IARI Faculty Research Fellow Application Information

Each semester the Spencer Museum of Art invites a University of Kansas tenure or tenure track faculty member to serve as a research fellow in conjunction with the Integrated Arts Research Initiative (IARI). IARI Faculty Research Fellows work with Spencer Museum academic staff on research that develops through a collaborative exchange of ideas, integrates different disciplinary methods, and connects with the Museum’s resources or expanded creative practices more generally through dialogue with and facilitation through Museum staff.

Expectations and Compensation

The IARI Faculty Research Fellowship comes with a $3,000 research stipend. It is expected that the Museum is central to the project’s interdisciplinary goals, though this may take many different forms. Museum staff can help facilitate details specific to each project, but the following are possible:

  • Exploring intersections between research and current Museum projects already underway, including data visualization; immigration; ecology; social histories; global conceptions of health and wellness through intersections among indigenous knowledges, local practices, and Western science; and more general inquiries into hybrid methodology and the spaces that make them possible
  • Researching the Museum’s permanent collection
  • Connecting research to local, national, and international creative and scholarly practices through our invited creative specialists and/or external scholars program

 

Although responsibilities are based on the Faculty Research Fellow’s research background, interests, and experiences, as well as current and developing research projects at the Museum, expectations include:

  • A commitment to your research project for an average of 15 hours a week, meeting regularly with Museum staff
  • Undergraduate fellow mentorship, for which the faculty member makes recommendations
  • Presentation to KU faculty, staff, and students before the completion of fellowship tenure
  • Contribution to the Museum’s online research platform in the form of white papers or other publications, video, images, and the like, depending on the research project and process (installations in the Museum’s Center for Learning are also a possibility)
  • Participation in a short-format documentary video about your work with IARI

 

Application Process

The IARI Faculty Research Fellow position is open to tenured and tenure-track faculty at the University of Kansas. The Curator for Research works to align these opportunities with Museum exhibitions and programs to amplify the impact of IARI fellowships. Interested applicants should submit a letter of inquiry of no more than 250 words about their interest collaborating with the Museum on a hybrid interdisciplinary project. Once logistics and feasibility are determined, faculty will be invited to complete the electronic application, which includes submitting a current CV, a description of your interest in the position and proposed research ideas, and a brief statement describing your work and/or interest in collaborative research. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.