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International Visitors


Stanford departments, research institutes, and programs nominate top-notch scholars who have not had significant exposure to U.S. universities or to Stanford in particular. Often, these experts are working in similar fields or on complementary projects to their campus counterparts. A selection committee, made up of faculty and administrators from Stanford’s humanities and social science disciplines, appoints approximately five scholars per year to come to Stanford. Visitors are chosen for their ability to expose the campus to new and relevant research agendas or geographic regions, and the likelihood that the residency will result in lasting scholarly contributions.

International visitors are awarded a generous stipend, which encompasses housing and travel expenses, for the duration of their one-month residency. As active participants in Stanford’s intellectual community, they have an office at the Humanities Center, eat lunch daily with the Center fellows, and take part in workshops, meetings and lectures at both the Humanities Center and FSI.

Each nominating unit organizes an array of activities for its visitor during the residency. Many give public lectures, others teach and lead sections in undergraduate courses, some are invited to theme dorms to have dinner with students who have similar interests. By experiencing the life of the university in multiple venues, international visitors create lasting scholarly relationships.

View current and former international visitors.
  • Eligibility[+]
    Stanford departments, programs, and research centers and institutes are each eligible to nominate one candidate for a residency for the following academic year through their chair or director. Preference will be given to departments, programs and research centers that did not host an FSI/Humanities Center visitor during the previous year.

    Nominating units are asked to commit to hosting at least one activity (and preferably more) with the candidate, should the nomination be successful. Examples of such activities include: student workshops, faculty discussion sessions, departmental lectures, participation in departmental colloquia, etc. Visitors may not offer courses for credit.

    Selections will be made by a committee convened by the Humanities Center and FSI. Especially appropriate are candidates who are finishing a project and are in a position to share the results with colleagues on campus.
  • Stipends[+]
    International visitors receive a stipend of $2,000 per week for the duration of their visit plus a housing and cost of living allowance of up to $3,000. The Humanities Center and FSI will cover travel expenses for one round trip from their place of origin.
  • Application Process[+]
    Nominations should include:

    • Brief rationale for nomination, including a précis of the candidateʼs profile and an explanation of how the candidate would fit with the respective missions of the Humanities Center and FSI (approximately 500-1,000 words: see http://shc.stanford.edu and http://fsi.stanford.edu for more information about the two institutes).
    • Candidateʼs CV. Candidates typically will be scholars affiliated with a non- U.S. university or research institution. Candidates must be non-U.S. nationals working abroad. Candidates are expected to be able to function in an English-speaking academic context, although at the departmentʼs discretion, their departmental activity may be conducted in another language.
    • A commitment from the nominating unit to host at least one activity (and preferably more) with the candidate if he or she is selected, along with a brief proposal for a possible activity (no more than one paragraph).  

    Nominations should be sent as an email attachment to Patricia Blessing.

    The nomination deadline for FSI-Humanities Center International Visitors 2013-14 has passed.

    Questions
     Please direct all questions to Patricia Blessing.