Please complete the form below by Monday, October 19, 2020 at 11:59 pm to apply.

This funded fellowship will give six Cornell sophomores and juniors the opportunity to work with The History Center in Tompkins Country to conduct oral history interviews with community members and leaders about their ongoing responses to social and economic challenges related to COVID-19, as part of The History Center’s larger oral history initiatives. Potential topics include political leadership, community organizing, food security, and responses among local business owners, including hotels and restaurants.

Students will work with Professor Stephen Vider, Director of the Cornell Public History Initiative; Ben Sandberg, Director of The History Center; Professor Edward Baptist; Professor Derek Chang; and Julia Taylor, community educator and director of Civic Ensemble, to receive training and ongoing supervision in conducting, transcribing, and interpreting oral histories. This year-long fellowship will both provide students practical experience in public and oral history methodologies and contribute to historical knowledge about Tompkins County and its communities. Following the fellowship, the oral histories that students have conducted will be accessioned into The History Center's archives, where they will be accessible to the public through The History Center’s Story Vault and other digital platforms. Students will also make a public presentation of their research in the spring during a Zoom event co-sponsored by The History Center and the Public History Initiative.

Students must commit to attending three training sessions this fall, two and a half hours each: Friday, October 30; Friday, November 6; and Friday November 13; all from 9:30 am to 12 pm. Students will conduct at least one interview by the end of the semester, and work to transcribe it before the start of the spring semester. The fellowship will resume in the spring with two additional training sessions in February and March (dates to be determined) as well as individual meetings. We expect students will conduct at least four interviews by the end of the academic year. We expect all training sessions and interviews to be conducted by Zoom.

Students will be given a fellowship award of $500 at the end of the year at the completion of the project.

We will email students about fellowship decisions by Monday, October 26. Please email Professor Stephen Vider (svider@cornell.edu) with any questions.

The fellowship is made possible by an Engaged Curriculum Grant from Engaged Cornell, and support for The History Center by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

To learn more about The History Center: https://thehistorycenter.net
To learn more about the Public History Initiative: https://cornellsun.com/2019/11/07/public-history-initiative-seeks-to-grow-public-engagement-and-examine-past/