The L.L. Stewart Faculty Fellowship offers Oregon State University research faculty working in any field of science or engineering a unique opportunity to engage in collaborative inquiry alongside a professional artist. For a period of up to two years, fellows and artists will partner on curiosity-driven exploration of questions and ideas central to their shared interests. Throughout the fellowship, PRAx will partner with the team to coordinate and promote public events showcasing the process and outcomes of the fellowship. These open collaborations between artists and scientific researchers have the potential to cultivate informed imaginaries and projects that enable us to better understand the world, envision possible futures, and address complex challenges.

We broadly define the arts to include visual arts, performing arts, media arts, and creative writing. The process of pairing artists with faculty fellows will be led by Ashley Stull Meyers, the Horning Chief Curator of Art, Science, and Technology at PRAx. Artists selected for this program will have:

• A compelling visual, performative, or multi-media creative practice.
• An interest in scientific or technical research and discovery. 
• An openness to multi- or interdisciplinary collaborations.
• Commitment to learn alongside the faculty fellow in lab or fieldwork activities and to involve the fellow in artistic investigations and experiments when appropriate.

All faculty members at OSU with active research portfolios who are interested in working alongside an artist to discover creative synergies and new ways of thinking about their research are encouraged to apply. If you have questions, contact Joy Jensen at joy.jensen@oregonstate.edu.

ELIGIBILITY

Oregon State University faculty with active research portfolios working in science or engineering are welcome to apply. 

TERMS & EXPECTATIONS

The nature of the collaborative relationship in this program is complementary rather than supplementary. This fellowship thrives on clear communication and mutual respect, deep curiosity about inquiry and research, and openness to new experiences or unexpected insights.  

   Fellows will:

• Involve the artist in research activities, immersive lab or field work experiences, and relevant meetings or idea incubation conversations.  
• Participate in “reverse residency” activities by learning about the artist’s methods of inquiry, experimentation, and creative practice.
• Work with PRAx staff and the artist to develop a work plan and budget.
• Participate in quarterly online check-ins with program leaders. These can be online or in-person.
• Participate in public programming and events connected with the fellowship.
• Submit a brief final reflection on the experience (3 pages max) and provide programmatic feedback throughout the fellowship.

FELLOWSHIP OFFERINGS

Fellows will receive:

• A unique opportunity to learn alongside an artist interested in their research, engaging in collaborative methods of inquiry and experimentation that can lead to new perspectives, insight, and opportunities for outreach.
• Consistent communication and support from PRAx staff on fellowship activities.
• Support in coordinating and showcasing the process and outcomes of the fellowship. These may take any or several of a variety of forms: a public presentation and exhibition, performance, installation, short film, etc. We will work with fellows and artists to shape mutually beneficial outcomes.
• Depending on the term of the fellowship (1-2 years) and the scope of the project, fellows will receive up to $15,000 per year and will give at least 75% of that funding to the artist to support their time, travel and material costs. 

PROGRAM & APPLICATION DATES

• February 5, 2024: Application window closes.
• March 29, 2024: Applicants notified of status.
• April 2024: Artist and fellow connection and orientation. Fellowships announced at the PRAx open house on April 6. 
• May 2024: Fellowship begins.
• Near the middle and end of fellowship term: Public event(s) featuring the process and work from your collaboration.  

REVIEW AND SELECTION:  

Applications will be reviewed by a diverse selection committee from relevant fields. Applicants will be notified of status by Friday, March 29, 2024. This program will open for application again next fall, so if you are not awarded a 2024 Stewart Faculty Fellowship, we encourage you to re-apply. 

PARTNERS & COSPONSORS

L.L. Stewart Faculty Fellowships are supported by the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) and funded by the Office of the Provost.

We invite curious people with expertise across disciplines, practices, and modalities within the humanities to apply for a 2024-2025 Watershed Fellowship with the Public Humanities Collaboratory. The Public Humanities Collaboratory convenes scholars, creatives, cultural practitioners, and nonprofit and community leaders to engage in collective inquiry with the aim of discovering new approaches to enduring or emerging challenges.

Four fellows will be selected to participate in the one-year Collaboratory experience that involves two components: 

• A series of facilitated interdisciplinary discussions intended to explore thematic issues from diverse perspectives, build connections through active listening and reflection, and inspire new trajectories of thought, work, and purpose. Fellows will be in conversation with activists, scientists, and artists working to create or revive the knowledge and perspectives that can guide us through this critical time of social and ecological crisis.
• Development of a public humanities project relevant to the Collaboratory theme that enables the public or a community to see connections, understand challenges, or invent opportunities. 

For 2024–2025 Watershed Fellowships, we welcome applications from philosophers, writers, historians, activists, teachers, storytellers, theologians, and community leaders whose work engages human connections with water. 

OVERVIEW

Water flows around and through us, connecting us to land, people, other life forms, histories, and futures. Whether we fish nearby riffles for dinner, irrigate thirsty crops, or birdwatch at the local reservoir, our watersheds deeply influence our values and shape our lives. Watersheds both sustain us and are part of who we are as humans. Yet, from the intensifying effects of the climate emergency to degradation from development and polluting industries, the watersheds we rely on are changing in unpredictable and unprecedented ways. Faced with these urgent threats to our ecosystems, livelihoods, traditions, and wellbeing, we are called on to reimagine our relationships with water. 

During this one-year fellowship, we invite you to harness the reality-shifting, imaginative power of the humanities to explore a central question: What ideas, ethics, wisdoms, stories, and efforts might help us build more mindful and just relationships with our watersheds? 

For the full year, fellows will engage in research and projects beyond the channeled banks of expertise to find places of confluence with others in a larger thinking community. We are committed to fostering dialogue across disciplines and will facilitate opportunities for fellows to connect with each other's work and ideas. 

ELIGIBILITY

These fellowships are open to scholars, researchers, writers, and community or nonprofit leaders whose work is grounded in the humanities. That is, we welcome applications from those who employ interpretive, discursive, and creative methods to approach questions and issues involving the human experience and human impacts. This includes those working in traditional humanities disciplines (philosophy & ethics, history, religious studies, writing, etc.) and beyond.

Those with interest or experience in collaborative interdisciplinary work and the public humanities are encouraged to apply. Applicants from historically under-represented groups are encouraged to apply. Applicants from the Pacific Northwest are also encouraged to apply—we are especially interested in supporting public humanities projects that focus on Oregon or the PNW and that converge with issues of environmental or ecological justice.

For more information about the relevance of your work and ideas to this opportunity, please see the FAQ or contact Joy Jensen (joy.jensen@oregonstate.edu).

TERMS & EXPECTATIONS

A one-year commitment. 

Create intellectual community and continuity by:

• Attending a virtual orientation meeting in early February 2024.
• Attending an in-person gathering in March 2024 in Oregon. 
• Participating in virtual meetings once a month from February through December 2024. Meetings will be facilitated using the council method, which encourages attentive listening, compassionate expression, and cultivation of insight and understanding. 
• Completing two to four weeks in residence at one of our PRAx residency locations in Oregon (a cabin in the Oregon Coast Range, onsite lodging at H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest, or a cottage along the McKenzie River). Residency stays may be split into multiple blocks. 

Develop to completion a public humanities project that engages questions about water or watersheds. See the FAQ for examples of project approaches and outcomes. All projects should be created for a public audience of non-specialists. 

Present on your project during a public event near the end of the fellowship. We will work with you to host public events at Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx) in winter or spring 2025. Events can be solo (e.g., a reading or lecture) or collaborative (e.g., a public conversation or performance). While on campus, fellows will engage with students or a student group for one hour (e.g., via a lecture, conversation, or workshop). 

Participate with other fellows in a virtual, public round-table discussion at the end of the fellowship. 

Submit a mid-year progress report (2 pages), a final reflection on your project and fellowship experience (2-4 pages), and programmatic feedback at the end of the year. 

FELLOWSHIP OFFERINGS

The review committee will select four fellows with diverse and complementary perspectives and methods of approach. Each fellow will receive: 

• $4,000 stipend ($2,000 awarded at the beginning of the fellowship and $2,000 awarded after a mid-year progress report).
• Up to $2,000 in travel expenses.
• A residency of up to four weeks at one of our locations in Oregon.
• The opportunity to engage in deep listening, creative reflection, and idea-building within a diverse and welcoming interdisciplinary thinking community. 
• Support coordinating and promoting a presentation or event connected with their public humanities project near the end of the fellowship.

PROGRAM & APPLICATION DATES

• January 8, 2024: Application deadline.
• January 26, 2024: Applicants notified of status. 
• Early February 2024: Schedule residency time, complete paperwork, and attend an online orientation.  
• February 2024: Fellowship begins with a first virtual meeting. Meetings will be held monthly through December 2024. 
• March 2024: A three-day, in-person gathering in Corvallis, Oregon. Fellows will come together to share ideas, ask questions, and build community. 
• November 2024: Participate in a virtual public round-table discussion.  
• Winter/Spring 2025: Event featuring your public humanities project at PRAx.
   

TO APPLY

Applications are due January 8, 2024. All applications will be evaluated by a diverse review committee composed of scholars and cultural practitioners working in relevant fields. Applicants will be notified of status by January 26, 2024.

If you have questions about any of the above, see the FAQ or contact Joy Jensen at joy.jensen@oregonstate.edu.

PARTNERS AND COSPONSORS

The Public Humanities Collaboratory Watershed Fellowships are supported by an alliance of organizations at Oregon State University: the Center for the Humanities, the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts (PRAx), and the Spring Creek Project. 

Emeritus is an 80-foot-tall sculpture by Seattle-based artist John Grade. Inspired by the form of an absent tree and made of more than 100,000 parts of salvaged wood and cast resin, Emeritus was pieced together and suspended among the giant sequoias in OSU’s Memorial Union quad over 6 days in October 2022. More than 200 campus and community volunteers helped with the installation. 

Superficially burnt areas of Emeritus evoke the sequoias’ complex relationship with fire. And the sculpture is illuminated at night, offering a different experience from a daytime viewing. During its time on campus, to learn about life in the trees, researchers are collecting data on the ecological conditions via dendrometer studies of trunk expansion, bioacoustic monitoring, and eDNA sampling. In December, Emeritus will leave us to be reconfigured and re-installed near treeline in Alaska, in a “drunken forest” experiencing the effects of thawing permafrost.

We invite you to visit the sculpture in the NE section of the MU quad. After your visit, create and send us a response to your experience in the grove or a piece about your favorite tree(s) or tree species. All varieties of expression are welcome. You may choose to allow your piece to be considered for publication in the final Field Report that will be compiled in fall 2023. You may also choose to remain anonymous if your piece is selected for publication. Please submit your response by October 31, 2023. If you have any questions, or would prefer to submit via email, just write Joy at joy.jensen@oregonstate.edu. Thank you in advance—we couldn't make this happen without you!

We welcome responses in:

• Art: paintings, sketches, drawings, prints, photography, collage, maps, etc. *Note: for 3-D (sculpture, textiles, glass, pottery, woodwork, etc.), please submit a video or photographs of your work.  
• Writing: notes, poetry, questions, short essay/reflection, dialogue, lyrics, etc., max 2 pages. 
• Graphic short: any combination of image and text (comic, narrative, nonfiction, nature journal-style, etc.) from a single panel to 1 page.
• Audio: original music, spoken word, conversation, etc., up to 2 minutes in length.
• Video: film short, animation, performance, dance, etc., up to 2 minutes. You may instead link to video posted on another platform (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo). 
• Other: So you have something to share that doesn’t quite fit in the above? Email joy.jensen@oregonstate.edu and we’ll make a way.  

Images: 300dpi PNG or JPG files preferred, but not required.