The Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center seeks applications for Research Fellowships that will begin on May 1, 2011. Each fellow will undertake a project that will include original research and result in the publication of a research paper and a presentation of that paper at a Brooklyn Waterfront conference on October 26, 2011. More information about the Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center is available here.

Research Fellow in Architecture, Preservation, or Urban Design
There is much to preserve and much that can be changed along Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront, and much is being preserved and much is being changed. The Research Fellow, focusing on issues of architecture, preservation, and urban design, will study and provide a detailed overview of the models of preservation and change that are occurring in this area. The fellow will look at industry/manufacturing, housing, open spaces/recreation, maritime  industries, and cultural initiatives. The fellow will explore the reuse of existing structures and the construction of new ones. He or she will study City plans and zoning and projects that are stalled, planned, or under way. The fellow should put Brooklyn’s development in an historical or international context and formulate a series of conclusions and offer topics or areas for further research.

Research Fellow in Economics, Economic History, or Development
Economic forces contributed to the need for the change that we see along the Brooklyn waterfront and that change has had economic effects. The BWRC fellow who receives this appointment will be asked to put the changes that are occurring along the Brooklyn waterfront in an historical context, showing how processes like the containerization of cargo or the globalization of manufacturing have had profound economic effects on the area.Alternatively, the fellow might examine how a convergence of other forces and circumstances resulted in change and how current economic conditions are affecting the shifts that have been under way in housing, industry, and recreation. Whichever approach is taken, it will be important to explore the economic effects, positive and negative, of preservation efforts along the waterfront. Here too, the fellow should put the Brooklyn waterfront’s development in an international context and formulate a series of conclusions and offer topics or areas for further research.

Applications
If you are interested in applying for one of the Center fellowships, please submit a two-page narrative explaining how you would approach the project. Narratives should be accompanied by a CV and one letter of recommendation. All materials should be sent to Center Director Richard E. Hanley at rhanley[at]citytech.cuny.edu.
These fellowships are open to faculty of institutions both inside and outside of CUNY. They are also open to accomplished scholars outside the academy. Non-CUNY employees will receive a $5,000 stipend; for CUNY employees, alternative compensation arrangements will be made.

Download this announcement as a PDF here.