Fellowship: Acceptance

Some good news in these bleak times: I won three fellowships (two external to the university and one internal)!

Combined, these fellowships allow me to be on leave from my university this coming academic year 2020-2021 and in residence at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston where I'll continue working on my second book, Robert Morris: An Advocate for Justice in the Athens of America.

My university did a write up here.

This past year, I applied for four fellowships: I received three acceptances and one rejection, which are great odds. But I've been rejected from many a fellowship, in my day. I can boast more rejections than acceptances. Most scholars can. I'm humbled by the process of putting my ideas out there and sharing them with other scholars. Sometimes what I aim to do resonates and I get the coveted fellowship; other times, and far more often, I get the rejection. Rejection is just part of the hunt, and it never goes down easy, but I try not to dwell on it too long because the point is to reset and reapply.

Like many scholars, I apply for fellowships because I believe in the work I'm doing, and I'm humbly asking for financial support and a connection to a scholarly network that will afford me the energy, time, and space to sit and focus on one particular project. What luck when your humble request is returned with a yes!

I'm so grateful for these new fellowships that support me and this project on Robert Morris. I'm probably writing this more for myself – to remember these good feelings, especially when I inevitably cross a rough patch.

I work on this project everyday, and I will do my best to make it great and worthy of all of this support.