Call for Participants
16th Annual Undergraduate Research Workshop
Program Dates: January 31 and April 25-26, 2025
Application Deadline: December 1, 2024
The McNeil Center for Early American Studies invites applications to its annual research workshop for undergraduates enrolled at MCEAS Consortium institutions. Students conducting advanced research projects on American or Atlantic World topics before 1850 are eligible. Students will be assigned a mentor from among the Fellows of the McNeil Center, each of whom will work to guide and refine their student's research project. Mentors and students will first meet at the Center in January to discuss the projects and tour archival material at Penn's Van Pelt Library. The group will then reconvene in April to present final papers at a conference hosted at the University of Pennsylvania, with comments provided by the mentors. Dr. Christopher Bilodeau of Dickinson College will serve as the program’s faculty advisor.
Eligibility:
The Workshop is open only to undergraduates at McNeil Center consortium institutions. Applicants must be at work on an advanced primary source research project and be available on all program dates. Nominations are entered by a faculty sponsor who must be available to attend the April events. A maximum of two students will be accepted from any institution per year. If your institution is not yet a consortium member, please contact Peter Olsen-Harbich, Associate Director, at peteroh@sas.upenn.edu to learn about consortium benefits and the induction process.
Workshop Events:
January 31, 2025: Works-in-Progress Discussions and Archive Tour
This meeting allows undergraduates to meet one another, the project mentors, and key members of the Philadelphia research community. Student project abstracts will be circulated to mentors in advance. Students will deliver five-minute presentations on their research to the group and have one-on-one time with their graduate student mentors. Later, the students will tour the Special Collections of Penn’s Van Pelt Library. There will be a McNeil Center seminar from 3:30-5:00 p.m. to end the day. Faculty sponsors do not need to attend this event.
April 25-26, 2025: Friday Seminar and Saturday Conference
The second event is a 1½ day meeting culminating in a conference of 10-minute formal paper presentations by students, excerpted from their research papers, followed by brief comments from the mentors and Q&A with the faculty sponsors. The conference is an opportunity for students to receive feedback from and make introductions with consortium faculty, including many at doctoral universities. All students will meet informally with the MCEAS Friday seminar presenter on April 25 and then attend the seminar. The conference takes place the next day, April 26.
Accommodations & Travel:
Participants should make their own arrangements for travel to the Workshop meetings. The McNeil Center will reimburse round-trip transportation expenses up to $200, for both meetings combined, for participants (students and faculty sponsors). The Center will also provide one night's lodging at a local hotel on April 25 for participants arriving from outside the Greater Philadelphia region.
Application Process:
Student applicants should submit to their faculty sponsor: 1) Cover sheet with the applicant’s name, sponsor’s name, and project title; 2) Project description (500 words), including a project title, a description of research questions and methods, and a short bibliography of primary sources that will be consulted; 3) Resume (1-page).
Faculty sponsors should prepare a one-page letter of recommendation addressing the student’s qualifications and the project's stage, compile the application materials as a single PDF, and upload this file at the link below by December 1, 2024. Applicants will be notified of the selection committee’s decision by December 15.