Call for Mormon Studies Research Fellows
Now Accepting Applicants for 2025!
APPLY NOW
Applications Due Jan. 15
Take advantage of UVA’s extensive Mormon Studies library collection! Apply for our Library and Clyde Research Fellowships to receive $2,500 and gain special access to the collection.
Learn about each fellowship, eligibility requirements, and more below.
Key Dates
- Application review begins in January. For full consideration, apply by January 15.
- Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision by February 28 or once all of the fellowships have been awarded.
Application
- Complete the application form.
- You will be required to upload a two-page research proposal and curriculum vitae in the form.
We look forward to reading your proposals!
Library Research Fellowships
Any Mormon Studies Topic
Two (2) short-term fellowships of $2,500 will be awarded to conduct research in the Prince Collection on any topic related to Mormonism.
PAST FELLOWS
- Spencer Wells – “A comparative study of two Latter-day Saint dissenters, 1890 & 1940: Alva Tanner and G.T. Harrison”
- Nicholas Austin – How late nineteenth and early twentieth century Latter-day Saints constructed and materialized their identities through paper
- Joseph Stuart – How the logic and effect of the Latter-day Saint race restrictions on priesthood were transnational and global
- David Walker – How the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints negotiated early twentieth-century wrestling ring performers, promoters, and fans
“The Prince Collection at UVA houses a wide range of materials that will be of interest to scholars of Latter-day Saint history and the history of American religions more broadly. Some of these materials are unique to the Prince Collection, while others, though available at certain other libraries as well, are compiled and presented here in particularly helpful and accessible ways.”
-David Walker, Associate Professor at UC Santa Barbara, 2023 Library Research Fellow
Clyde Research Fellowships
Mormon Studies & Gender
UVA Mormon Studies is accepting applicants for two (2) Aileen H. and Hal M. Clyde Research Fellowships.
Each fellowship awards $2,500 for research in the UVA Mormon Studies Prince Collection related to Mormonism and gender, including women’s history, feminist studies, masculinity studies, and sexuality studies.
2024 FELLOWS
- David Howlett and Nancy Ross – “Beehive Girls and the Priesthood: Reactions to Women’s Ordination and Feminism in Church Curriculum in the 1970s and 1980s”
- Stephen Cranney – “Intersecting Identities: A Study of Pre-2000 Affirmation Materials and the Interplay between Developing Mormon and LGBTQ Identities”
“These were very valuable sources that have been underused by scholars. Prior to going to [the Prince Collection], we had only found a handful of references to these manuals in the secondary literature. They are very rich primary sources on gender in the LDS Church and its development in the twentieth century.”
-Nancy Ross, Associate Professor at Utah Tech University, 2024 Clyde Research Fellow
The Details
General Info
- Successful applicants will be awarded $2,500, which must be disbursed by December 2025.
- Fellows are given access to the Prince Collection, the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, and other units of the UVA Library system.
- Fellows are responsible for arranging their own housing and parking. While we recommend staying within walking distance of UVA, temporary parking passes are available. Please contact the Office of Parking and Transportation for more information.
- Fellows may be asked to present their research to members of the UVA community.
Eligibility
Fellowships are open to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who live beyond a 60-mile radius of Charlottesville, VA, and:
- Have a PhD or equivalent degree, or
- Are doctoral students who have advanced to candidacy, or
- Are independent scholars with a significant record of scholarly achievement
Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the:
- Scholarly promise of the proposed research
- Candidate’s qualifications for engaging in that research
- Relevance of the project to the holdings of the Prince Collection.
The Small Special Collections Library staff can assist prospective applicants in identifying collection materials relevant for their research.
Please submit requests via the Library’s online reference form. Other questions may be directed to Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Director of Mormon Studies at maffly@virginia.edu.
About the Prince Collection
The Gregory A. Prince Collection is composed of 108 cubic feet of published and unpublished materials, audio recordings, images and artifacts related to Mormonism in its several varieties, but primarily the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
It is housed in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library which number more than 400,000 books, 15 million manuscripts, and thousands of maps, broadsides, photographs, audio and video recordings, and artifacts. It is nationally recognized for the richness of its holdings in American history.
A guide to the Collection, including a container inventory may be browsed online by entering the call number in the UVA Library Search Engine.