall semester (3 - 3 1/2 months). 

To apply for this fellowship, the following material should be sent electronically to Elena Brizio (ebrizio@medici.org): 

1. A copy of the candidate’s dissertation proposal (or a final draft). 
2. A short essay (two pages maximum) on how a candidate’s topic will benefit from archival research. 
3. A complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae. 
4. The name and email address of one scholar, preferably the candidate’s supervisor, who can comment on the applicant’s qualifications and the merits of the research proposal (please do not include letters of recommendation with the application). 

The application deadline is: 15 February 2014. 

Please note: 

1. All materials submitted by the applicant should be in English. 
2. All materials should be in a single .pdf file. 
3. Please do not include supplementary material (publications, papers, etc.). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Elena Brizio 
(ebrizio@medici.org) 


Elena Brizio 
The Medici Archive Project 
Via di Pian dei Giullari, 66 
50125 Firenze - Italy 
+39 055 240221
Email: ebrizio@medici.org; info@medici.org
Visit the website at http://www.medici.org