Prix du Québec 2014

The Prix du Québec consists of two awards of £1,000 (each) offered by the Québec Government Office in London and administered by BACS. It is designed to assist researchers who are permanent UK-residents to carry out research related to Québec by facilitating a research visit to Québec. Projects that incorporate Québec in a comparative approach (at least 50% of the focus must be on Québec) are also eligible.All applications are welcome, including those from applicants unsuccessful in recent previous competitions.  

One award will be given in each of the following categories:

●     Masters and doctoral students
●     Researchers and academic staff (including postdoctoral researchers)

The award is not intended to be used to cover tuition fees for postgraduate study. Applicants are expected to be members of the British Association for Canadian Studies (they may join at time of application) but need not have an institutional affiliation.

The awards will be presented during the Annual Conference of the British Association for Canadian Studies in March, and successful applicants will be expected to present a paper on the outcome of their research at the next BACS annual conference. It is expected that the award will be acknowledged in any subsequent publication(s).

Application procedure

Applicants should provide a brief outline of their proposed research (including methodology, contextual background, plan and outcomes). Successful applications will have the following characteristics: (i) investigate issues concerning Quebec (includes comparative research where the focus on Quebec is at least 50%); (ii) constitute an excellent research proposal (originality, coherence of arguments and methodology); (iii) display applicant’s abilities to deliver research (previous relevant background, experience, publications, etc); (iv) is of value to potential users outside or within the research community. A brief (one-page max.) CV should be included.

Deadline: 1 February of each year (decision within 28 days).

Maximum Length: 1000 words.

A letter of recommendation, on headed paper, from an appropriate referee is also required and should be sent with the application. Referees should address the merits of the proposal and the ability of the applicant to successfully carry out the research. The referee’s letter may be sent by email as an attachment. Any Award will be paid through the Research Office of the applicant’s institution.

Applications should be sent by email, please, to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If further information is required, please contact the Secretary, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

 

Eccles Visiting Professor of North American Studies 2012

Report on Tenure as Eccles Visiting Professor of North American Studies, Spring 2012
Owen Stanwood, Boston College

During the period from February 29 through May 26, 2012 I was in residence at the British Library as the Eccles Visiting Professor of North American Studies. I came to the BL to work on a project that is currently titled "Dreams of Silk and Wine: Huguenots in New Worlds, 1680-1776" (a slight change from the title on my application last year). The project concerns the role of French Protestant refugees in European imperial projects during the century after Louis XIV banned the practice of Protestantism in France in 1685. Thousands of Huguenots fled the kingdom, and many of them became active in British and Dutch imperial projects from colonial America to Ireland to the Cape of Good Hope and even the Indian Ocean. My study will be the first comprehensive global history of the Huguenot diaspora. Specifically, I am interested in the role of the state, most especially the nascent British state, in directing the movement of refugees around the empire and the world.

The BL provided the perfect place to research the British side of this global history. I wanted to see how British authorities and ordinary people dealt with the coming of the refugees. In addition, the BL houses a large number of original papers and published works created by the refugees themselves. I spent the bulk of my time in the Manuscripts Reading Room, where I consulted dozens of original manuscripts from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. I made a number of interesting discoveries in the BL and in general, filled in my understanding of the relationship between the refugees and the English/British state. For instance, my very first day at the BL I began examining Add. Mss. 61648, a collection of materials by or about refugees from the early-1700s. There I discovered plans for a refugee-led assault on French Newfoundland, something I had never found reference to previously. This was merely one of dozens of interesting discoveries. I also found evidence that a leading Huguenot theologian, Pierre Jurieu, operated a ring of spies that operated around France during the 1690s. Finally, there were a number of interesting documents in the papers of the duke of Newcastle (Add. Mss. 35910) describing British attempts to settle the American interior, with the help of Huguenot refugees.

While most of my research at the BL concerned Huguenots in Britain, Ireland, and the colonies, my long residence at the library allowed me to follow the refugees into unlikely places. For instance, I found substantial evidence in the India Office Records of refugees settling in some of the East India Company's outposts -- especially St. Helena, and perhaps Madras as well. This eastern migration allows me to move beyond the Atlantic and tell a global story about the movement of refugees in the eighteenth century.

Finally, I spent a fair amount of time reading rare books and printed publications that are easier to access at the BL than at my home library. The most exciting discovery was a 1698 tract, Proposals for Settling a Colony in Florida, that has somehow never been added to any of the popular databases, and only exists at the BL. The tract is one of the more interesting (and ill-fated) proposals to use Huguenots to settle British America, and one that has received very little attention from scholars.

Overall, my time at the BL was extremely interesting and productive, and I also benefited from my close proximity to other libraries and archives in London as well as the city's academic community. Indeed, I made connections during my time as the Eccles Visiting Professor that will serve me well for the rest of my career. I am grateful to the Centre for supporting my research, and hope to visit again in the future.

Eccles Centre Visiting Professorships, Fellowships And Postgraduate Awards 2013

Applicants are invited to apply for one of several awards being offered in 2013 to help support scholars who need to visit London to use the British Library's collections relating to North America. The British Association for American Studies will manage the detailed administration of these awards.

Eccles Centre Visiting Professor in North American Studies 2013

One award to be made to a post-doctoral scholar resident in the USA or Canada whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of three months.

The Eccles Centre Visiting Professor will be entitled to an award of £7,000 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

It is anticipated that each Eccles Visiting Professor is likely to be on research sabbatical from his/her university/college in North America, and that the award will supplement other research funds in order to help the professor undertake a period of research at the British Library.

Eccles Centre Visiting Canadian Fellow in North American Studies 2013

One award to be made to post-doctoral scholar resident in the Canada whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of one month.

The Eccles Centre Visiting US Fellow will be entitled to an award of £2,500 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

Eccles Centre Visiting Fellows in North American Studies 2013

Three awards to be made to post-doctoral scholars normally resident in the UK, outside the M25, whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The award holder must plan to be in research residence at the British Library for a minimum of one month.

Each Eccles Centre Visiting Fellow will be entitled to an award of £2,250 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London. The award holder will have privileged access to the collections and the curatorial expertise of the British Library.

Eccles Centre Postgraduate Awards in North American Studies 2013

Five awards to be made to graduate students normally resident in the UK, outside the M25, whose research, in any field of North American Studies, entails the use of the British Library collection. The Eccles Centre Postgraduate Fellows will be entitled to an award of £600 for travel and other expenses connected with the research visit to London.

Further information

The British Library website, including public access to the catalogues, can be found at http://www.bl.uk. The Eccles Centre does not house a collection separate to that of the British Library, and the bibliographies on the Eccles Centre webpages give only a snapshot of some of the items in the British Library collection. For details of Eccles Centre activities see http://www.bl.uk/ecclescentre.

Enquiries regarding the British Library's North American holdings can be directed in the first instance to  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  (US curator), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  (Canadian curator), or to the  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

General terms and conditions

• Research visits should take place in the period April 2013 - September 2014.
• All award holders will be required to submit a financial report on their visit, with receipts, to the Treasurer of the British Association for American Studies
• All award holders will be required to submit a short report on their visit to the British Association for American Studies and to the Eccles Centre that may be published in American Studies in Britain, BACS E-News or in other appropriate outlets.
• All award holders will agree to acknowledge the support provided by the Eccles Centre in any publication resulting from this research visit, and to inform the Eccles Centre of any such publications. If the opportunity arises, it is expected that the award holders will present their work at an appropriate Eccles Centre/British Library seminar or conference.
• No extra funding will be available. Candidates must ensure that they have sufficient funds to cover their own needs and the needs of any dependants during their stay. Award holders from outside the UK are individually responsible for fulfilling any regulatory requirements to enter the UK.
• None of the organisations or individuals connected with this award are in a position to arrange travel or organise accommodation for award holders.

Applications

• Applications should be in the form of a brief CV (no more than two pages), and a document explaining the nature of the North American Studies research being proposed at the British Library (no more than two pages).
• Four copies of the application must be submitted in hard copy.
• Applications must be submitted by 5pm on January 31, 2013.
• Applications by fax will not be accepted.

Completed applications should be sent to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Chair, Awards Sub-committee, British Association for American Studies
American Studies
Chancellor's Building
Keele University
Keele
Staffordshire, ST5 5BG
Phone: 01782 733012
Email

BACS Travel Awards: update

Important news: following the Canadian Goverment's announcement that the program Understanding Canada has been eliminated, BACS has been forced to withdraw its Travel Awards. 

The Foundation for Canadian Studies in the UK offers a range of travel funding for postgraduates, independent scholars and faculty members on its website.

Awards which may be available from other sources:

Eccles Centre Writer in Residence, Visiting Fellowships, Studentships and Visiting Professor
ICCS awards