The Linda H. Peterson Fellowship

Applications accepted September 15 through November 15.

See our awards calendar for all application and recommendation letter deadlines. Please note that deadlines are subject to change and if needed, will be announced via our social media channels promptly.

I. General Information

Each year, the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP) intends to grant one Linda H. Peterson Fellowship (henceforth, “the Peterson Fellowship”) in the amount of $20,000 to a single researcher for a period equivalent to four, full-time months. Please note that the award will be paid out in U.S. dollars.

The Peterson Fellowship supports the study of any aspects of the periodical press in any of its manifold forms, and may range from within Britain itself to the many countries, within and outside of the Empire, where British magazines and newspapers were bought, sold, and read during the long nineteenth-century.

Funds could be used to supplement sabbatical or other grant income, provide course “buy outs,” and/or conduct travel related to the project.  During the award period, a grantee could conduct secondary research, write, or pursue other scholarly activities related to a proposed project.  However, eligible projects must include substantial research in nineteenth-century primary sources, whether those sources appear in print, manuscript, or digital facsimile.

The Peterson Fellowship is intended to provide a researcher with the most valuable scholarly resource—time.  Thus, an awardee is expected to hold the fellowship for a continuous period for the equivalent of four, full-time months.  In the event that a full-time tenure is not possible, a part-time (or combination part-time/full-time) tenure can be requested. (Those who are seeking less than four months should consider RSVP’s Curran Fellowships Program.)

The fellowship is named for the late Linda H. Peterson (1948-2015), Niel Gray, Jr. Professor of English at Yale University.  Linda was a pioneering scholar and mentor in periodical studies who served as RSVP vice president from 2009-2013 and whose spirit of collegiality and scholarly rigor remains a hallmark of the Society.  The fellowship is funded by a generous bequest from the estate of Eileen Curran (1927-2013).

II. Eligibility

The Peterson Fellowship is intended to support, first and foremost, primary research on the British newspaper and periodical press from the long nineteenth-century. Therefore, eligible projects must engage primary sources, whether those sources appear in print, manuscript, or digital facsimile.

Only one applicant is permitted per application. Awards cannot be shared or split among collaborators. Those seeking support for collaborative projects should consider the RSVP Field Development Grant.

The fellowship period must begin during the same calendar year as the application deadline, or during the subsequent calendar year.

Those holding academic appointments as well as independent or retired scholars are equally welcome to apply. An academic degree is not required; however, those enrolled in a degree program during the award deadline are not eligible.

Officers or Directors of RSVP are not eligible.

Applicants are strongly encouraged, but not required, to become RSVP members.

Applicants may hold grants or fellowships from other organizations concurrent with the Peterson Fellowship. However, the Peterson Fellowship winner may not hold other RSVP awards in the same calendar year.

III.  The Application

All applications must be submitted through the online application portal no later than 11:59 PM US Pacific time (PDT/UTC-7) on the application deadline.

Once the application portal opens, applicants may create an account and begin preparing and submitting their proposals. At the application portal you may start your application and finish submitting it at a later date.

As a courtesy to evaluators, RSVP strongly recommends that applicants prepare their proposals using a readable font, not smaller than 11 point, with margins of at least one inch.  Documents may be single spaced.

An application includes the following components:

1. An online application form, which collects the following information:
   • Full name
   • Postal address
   • Email address
   • Telephone number
   • Proposed period of the fellowship
   • Affiliation (if applicable)
   • Project title
   • A brief project summary (75-100 words)
2. A c.v. not to exceed two single-spaced pages, uploaded in PDF or .docx format. This document should include current and past employment; education; recent publications, awards, and honors; and other information relevant to the review of the proposed project.
3. A narrative proposal not to exceed three single-spaced pages, uploaded in PDF or .docx format. This document must describe the project as well as the work you hope to accomplish with the award. A competitive application will articulate in clear prose how the project will illuminate some aspect of the British periodical press of the long nineteenth-century and indicate the audience(s) for the proposed publication(s) and/or other grant outcomes.  A competitive application will also include a brief yet detailed plan of work for the proposed, four-month award period as well as a timeline for completion of the entire project.
4. A summary not to exceed two pages, uploaded in PDF or .docx format. This document should list primary source materials, archives to be consulted during the project, and selected secondary sources that bear directly on the project.
5. The names and email addresses for two recommenders familiar with the proposed project. Once the applicant enters these into the application portal, each recommender will receive an email with a link to upload a recommendation letter directly into the application system. Recommendation letters are due November 22. Applicants are responsible for soliciting letters of recommendation. It is the responsibility of the applicant to supply recommenders with relevant information about the project. Letters should address the evaluation criteria below.  While the absence of letters from an application will not make it ineligible, letters that arrive late (or not at all) may make an application less competitive.

No itemized budget is required.

IV. How Applications will be Evaluated

A group of interdisciplinary evaluators with knowledge of British periodicals from the long nineteenth-century will use the following criteria to evaluate applications. Applications and letters of recommendation should be crafted with these criteria in mind.

1. The importance of the project, including its use of materials relevant to deeper understanding of the periodical press in Britain and its empire during the long nineteenth-century.
2. The quality of the application, including its clarity of expression.
3. The applicant’s preparation to pursue the project.
4. The feasibility of the plan of work and the likelihood that the applicant will be able to bring the entire project to a successful completion in due course.

Please note that need is not a criterion.

V. Notification and Award Administration

If quality applications are received, RSVP intends to award one Fellowship and may name up to two alternates at the end of the competition.

Notification will take place by email. The winner will have two weeks to accept or decline the award.

All decisions are final. Unsuccessful applicants may choose to revise and resubmit their applications at later deadlines.

At the conclusion of the grant period, awardees must submit a narrative report describing the work completed during the fellowship period and outcomes achieved or expected as a result.  All publications resulting from fellowship support must include the following acknowledgment: “This publication received support of a Linda H. Peterson Fellowship awarded by the Research Society for Victorian Periodicals and funded from the bequest of the Eileen Curran estate.”

Previous Projects and Awardees

Previous winners of the fellowship include:

• 2023 — Two awards:
  • Robert Burroughs (Leeds Beckett University), “S. J. Celestine Edwards, the ‘Black Champion’ of Victorian Oral and Print Culture”
  • Candace Ward (Florida State University), “The Caribbean Cosmopolis: Pan-Caribbean Identities and Nineteenth-Century Colonial Print Culture”
• 2022 — Laura Vorachek (University of Dayton), “The Society of Women Journalists, 1894-1914” 
• 2021 — Mary Shannon (University of Roehampton, London), “Billy Waters, Periodicals, and Nineteenth-Century Popular Culture”
• 2020 — Andrew Hobbs (University of Central Lancashire), “How Victorian newspapers were made: the diaries of reporter and editor, Anthony Hewitson (1836-1912)”
• 2019 — Two awards:
  • Alexis Easley (University of St. Thomas), New Periodical Print Media and the Rise of the Popular Woman Poet, 1830-50
  • Lorraine Janzen Kooistra (Ryerson University), The Dial Digital Edition on Y90s 2.0
• 2018 — In order to comply with US tax regulations related to our new status as a private foundation, RSVP had to cancel the 2018 Peterson Fellowship.
• 2017 — Ian Haywood (Roehampton University), The Rise of Victorian Caricature: Satirical Periodicals 1830-1850
• 2016 — Tom Mole (University of Edinburgh), “Periodicals and the Policing of Culture, 1802-1828”