WASHINGTON – The Office of Faculty Development (OFD) in the Office of the Provost is pleased to announce that applications for the 2021 Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Summer Academy are now being accepted until Friday, March 19 at 4 p.m. To apply visit here.

The academy will offer up to 20 full-time junior faculty the opportunity to participate in this community of scholars at Howard University. A small stipend will be provided to each faculty scholar who successfully completes the program.

The Junior Faculty Writing and Creative Works Summer Academy was created to support junior faculty with their scholarly publications and/or creative works. Scholarly publications include manuscripts for journal articles, book chapters and monographs in a university or other academic presses. Creative works include original compositions, orchestrations, arrangements, original scripts, adaptations, theatrical designs, choreography, installations, exhibitions of two- and three-dimensional works of art, video and motion graphics, or performance/conceptual works of art and design. For a second year, the summer academy will be held virtually.

Additionally, the academy seeks the service of 10 scholar coaches who will provide mentorship to the faculty scholars. Senior and mid-career faculty members who have an established track record of pursuing their scholarly agenda and successfully mentoring junior colleagues are encouraged to apply. A stipend will be provided to each scholar coach who successfully mentors a faculty scholar.

“The summer academy promotes and supports cross-disciplinary collaboration among junior faculty with more experienced faculty at Howard University. Therefore, we are encouraging junior faculty and those midcareer and senior colleagues who are interested in being scholar coaches to participate in the summer academy,” said Associate Provost Okianer Christian Dark, who has run the program from its inception. “It is very important that our scholarship comes from many fields of study. We are especially encouraging faculty in the fine arts, humanities (English, classics and foreign languages), history, philosophy, sociology, African studies and Afro-American studies to apply.”

Amy Yeboah, Ph.D., now an associate professor of Afro-American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a graduate of the 2019 summer academy. She feels the confidence she has gained through participation in the academy affirms that she belongs in academia. “At times, I look down and imposter syndrome looks back, telling this first-generation Black woman from the Bronx, ‘you and it are not enough,’” said Yeboah. “When such words come to mind, I look over at my picture frame of affirmations I received from the summer academy and get back to work. The summer academy equipped me with the playbook, the emergency manual, and the support to accomplish the task of effectively balancing teaching, research, and service, and I recommend that all junior faculty consider applying.”

Faculty accepted into the 2021 summer program will be required to attend all sessions and meetings, including two mandatory research retreats.

Please contact Jacqueline Young, program manager, at jyoung1@howard.edu for additional information about the summer academy or visit the Office of Faculty Development website for the schedule, deadlines and links to the application portal in InfoReady.

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue more than 140 programs of study leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Imani Pope-Johns, public relations manager, Imani.popejohns@howard.edu