Applications for the 2022 Humanities Research Centre Visiting Fellowship Program – on the theme of ‘Mobilities’ – are now open.

The Humanities Research Centre (HRC) was established in 1972 as a national and international centre for excellence in the humanities and as a catalyst for innovative humanities scholarship and research within the Australian National University. The HRC interprets the ‘humanities’ generously, recognising that new methods of theoretical enquiry have done much to break down the traditional distinction between the humanities, the creative arts, and the social sciences. It also recognises the importance of establishing a dialogue between the humanities and the natural and technological sciences. One of its central functions is to bring to Australia scholars of international standing who will provoke fresh ideas both within and beyond the academic community.

The theme for 2022 is Mobilities, a description of which appears below. The HRC encourage scholars from all over the world working in every discipline to apply for Visiting Fellowships at the Centre; however, as travel in and out of Australia is very strictly regulated during the pandemic, it is currenetly not possible to guarantee that international visiting fellowships will be possible.

HRC Theme for 2022: MOBILITIES

Amongst the many definitions of ‘mobility’ in the Oxford English Dictionary we find the following:

  • ‘The ability to move or to be moved; capacity for movement or change of place’;
  • ‘Ease or freedom of movement; capacity for rapid or comfortable locomotion or travel’;
  • ‘The ability or tendency to change easily or quickly; changeableness, instability; fickleness’;
  • ‘Tendency or susceptibility to rapid emotional change; impressionability; excitability. Now rare’;
  • ‘Chiefly Sociology. The ability or potential of individuals within a society to move between different social levels (more fully vertical mobility) or between different occupations, etc. (more fully horizontal mobility); the ability or potential of a workforce to move from place to place’

Migration, asylum, tourism, transport, urban mobility, career mobility, social mobility, emotion and affect – the theme for 2022 registers the growing use of ‘mobility’ and ‘mobilities’ as key descriptive and theoretical terms in the humanities and social sciences, and offers an invitation to scholars to think about the concept in creative and interdisciplinary ways. In line with the suggestive multivalence of the word itself, proposals might consider ‘mobility’ socio-politically, physically, or mentally, as a local or global phenomenon, in different cultures and different historical periods – or they might want to investigate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected our social, physical, and psychological mobility, and the way we are likely to act and think about mobility and immobility in the future.

The deadline for applications is 31 July 2021

For further details on the categories of fellowships available and on the application process, visit https://hrc.cass.anu.edu.au/visiting-fellowships-program.