Call for 2021 Dickens Society Symposium Bursary Applications

The Dickens Society annually provides bursaries of to support the scholarly development of graduate students, independent scholars, and untenured faculty. Though our symposium is virtual this year, we will be offering a modest bursary of $150.00 and waived registration fee for those undertaking various social media responsibilities, which may include performing basic technological moderation during the symposium.

We will be asking bursary recipients to take over the Dickens Society Twitter account during the symposium, which will occur online on Zoom between July 12-14, 2021. Additionally, other potential duties include helping to write a symposium report of the papers to be disseminated afterwards through the Society’s channels and contributing a blog post on a topic of personal choosing for the Society blog within four months of the end of the event. Early career academics are invited to express interest in moderating and facilitating reading groups and workshops centered around Charles Dickens’s shorter fiction.

To apply, graduate students, independent scholars, and untenured or early career faculty whose papers have been accepted should send a one-page CV with a cover letter to Dickens Society President and symposium organizer Sean Grass <sean.grass@mail.rit.edu> by June 15 2021. The one-page cover letter should discuss the relevance of the symposium for your research and professional development, and should also outline the following. Please highlight your preference in providing technical assistance/support during the conference AND/OR helping with our social media (live-tweeting, blog posts, etc.):

1. Your own ideas for improving the social media presence of the event/any skills with Twitter and Facebook and relevant experience you can bring;
2. If relevant, a very brief idea for a blog post you might write for the society blog after the event;
3. Your experience and level of familiarity with platforms such as Zoom, Slack, WhatsApp, and YouTube.
4. Your interest in moderating and facilitating a reading group or workshop; mention the piece of short fiction that you would prefer to discuss.

The bursary winners will be announced June 22 and will be guided by Catherine Quirk and Christian Lehmann (co-chairs of the DS Communications Committee). If you have any queries in the meantime, please email Sean Grass.