The Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (RENSEP) invites applications for a research travel stipend for studying in the Archives of the Impossible of the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University in Houston, Texas. This grant will enable students to travel to Rice University and conduct research at the Archives of the Impossible. Since RENSEP endorses a praxeological approach to the study of esotericism, the research conducted at the archives should focus on topics and collections that feature practices.
Brief guidelines for the Archives of the Impossible can be accessed by clicking the following link:
https://libguides.rice.edu/impossiblearchives
Furthermore, there have also been two major international conferences around the collection. Both can be accessed through the following link:Â https://impossiblearchives.rice.edu/. The latter link also contains a lot of information on the archives themselves.
As part of the grant RENSEP requires that the dissemination of the research includes one research article, one blog post, and one YouTube interview with the recipient to be posted on the RENSEP website. The stipend amounts to $4,000 for accommodation and living expenses with a maximum of $1,000 for travel expenses to and from Houston, the latter amount being reimbursed separately. This amount corresponds to roughly one month of residency in Houston, Texas.
The stipend is directly funded by RENSEP. The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2023. The actual residency can be negotiated from October 2023 to August 2024.
Applications must include:
- a short proposal (approximately 2 pages describing the intent and content of the proposed research);
- a CV.
Send your application to impossiblearchives@rice.edu.
