News Release — May 9, 2007

Forty-eight Fellowships Awarded By The Harry Ransom Center

Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin has awarded 48 research fellowships for 2007-08. These fellowships support research projects requiring substantial use of the Center's collections of manuscripts, rare books, film, photography, art and performing arts materials.

Scholars from 15 states and nine countries will use Ransom Center materials to research projects from "Elizabeth Bowen: Short Stories and Essays" to "The Cool Mask: Jazz, Noir, and Existentialism, 1940-1960" to "Hidden Talent: The Emergence of Hollywood Agents, 1928-1949."

The fellowships range from one to four months in duration, with stipends of $3,000 per month. Separate travel stipends and dissertation fellowships were also awarded.

All fellows, with the exception of those selected for dissertation fellowships, are post-doctorates or possess an equivalent terminal degree or a substantial record of scholarly achievement.

The fellowship program has a special topic each year. This year's topic is "In Times of War." Special consideration was given to research proposals that addressed and investigated the transatlantic cultural exchange of ideas, particularly those affected by times of war, and projects that inquire into the nature of the cultural and intellectual dialog between Europe and the United States.

While research proposals did not have to relate to the special topic to be eligible for fellowship support, a number of fellowships will focus on this theme, with topics ranging from "Cold War Modernists" to "Russian Political Emigrants in Times of War."

The stipends are funded by individual donors and organizations, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Hobby Family Foundation, the Dorot Foundation, American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, South Central Modern Language Association and The University of Texas Office of Graduate Studies.