Woodress Research Grants (2013)

The Cather Project of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announces the availability of two Research Grants for visiting scholars. These grants provide financial support for scholars to travel to and reside in Lincoln, NE, for four consecutive weeks, in order to conduct research on Willa Cather using Cather resources in Nebraska and at UNL.

Applications are invited from early career scholars, advanced graduate students, recent PhDs, and faculty not yet tenured. Each Woodress Research Grant is $3,000 and each scholar is expected to be in residence in Lincoln for four consecutive weeks during January 1 - August 31, 2013. The Cather Project will assist with advice about travel, lodging, and a trip to the Willa Cather Foundation in Red Cloud, Nebraska (2 1/2 hours away) to enable the scholar to research materials in the Foundation's archives and visit the area of Cather's childhood.

The Cather Project produces the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition and Cather Studies, both published by the University of Nebraska Press. The Archives and Special Collections of the UNL Libraries holds the largest collection of Cather letters of any library, as well as many letters to Cather, edited typescripts and multiple editions of her works, and many other Cather-associated materials. Consult the finding aids on their web site (http://libraries.unl.edu/spec — look under subject guides, Great Plains history and literature). The Willa Cather Archive (http://cather.unl.edu) is another important resource located at UNL for the study of Cather's life and writings.

Funding for the grants is from the Roberta and James Woodress Fund (created from a gift by Roberta and James Woodress; Mr. Woodress was an eminent Cather biographer and emeritus professor of English at University of California-Davis).

To apply, please send, as e-mail attachments to Beth Burke at , the following items:

1. your c.v.
2. a statement of no more than 3 pages describing the proposed research project and the importance of materials and resources at UNL to your project
3. a sample of scholarly writing (20-25pp: preferably focusing on Cather, though not necessarily exclusively)

In addition, two letters of recommendation should be sent directly by your recommenders to Beth (). Letters should be specific to the fellowship and proposed project rather than general letters of recommendation from your job placement dossier.

The deadline for submission of materials is October 31st, 2012, and we will inform successful applicants by December 18th, 2012.

Guy Reynolds,
Director, The Cather Project
309 Andrews Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-0396
(402) 472-1919

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