The Bonn-Yale-Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Fellowship
The Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition (GLC), part of the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale University, in partnership with the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS), offers an annual Bonn-Yale-Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Fellowship. The Bonn Center hosts the Cluster of Excellence "Beyond Slavery and Freedom. Asymmetric Dependencies in Pre-modern Societies," funded by the German Excellence Strategy.
Named after the African scholar Anton Wilhelm Amo, this residential fellowship is based in Germany and is open to all scholars with expertise in racial slavery in the United States from the colonial period through the American Civil War. Applicants MUST have received the Ph.D. prior to the beginning of their appointment. Both, established and younger scholars are encouraged to apply to the BCDSS for this annual fellowship (details below).
The Fellow is a member of the Heinz Heinen Kolleg – Center for Advanced Study at the BCDSS that hosts 10 international scholars whose research focuses on various forms of slavery or severe asymmetrical dependency throughout human history and in various cultural contexts. In addition to working on his or her own research project, the Fellow will teach one course related to their research and hold related office hours for students. Ideally, the Fellow will also complete a significant publication during their residency. The Fellow is expected to participate in the intellectual life of the BCDSS and the larger university community. The Fellow will offer one public presentation during their tenure at Bonn.Anton Wilhelm Amo was born around 1700 on the African Gold Coast in the town of Axim in present-day Ghana. He was brought to Germany by the Dutch West India Company in 1707 as an enslaved child and given as a gift to Duke August Wilhelm and Ludwig Rudolf von Wolfenbüttel. Amo was the first African-born person known to have attended a European university. He obtained a doctorate degree in philosophy and held lectures at the universities of Halle and Jena. Having spent forty years of his life in Germany, Amo returned to his place of birth where he died after 1753.
Each academic year (starting from October), the BCDSS together with GLC welcome
- Postdoctoral Fellows (postdocs, assistant and associate professors),
- Senior Fellows (full professors)
for up to 12 months.
All scholars with expertise in racial slavery in the southern United States from the colonial period through the American Civil War invited to apply.
Fellowships comprise
- a monthly stipend of € 2,400 for postdocs (up to four years after the dissertation),
a monthly stipend of € 3,000 for postdocs (more than four years after the dissertation,
assistant/associate professors),
a monthly stipend of € 3,600 for full professors; - travel allowance (outward and return journey);
- basic accommodation;
- a working space including a desktop computer at the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies;
- the opportunity to organize a workshop in Bonn and apply for its funding;
- support in organizational matters upon arrival;
- support in finding day care for children.
Application Procedure
The call for applications for our fellowship program is now open until April 15, 2024. Please find the call here. Please send your complete application documents in English, combined into one single PDF file to application@dependency.uni-bonn.de.
Contact
Sarah Dusend
Head of Research and Study & Deputy Managing Director