Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowship
Background Information
The Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National and International Affairs is dedicated to the preservation, advancement and outreach activities of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum,
one of our nation’s 13 presidential libraries overseen by the National
Archives and Records Administration. Together with its public
partner, the Truman Library Institute preserves the enduring legacy of
America’s 33rd president to enrich the public’s understanding
of history, the presidency, public policy and citizenship. The
Truman Library Institute’s Research Grants Program was created to help
fulfill President Truman’s wish that his library become “a center for
the study of the presidency… the greatest executive office the world
has ever known.” Therefore, since 1957, the Truman Library Institute
has provided $2.4 million to researchers in support of scholarship
focused on President Truman and his world-altering decisions via our
various awards, which include Research Grants, the Scholars Award,
Dissertation Year Fellowships and the Truman Book Award.
Project Description
The Truman Library Institute is pleased to add to its existing Research Grants Program an exciting new project – the Truman-Kauffman Research Program. Thanks to the generosity of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Truman Library Institute has created a major
new research initiative and public lecture series featuring senior
scholars researching, presenting, and publishing on the role of foreign
aid on development, modernization, and societal reconstruction,
especially in the wake of war, colonialism, and rising globalization.
Of course, research projects that incorporate the Marshall Plan, the
Truman Doctrine, and/or the Point Four program, are especially
encouraged.
The Truman Library Institute will award two Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowships in each of the next three years to senior scholars in support of ambitious archival-based research projects. Participating
scholars will receive initial research/travel stipends to conduct
research in the collections of the Truman Presidential Library. The
initial grant will be followed by a major non-residential fellowship
award allowing scholars to make significant progress on their research and resulting publication(s). Awardees
will also be asked to present their findings through the project’s
public component, which will include a combination of academic
conferences and public lectures, generally in the Kansas City, Missouri
area. (Military, foreign policy and other experts will also be
invited to participate in the project’s public programs.) Each scholar
will also be expected to produce a major book on his or her research,
which will be published, contingent upon the standard peer-review
process, by a major university press under contract with the Truman
Institute for this series.
Theoretical rationale behind the Truman-Kauffman Research Program
President
Truman’s administration developed a number of foreign aid programs
that entirely restructured the nation’s national security apparatus and
policies. In particular, the Truman
Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the Point Four Program all demonstrated
a new kind of foreign policy – to help rebuild war torn regions through
economic and/or technical assistance. The
use of economic aid as a primary component of his foreign policies was
key, as was the various aid programs’ delivery mechanisms. Truman
and Secretary of State George C. Marshall’s shared belief in the
importance of restoring economic growth to Europe (as well as Japan,
Korea and other countries) embodied an engagement with development,
reconstruction, and political governance that was a seismic break in
traditional U.S. foreign policy.
The importance of reviving war and natural disaster torn countries via economic revitalization can not be overstated. This was the key lesson stemming from the Truman administration’s aid programs – a lesson that holds import for the U.S. and the world’s responses to international crises occurring today. Therefore, the Truman-Kauffman Scholars Program will focus on past and present, as well as on successful and less-than-successful, economic aid programs. Scholars will be required to conduct research at the Truman Library so that they can assess past and present foreign aid programs. With the legacy of the European Recovery Program, Point Four, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, or the Truman Doctrine serving as a foundational premise, scholars may examine other presidential administrations’ efforts to rebuild areas of the globe affected by war or natural disaster – including the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act under President Kennedy, the 1989 SEED Act (Supporting Eastern European Democracy), the “New Compact for Development” in 2002 as well as present day relief efforts in Haiti and rebuilding efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. By comparing these “historic” foreign aid and development programs to today’s international aid efforts and broadening the awareness of the Truman administration’s rebuilding efforts in the wake of global war, the Truman Library Institute hopes to foster a better understanding of how foreign economic aid and development can be effectively delivered to meet today’s challenges.
Fellowship Details
- The Truman Library Institute will award up to two Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowships during each of the next three years – beginning in the spring of 2012.
- Each Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowship carries a stipend totaling $37,500.
- Format:
1) An initial research grant of $2,500 will be awarded in order to allow the scholar to travel to and conduct research at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. (These awards are to offset expenses incurred for this purpose only.)
2) A subsequent fellowship award of $35,000 will be provided to free a scholar from teaching or other employment for one-year in order to allow the scholar to make significant progress on the completion of a major book. - Applications for funding will be considered by the Truman Library Institute’s Research, Scholarship and Education Committee.
- Application timeline:
- Completed applications are due November 1, 2011.
- Applicants will be notified of the results of the preliminary screening on December 15, 2011.
- Subsequently, finalists must submit supplementary information by January 15, 2012.
- Notification of the Committee’s final decisions will be made in writing by March 1, 2012.
Eligibility
Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowships are
available to senior scholars who are employed in a tenured position at
a degree-granting academic institution in the United States, remaining
so for the duration of the fellowship. U.S. citizenship or permanent
residency is not required. Applicants must have produced at least one
book or a minimum of two articles in prominent, refereed journals.
Finally, applicants with specific research and/or publication
experience in the fields of international aid, development, economic
recovery programs and expeditionary economics will be given preferential
consideration.
Scholars are free to apply for Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowships
as well as other standard forms of support including fellowships,
grants, and/or or sabbatical salary. However, awardees may not accept a
competing fellowship or major grant from another institution if the
terms of the competing fellowship or grant include teaching
responsibilities OR if the receipt of the competing funds in anyway
compromises the specific research focus of the Truman-Kauffman Scholars Program.
Finally, applicants
must agree to the meet the following expectations within a reasonable
amount of time following the receipt of a Fellowship:
- Each scholar will publish a significant work of scholarship stemming from his or her research – preferably a book published by the major press cooperating with this project.
- Awardees will also be asked to present their findings through the Truman-Kauffman Scholars Program’s public component, which may include a combination of academic conferences and public lectures. (The Truman Library Institute will cover the travel costs associated with a scholar’s appearance and will also provide a small honorarium.)
Application Process
Applicants should submit a proposal by November
1, 2011. This proposal should show evidence of significant preliminary
work already completed on a project fitting the theoretical scope of
the Truman-Kauffman Scholars Program
and the plan of work necessary for its completion. A bibliography
should also be submitted. The Committee will advise applicants in
writing of the outcome of their preliminary screening no later than
December 15, 2011. Applicants selected to continue in the second phase
of the awarding process will be asked to submit by January 15, 2012:
1) A description of Truman Library materials
that an applicant has already examined and/or those that he or she
intends to examine; 2) A projected timeline for completion of the
applicant’s project as well as a projected timetable for the production of articles and the manuscript;
and 3) An estimate of an applicant’s income during the year when the
award will be given. Applicants will be notified of the Committee’s
final decision in writing by March 1, 2012. Assurance will be required
from the administrative leadership of the scholar's home institution
(dean, provost, president, or other appropriate person) that the
applicant is an especially promising member of its faculty, and that
the institution is prepared to make its own contributions—beyond
providing normal fringe benefits (including health insurance) during
the fellowship year—to assist the scholar in bringing the project to
completion, such as continued access to campus office, library, and
research facilities.
Application Requirements
Applications must include:
- Completed application form
- A copy of the applicant’s curriculum vitae
- Proposal describing the project that explains the significance of the project and sets it within the context of the existing scholarly literature (not to exceed six pages in length)
- Bibliography (one page)
- Timeline for completion of the project and production of articles and the book-length manuscript
- Three reference letters
- Institutional support statement
Criteria Used in Judging Truman-Kauffman Research Fellowships
The Research, Scholarship and Education Committee will evaluate all eligible proposals according to the following criteria:
- The potential of the project to advance the field of study in which it is proposed and make an original and significant contribution to knowledge.
- The ambition and scope of the proposed project.
- The quality of the proposal with regard to its methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature.
- The feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will execute the work within the proposed timeframe.
- The scholarly record and career trajectory of the applicant.
- Commitment by the scholar's institution to assisting in advancing the project.
