Every year, the School of Humanities and Sciences invites proposals for the Fred L. Emerson Humanities Collaboration Award; this spring, the review committee made awards to Rebecca Zaremba '09 and Peter Messmer '10 for collaborative work they will undertake with H&S faculty during the summer.
The Emerson Collaboration awards are granted to meritorious H&S students who are eligible for financial aid to collaborate directly with a member of the humanities faculty on a scholarly project.
Rebecca will be working with Rachel Wagner, assistant professor of philosophy and religion, on a project entitled "Virtually Religious." She will be developing a comprehensive digital appendix of scholarly sources, internet sites, and digital materials to contribute to Professor Wagner's research for a book on the topic of virtual reality and sacred space. She will conduct research for an extensive annotated bibliography to support this work as well.
Peter will be working with Michael Twomey, professor of English and the Charles A. Dana Professor of Humanities and Arts, on a project entitled "Ye Olde American 'Ye'." Together, Peter and Professor Twomey will research the gradual demise of the letter called "open thorn" in early American writing. Peter will conduct primary research both in library archives and at burial sites, where he will study headstones. In addition, he will be developing a comprehensive database to record the data he and Professor Twomey collect. This research will ultimately take the form of a journal article.
This type of collaborative research is an essential part of experiential learning in the humanities at IC. The funds generously donated by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation make such opportunities available to H&S faculty and students. Such collaborations require a commitment from both parties: faculty members mentor the students as they take on major responsibility for an independent component of a scholarly project, while students devote significant time and intellectual effort to these projects as they aim to meet the high expectations of their faculty mentors.
Proposals for projects that will take place during the spring 2009 semester will be invited in fall 2008. Please direct any questions about this program to Stacia Zabusky, assistant dean of H&S, 274-3102, szabusky@ithaca.edu.
Information on the Emerson Humanities Collaboration Award Application Process
