2006 - 2007 Visiting Scholars

The purpose of the Visiting Scholars Program is to support the work of younger public policy analysts, humanists, and social scientists who show promise of becoming leaders in their field, especially those who work on multidisciplinary topics. The Program offers opportunities for them to carry out their individual research as well as to collaborate with Academy Fellows on shared scholarly or policy-related interests. It also helps to create a national network for scholars in the early stages of their career, assisting them in their research and professional development. Finally, it has established the House of the Academy as an active research center for intensive scholarship by individuals from diverse disciplinary, institutional, and geographic backgrounds. The VSP is an important way to share the Academy’s extraordinary intellectual resources, including many of America’s most distinguished leaders in science, scholarship, public affairs, and business and the arts and to invest in the future of the next generation.

In addition to providing time for independent research, the VSP arranges conferences involving colleagues from the Boston area and beyond. Visiting Scholars have the opportunity to join in seminars sponsored by the Academy's program areas as well as to participate in social gatherings and other regularly scheduled Academy activities. Neighboring universities and research institutions partner with the Academy in the work of the Program.

Scholars are chosen by means of a national competition. Most reply to a request for proposals circulated via websites and electronic mailing lists as well as through targeted mailings to academic departments and relevant scholarly councils and associations. Applications are reviewed by Fellows expert in the candidates' fields; their recommendations are passed on to a final advisory committee that takes into account not only the quality of the applications but also the fields, institutions, and geographical areas represented by the candidates. Seven/eight scholars and practitioners are chosen annually.

Patricia Meyer Spacks, President of the Academy, 2001-2006, and Edgar F. Shannon Professor of English, Emerita, University of Virginia, serves as chair of the VSP.

Some fifty academic institutions from across the country have become University Affiliates of the Academy, with a special interest in developing and supporting the VSP.

The Visiting Scholars Program is undertaken in collaboration with the Harvard Humanities Center, which provides access to the university’s research facilities and works with the Academy to plan joint lectures, seminars, and informal discussions.

Over the past four years, the Visiting Scholars Program has grown in stature and visibility. Applications have increased 70 percent since 2002. The outstanding teaching and research appointments the “alumni” have received, their published and forthcoming books and articles, and their enthusiasm about the benefits of the Academy experience reflect the success of the program.