Career Diversity, Fellowships, and Leadership Roles in the Humanities

Carin Berkowitz will discuss the ways in which skill-building and career diversity initiatives undertaken by fellowship programs position young scholars for leadership roles in the humanities both inside and outside the academy. The Science History Institute, where she is Director of the Center for Historical Research, launched an 80/20 skill-building program in 2018-19 that aims to foster both independent research and writing, and, for twenty percent of a fellow’s time, to give fellows the opportunity to work closely with Institute staff to build a variety of outreach, curatorial, or digital-humanities-based skills. While career diversity programs respond in part to the tightening academic job market that PhDs in the humanities face today, their participants also benefit more broadly from training that they do not typically receive in graduate school. Such training enables participants to broaden the social and political impact of the humanities by giving them a chance to extend their communication abilities, learn how operate in new media, cultivate some of the skills they need to contribute to and direct organizations, and expand their professional contacts and networks.