The Mellon Project has selected the postdoctoral fellow for 2004-05:

John Tresch works on "Mechanical Romanticism: Rebuilding the Cosmos in the French Industrial Revolution, 1815-1848." An alumnus of Cambridge University (Ph.D. 2003) and the University of Chicago (A.B. 1995), John has been a postdoctoral fellow in History at Northwestern University and Columbia University.

The Mellon Project on "New Perspectives on the Disciplines: Comparative Studies in Higher Education" at the University of Chicago invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship award for the academic year 2005-2006. This one-year fellowship, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will be awarded to a scholar pursuing research in a topic related to the project, which focuses on the current disciplinary moment in American higher education: how we arrived here, how to assess and support emerging fields of study (e.g., cultural studies, area studies, gender studies); how to articulate new disciplines with old; how well our institutional structures serve us at the present time; how our situation compares with that of disciplines and institutions abroad, both in the European system which initially supplied our models, and in other non-European contexts.

The 2005-2006 Mellon Fellow will be expected to pursue his/her research in residence at the Franke Institute for the Humanities throughout the academic year (October to mid-June); s/he will organize and lead the bi-weekly workshop of the Mellon Project; participate in staff meetings; and help to shape programmatic events. The fellowship carries a stipend of $38,000 per year. Applicants must have filed their Ph.D. between 7/1/2000 and 7/1/05, and may not hold any other appointment during the period of the fellowship.

The deadline for receipt in our office is Thursday, March 10, 2005.

Include a brief statement detailing your research goals and their relation to the agenda of the Mellon Project (500-1000 words); a current writing sample of up to 50 pages; CV, including names & contact information of three references (with email addresses). Three letters of recommendation are to be sent directly by the writers (letters may also be faxed to 773-702-0775). Address all application materials to:

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship Committee,
Franke Institute for the Humanities,
1100 East 57th Street, JRL S-102,
Chicago, IL 60637.