I’m thrilled to share that Ithaka S+R will be serving as an evaluator on the The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage, a six-year program which aims to advance multicultural collections through innovative and inclusive curatorial practice and leadership at the Rare Book School.

Through this fellowship, 45 fellows who identify with diverse racial or ethnic communities and/or who work primarily with collections that document minority, immigrant, and non-Western cultural traditions will participate in this program over six years. Comprising three overlapping cohorts of 15 fellows each, the fellowship will seek to fulfill four core goals: 

  1. Develop skills for documenting and interpreting visual and textual materials in special collections and archives; 
  2. Raise awareness within professional communities about the significance of inclusive, multicultural collections, including their promotion, development, and stewardship; 
  3. Build connections with diverse communities and publics through strategic programming, outreach, and advocacy; and 
  4. Advance careers by establishing new pathways and skills for professional growth.

Ithaka S+R collaborated with the Rare Book School on a prior planning grant to establish these goals, associated program activities, and program outcomes. We look forward to supporting the success of this fellowship through ongoing evaluation, dialogue, and strategy development with RBS. 

Applications for the first cohort of fellows will be available in September 2019 and will be due on 2 December 2019. See the RBS fellowship webpage for more details on the fellowship program and the application process.