Blogs

By Kayla Harris

The Marian Library and the International Marian Research Institute are pleased to announce that applications are being accepted through Jan. 15 for summer 2024 Marian fellowships. These three short-term fellowships support research and artistic creation using the Marian Library’s collections and the expertise of the International Marian Research Institute. The fellowships, made possible through a gift from the Marianist Province of the United States and additional support from the Marian Library and the International Marian Research Institute, illustrate the continued partnership between the Marian Library and IMRI to promote scholarship in Marian theology and related topics.

VISITING SCHOLAR FELLOWSHIP

Open to postdoctoral scholars, academics, independent scholars, artists, curators and professionals in libraries, archives and museum fields, this fellowship comes with an award of $3,000 plus $1,000 toward travel, living and/or research expenses for those traveling more than 100 miles. The award must be used between May 13 and Aug. 16, 2024, and the fellow must reside in the Dayton area during their fellowship for two to four weeks. The fellow will also be asked to document their experience working with the collection for the Marian Library blog.

Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada, assistant professor of religion at Kalamazoo College, received the visiting scholar fellowship in 2021. Her project “Reinventing the Rosary: Innovation and Catholic Prayer” used both print materials and artifacts from the collections. “As a scholar of material culture and embodiment, handling these objects was important,” she wrote. “Feeling the size, temperature, texture and even smell (some scents were pleasant; others were rancid) of the beads is essential for understanding the sensory dimensions of prayer.”

Jack Mulder, philosophy professor at Hope College and 2022 visiting scholar recipient, noted the benefit of having so many materials in one place: “I often reflected on how, if I needed to chase down one more link in the chain of Marian thought I was pursuing, invariably all I had to do was walk down the hall since the Marian Library had everything.”

GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIP

New in 2024, the graduate student fellowship is open to master’s and doctoral students from the University of Dayton or other academic institutions. It comes with an award of $3,000 plus $1,000 toward travel, living and/or research expenses for those traveling more than 100 miles to use for two to four weeks between May 13 and Aug. 16, 2024.

RESIDENT SCHOLAR FELLOWSHIP

Open to any University of Dayton faculty, this four- to eight-week residency carries a stipend of $3,000 and supports research or artistic creation with the Marian Library’s collections between May 13 and Aug. 16, 2024. The Marian Library collections can be of value for many disciplines and, in addition to supporting research and artistic creation, may also inspire pedagogical design.

Inaugural resident scholar Liz Hutter, an assistant professor in the Department of English, said, “My experience as a Marian Library resident scholar has been one of the richest opportunities I have had as a UD faculty member. With access to study the collections in the Marian Library for an extended time, my understanding of Lourdes as a site of therapeutic and spiritual healing has developed in exciting ways.” Hutter used her research to create learning opportunities for undergraduate students using Marian Library collections. In a first-year writing seminar in the fall of 2022, students curated the exhibit Rituals of Healing: Body, Mind, Spirit in the Rose Gallery. They used Marian Library artifacts as a lens to explore broad beliefs about healing and wrote narratives that connected to their own experiences. In spring 2023, seniors created the digital exhibit Rituals of Healing: Diversity and Divergence in Catholic Tradition.

The collections can be used to support projects in unexpected ways. Hsuan Tsen, a senior lecturer in the Department of Art and Design, used archival material to enrich her research on the artist John La Farge. She shared, “One of the greatest pleasures of academic life is immersing oneself in the wonders of an archive,” and she used postcards to explore visual exchanges between Japan and the United States. 

ABOUT THE MARIAN LIBRARY AND THE INTERNATIONAL MARIAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Founded in 1943 by the Society of Mary, the Marian Library is an internationally recognized collection of materials connected to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Serving the research needs of the students and faculty at the University of Dayton and internationally, the collections include books, periodicals, archival material, artworks, and religious artifacts. 

The International Marian Research Institute was launched in 1974 to promote Marian scholarship and utilize the resources of the Marian Library. IMRI recently transitioned from the University Libraries to the College of Arts and Sciences with the goal of honoring the commitment of the University and the Marianists to advancing Marian studies. 

HOW TO APPLY

Application materials and more information about Marian Library resources can be found on the Marian Fellowships website. Applicants may contact librarians at the Marian Library for further information about collections and resources that may support their proposed projects.

— Kayla Harris is an associate professor and the director of the Marian Library.