Call for Applications: Theatre Research in Canada/ Recherches théâtrales au Canada (TRIC/RTAC) Writing Fellowship 2023-2024

2023-06-27

Call for Applications: Theatre Research in Canada/ Recherches théâtrales au Canada (TRIC/RTAC) Writing Fellowship 2023-2024

(inspired by NAISA’s Writing Fellowship)

Writing Fellowship for Emerging and Early Career Theatre and Performance Studies Scholars

Posted Spring 2023

APPLICATIONS DUE on August 1, 2023

Mission: To encourage a collegial, productive, and supportive community of academic writing practice and practice of mentorship within the field of Theatre and Performance

Please direct questions and submit applications to Selena Couture, Associate Editor (Outreach), at couture2@ualberta.ca and copy the journal’s email account, tric.rtac@utpress.utoronto.ca

Theatre Research in Canada/ Recherches théâtrales au Canada (TRIC/RTAC) sponsors an annual Writing Fellowship Program to workshop a manuscript for submission to a professional academic journal. Submission to TRIC/RTAC is not required but is warmly encouraged.

The Fellowship seeks to support emerging scholars — such as graduate students, early career faculty, and community-based scholars — working within or across the Turtle Island, Québécois, and Canadian-based interdisciplinary arenas of Theatre and Performance studies.

We particularly encourage applications from equity-owed scholars, especially from communities and/or research areas currently underrepresented in the field.

The first cohort of 3-4 Fellows will each be partnered with a member of the TRIC/RTAC Editorial Board or an experienced scholar with relevant knowledge in the topic and will participate, with TRIC/RTAC co-editors, in a series of virtual gatherings spaced out over the academic year from September through April. Through these months the Fellows will build on their submitted abstract and write a draft of an article with the intention that it be ready for submission to a journal by April.

Writing Fellows will be mentored through the process of drafting an essay, with the goal of submitting the essay for publication to TRIC/RTAC or another relevant venue by the end of the fellowship. Frames, practices, and expectations related to writing inside and outside the academy will be integrated into the Writing Fellowship’s conversations.

Eligibility:

The Writing Fellowship is designed for community-based scholars, advanced graduate students, untenured scholars without an institutional affiliation, and tenure-track early-career faculty working to publish in a professional, academic, and Canadian-based journal.

Co-authors may apply – please submit one application and attach a bio statement for each co-author.

Authors who have previously published in TRIC/RTAC are not eligible. The committee will not consider work that is under active consideration by a publisher.

Writing Fellows will not be obligated to submit Fellowship manuscripts for consideration to TRIC/RTAC, but the editors welcome and encourage the submission of Fellowship manuscripts to the journal.

How to Apply:

To be considered for the Fellowship, please submit the following to Selena Couture, Associate Editor (Outreach), at couture2@ualberta.ca  and copy the TRIC/RTAC email account, tric.rtac@utpress.utoronto.ca, by August 1, 2023

  • A cover letter clearly indicating how eligibility criteria are met: applicant’s current professional standing, background in the area of Theatre and Performance studies, the Canadian-based journal to which the applicant intends to submit
  • A copy of the applicant’s current CV

Applications should also include:

  • Title of your proposed article
  • Abstract (350-word maximum): Briefly describe the proposed manuscript (for example – tell us about the topic, thesis, theoretical frame, questions, sources of evidence or examples, method, findings/conclusions). For tips, click on Inside Higher Ed: Writing an Effective Abstract.
  • Bibliography (10 sources maximum)
  • One-page statement (double-spaced) describing your relationship to the work, the stakes of the work, how you see your work as connected to the field of Theatre and Performance Studies, and what you see as the stakes and potential impact of your broader work for scholarly and artistic work in theatre and performance.
  • If you have a preference for a mentor, please list 2 or 3 names (with hyperlinks) from the TRIC/RTAC Editorial Board and/or an experienced scholar in the proposed field of research. The proposed mentor should not be a current or former advisor, dissertation chair, or another close mentor with whom you have already worked.

Please direct questions and submit applications to Selena Couture, Associate Editor (Outreach), at couture2@ualberta.ca and copy the journal’s email account, tric.rtac@utpress.utoronto.ca.

Constitution of Review Committee

Applications will be screened for completeness, and complete applications will be sent to an Editorial Board subcommittee that will recommend selection to the TRIC/RTAC co-editors based on scores and comments from the rubric below. Editors will select the Writing Fellows and identify potential mentors for each. Mentors will be designated as TRIC/RTAC Journal Writing Fellowship Mentors.

Rubric for Evaluation:

  • Soundness of proposed research, theoretical framework, and scope.
  • Potential to contribute to scholarship and practice of theatre and performance studies, particularly in under-developed areas. This includes opening up opportunities for interpretation and reflection through research-creation.
  • Clarity of writing.
  • Proposal makes case effectively for the researcher’s preparation and relationship to the scholarly field and practice of theatre and performance. This includes a consideration of the potential impact of mentorship opportunity.