Research Fellowships at Smith College Special Collections

Smith College Special Collections (SCSC) invites applications for the Travel to Collections Fellowships for the 2026-2027 cycle.
 

• All topics of research using the SCSC collections may apply.

• Applicants do not need to have an institutional affiliation.

• Creative projects, subject-specific works, digital humanities projects, and more, are all welcome.

Deadline for application: Monday, January 5, 2026 by 11:59pm EST

These fellowships are intended to help offset the travel expenses of researchers whose projects will benefit from access to, including initial survey and exploration of, the holdings of Smith College Special Collections, which are the College Archives, Mortimer Rare Book Collection, and Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History. 

Smith College Special Collections offers several types of fellowships:

• Short-term fellowships with awards for $1,000 for research visits of two weeks or less.

• Extended-term fellowships with awards of $2,500 each for research visits that extend beyond two weeks.

In consideration of travel limitations, fellows may request to use funds to hire a proxy-researcher to complete a fellowship.

A new opportunity with the Chaucer Collection

This year we are pleased to offer the first Robert and Judith Raymo Chaucer Fellowship ($1,000). This is a short term fellowship intended to defray the costs of travel to and from Northampton, in order to use the books and related materials of the Robert and Judith Raymo Chaucer Collection in the Mortimer Rare Book Collection. The use of other Chaucer related materials in the Mortimer Rare Book Collection is welcome and encouraged. The Robert and Judith Raymo Chaucer Collection consists of approximately five hundred distinctive printed items related to the works of the Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400), including collected editions, individual editions of poems like Troilus and Crisseyde and the Canterbury Tales, as well as adaptations, translations, modern and illustrated editions, children's books, and other works inspired by Chaucer's poetry.

Key dates

Application due date for 2026 awards: Monday, January 5, 2026 by 11:59pm EST

Awards announced: March 13, 2026

Awards to be used: Monday, June 1, 2026 to Friday, June 4, 2027