Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) announces fourteen humanities scholars in residence during the 2016-2017 year. The Fellows, their affiliations, and projects are as follows; summary descriptions of each project can be found on the webiste.

Frank Brannon – Independent author, SpeakEasy Press, Charlottesville
Will It Survive? A History of Cherokee Printing

Don DeBats – American Studies, Flinders University (Australia)
Black and White Oral Voting in the First Enfranchisement

 Martien Halvorson-Taylor – Religious Studies, University of Virginia
The Song of Songs in Diachronic and Synchronic Perspective

Kate Jones – History, University of California, Santa Cruz
Child Prisoners and the Limits of Citizenship in the New South

Paul D. Jones – Religious Studies, University of Virginia
Patience: A Theological Exploration

Thomas P. Kapsidelis – Independent Author, Richmond
Higher Aim: Guns, Safety and Healing in the Era of Mass Shootings

Sarah Milov – History, University of Virginia
Growing the Cigarette: Tobacco in the Twentieth Century

Kiki Petrosino – English, University of Louisville
White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia – Exploring Virginia’s Complex Racial History Through Poetry

Lynn Rainville – Humanities, Sweet Briar College
Mobilizing for and Commemorating the Great War in Virginia, 1915-2015

 Paula Seniors – Africana Studies/Sociology, Virginia Tech
For Freedom Now: African American Woman Radical Activists (1958-1984)

Jon Sensbach – History, University of Florida
The Art of Freedom: Camille Pissarro and the Age of Emancipation

Earl Swift – Independent Author, Crozet
Tangier Island: The Long Life and Prospective Demise of a Storied Island Community

Greg Wilson – History, University of Akron
Toxic Dust: The Virginia Kepone Disaster and the Legacy of Chlorinated Insecticides

 Doug Winiarski – Religious Studies, University of Richmond
Shakers, Jerkers & the Shawnee Prophet: Religious Encounters on the Early American Frontier, 1805-1815

Fellows Talks
Each semester, VFH invites the public to learn more about the diverse and fascinating areas of the humanities explored by our Fellows through lunchtime talks featuring each Fellow in informal conversation about his or her research. The following Fellows Talks are free and open to the public; a light lunch will be provided:

12-1 PM at the VFH Conference Center, 145 Ednam Drive, Charlottesville:

Tuesday, October 4 – Kiki Petrosino
White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia – Exploring Virginia’s Complex Racial History Through Poetry

Tuesday, October 18 – Deborah Lee
Love and Debt: “A True Story” of Mary Ann Cord, John T. Lewis, and Mark Twain at Quarry Farm

Tuesday, November 1 – Don DeBats
A New View of Reconstruction

Tuesday, November 15 – Earl Swift
Going Down Slow: The Long, Strange Life and Threatened Demise of Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay

Tuesday, December 6 – Aprilfaye Manalang, Norfolk State University
Religion, Citizenship and Military Service: How Religion Shapes Citizenship Among America’s Newer Immigrants

12-1 PM at the Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad Street, Richmond:

Tuesday, November 22 – Greg Wilson
Toxic Dust: The Virginia Kepone Disaster and the Legacy of Chlorinated Insecticides

Thursday, December 1 – Kate Jones
Child Prisoners and the Limits of Citizenship in the New South

About the Fellowship Program: The VFH Residential Fellowship Program supports humanities scholars and writers whose work is intellectually stimulating, imaginative, and accessible to the public, promoting greater understanding of and access to the humanities. To date it is the only residential fellowship program among all fifty-six state humanities councils. Fellowship projects explore the humanities broadly, including history, literature, folklife, and historical and contemporary cultures.

“For nearly twenty years, our Residential Fellowship Program has been a source of connection and discovery for humanities scholars and their audiences,” says Rob Vaughan, VFH president. “VFH has helped more than 350 Fellows from Virginia and around the world complete research, publish books, and create exhibits and films.”

VFH Residential Fellowships are open to faculty members in the humanities, independent scholars, and others working on projects in the humanities. The annual proposal deadline is December 1. For more information, please visit http://virginiahumanities.org/fellowships/.

About VFH: The mission of Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is to connect people and ideas to explore the human experience and inspire cultural engagement. VFH reaches an estimated annual audience of 23 million through community programs, digital initiatives, grants and fellowships, radio programs, and the Virginia Center for the Book. To learn more, visit http://virginiahumanities.org/