Fellowships

Long-term Fellowships
We very much look forward to welcoming you to the Folger. Our librarians and curators hope to help you make your research visit as productive as possible. One of the goals of the Fellowships program is the creation of a collegial community of early modern scholars who talk across disciplines in ways that enrich each scholar and research project. The ways in which the community is forged from year to year vary as every scholar has his or her own work rhythms and social needs. There are no obligations, but there are many opportunities for you and your cadre of Fellows to maximize the Fellowship experience as you define it. We hope the information below and throughout this booklet will help you as you prepare to take up residence.

Stipends  

Your stipend will be distributed at the first of each month. If you will be receiving your Fellowship stipend through your home institution, the institution may elect to receive the stipend at the first of the month or an alternative distribution schedule. The Folger understands the Fellowship to be taxable but does not withhold taxes from the award. You are encouraged to consult a tax professional in order to anticipate your tax burden for the residential period, which will likely cross two tax years.

Mail

 If you will be staying in one of the Folger apartments, please have your mail sent to you, care of the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St., SE 20003. You will have a mailbox at the library. Mail is not delivered to the apartments. If you are not staying at a Folger property, you may still recieve mail at the Folger in a shared box designated by the first letter of your last name.

Carrels

As a long-term Fellow you will have one of five available carrels. While they are all the same size, Fellows pick which one they would like to occupy on a first-come, first-serve basis. We will supply you with a PC should you desire one. Please provide a few weeks advance notice so that we can set one up. Or, if you bring your own laptop (as many Fellows do), it can be connected to all of the Folger databases available wirelessly or through the network in the carrels. The carrels share a printer.

Lectures

Long-term Fellows are asked to present their work-in-progress to a lunch-time audience of Fellows, readers, and staff. We will discuss this again after you have arrived in order to set up the schedule. These events generally take place from 11:30 to 12:45 pm on Fridays so that seminar participants can attend and then make it to their programs on time.

Folger Institute Program Participation

As a Fellow, you are welcome to apply to any of the seminars, conferences, or workshops sponsored by the Folger Institute. Your status as an NEH or Mellon Fellow does not guarantee admission to these programs, however, as the Institute has an obligation to its constituent universities to select participants with research projects directly related to the topic at hand. If any one of the scheduled programs serves your research agenda and you can make the commitment that participation requires, please submit an application for admission at the appropriate deadline; the letters of reference on file from your Fellowship application may, upon request, be forwarded to the Institute to complete the application.

Friends Membership

For the tenure of your Fellowship, the Folger extends you a free membership in the Friends of the Folger. Membership entitles you to discounted tickets to the range of public programs: plays, poetry and fiction readings, and performances by the Folger Consort, the Library’s early modern music ensemble.

Evaluations

Fellows are expected to evaluate their Fellowship experience, generally within six weeks of having concluded the residency.

Short-term Fellowships, for residencies of one, two, or three months, bring, on average, 35 scholars to the Library each academic year, thus extending and enlivening the collegial community. As with Long-term Fellows, the research projects comprehend the range of the Folger’s early modern collections.

Stipends

The Short-term Fellowship stipend is currently $2,500 per month. The stipend is usually presented to the Fellow upon arrival.

Mail

 If you will be staying in one of the Folger apartments, please have your mail sent to you, care of the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St., SE 20003. You will have a mailbox at the Library. Mail is not delivered to the apartments.

Folger Institute Program Participation

As a Fellow, you are welcome to apply to any of the seminars, conferences, or workshops sponsored by the Folger Institute. Your status as Fellow does not guarantee admission to these programs, however, as the Institute has an obligation to its constituent universities to select participants with research projects directly related to the topic at hand. If any one of the scheduled programs serves your research agenda and you can make the commitment that participation requires, please submit an application for admission at the appropriate deadline; the letters of reference on file from your Fellowship application may, upon request, be forwarded to the Institute to complete the application.

Evaluations

Fellows are expected to evaluate their Fellowship experience, generally within six weeks of having concluded the residency.