Application Deadline: 16 February 2026
LOCATION: England
The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge is inviting applications for funded Visiting Fellowships for scholars from the Global South. The purpose of these Fellowships is to provide opportunities for scholars working at higher education institutions in the Global South to exchange ideas with other researchers based at CRASSH and elsewhere in the University of Cambridge and to draw benefit from access to the University’s collections and resources.
ELIGIBILITY:
For 2027, CRASSH will partner with the University of Cambridge’s Legacies of Enslavement Initiative. Enslavement and other forms of coerced labour have shaped lives and spaces across the globe for millennia, and particularly in the modern era. The violence of enslavement upon people, communities, and landscapes has also invited resistance and responses from those who suffered from it. These struggles echo across time; long after the formal abolition of slavery, they continue to shape experiences of inequality in the present day.
They invite applications that explore these topics in interdisciplinary ways—whether the focus is historical, contemporary or some combination of the two. This may include the following areas of research:
Slavery and resistance, including its social, material and cultural manifestations
The environmental impacts and legacies of the plantation system and the transportation of millions of humans
Questions of memory transmission and heritage
The practices of knowledge and power that sustained and reproduce inequalities
Practices of repair and restoration to heal the wounds of enslavement.
They invite applications from any discipline, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, digital humanities, ecology and environmental studies, geography, history, philosophy, medical humanities, museum studies, science and technology studies, and sociology. Whatever their approach, projects should be based on original interdisciplinary research and aim to speak to a wide audience.
All Fellows selected under this scheme will be asked to work together to design an event related to the theme of this call, to take place during the term they are resident in Cambridge, and to present their own research at this event. This event will be co-hosted by CRASSH and the Legacies of Enslavement Initiative. Fellows will also be invited, if they wish, to contribute to public events organised by the Legacies Initiative.
Up to three Visiting Fellows will be selected each year from different countries in the Global South whose research proposals respond to the call set out above. Check the further information tab on this page for more details on eligibility.
BENEFIT:
Visiting Fellows will be appointed for Lent Term 2027 (from mid-January to mid-March: see term dates for each year).
What is provided?
Visiting Fellows will receive return (economy fare) travel from the scholar’s home institution, in accordance with the University’s travel policy. CRASSH will also cover the cost of a visa, if required.
CRASSH will also book and cover the cost of single ensuite accommodation will be provided at Wolfson College. Wolfson College will waive its usual membership fee and provide free access to the college library, gym, and social spaces, as well as participation in activities open to college members. Fellows may take meals in the college Dining Hall at their own expense.
As this scheme is open to scholars already employed at a higher education institution, it is assumed that most everyday expenses will be met through their salary; however, a subsistence allowance of £175 per week is provided to help with the costs of food and local travel, which may be higher in the UK than in the applicant’s country of residence.
Each Visiting Fellow will have desk space and computer access at CRASSH, along with full access to the University’s libraries, collections, and academic events hosted by CRASSH and other University institutions.
The in-person Fellowship must be held for a minimum of nine weeks, and may be extended to twelve weeks if the Fellow wishes. It will be followed by a nine-month digital Fellowship, providing continued access to the University’s online events and resources.
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