Other Significant Fellowships
Past Fellows
During my Fellowship (4-28 July 2022) I carried out a research on the VIth century Gallic bishop Sidonius Apollinaris – a key figure in Late Antiquity, also in the light of the new great interest in his works and within the International project SAxii – Sidonius Apollinaris for the XXIst century (www.sidonapol.org) –, having the chance to consult, right through the original documents, some of the first modern commentaries on him, available at Durham historic collections, at Palace Green Library and at Ushaw College: the XVI-XVIIth century editions by Jean Savaron (magistrate and humanist) and by Jacques Sirmond (Jesuit scholar)....
Filomena Giannotti
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Sienna, Italy)
A productive month of research in historic Durham in a collegial environment with scholars whose work informs your own – it doesn’t get better than that!
Carmen Mangion
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of London, England)
The Lendrum Fellowship at the DRRL gave me the opportunity to work extensively with the fantastic archival material of Palatinate Durham in the Palace Green Library. The fact that I was also affiliated with the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies was ideal. I received a very warm welcome here and was able to discuss research intensively with other colleagues. In addition, I very much enjoyed the possibility of unrestricted access to the libraries via the Durham Card. In terms of British academic life, it was very rewarding to get an insight into a college through St Chad's College....
Professor Christian Hesse
Lendrum Priory Visiting Fellowship (University of Bern, Switzerland)
The Durham Residential Library Fellowships are a particularly good opportunity for independent researchers like me to keep up their research skills and maintain a research profile. During my Barker Visting Fellowship at Durham, I gave a paper on the monograph I had just published, took part in a ‘work in progress’ session, made connections with new colleagues with similar research interests, and reconnected with old friends based at Durham. The focus of my fellowship was the Grey papers in the Palace Green Library, in which I explored correspondence between Richard More O’Ferrall, the Irish Catholic governor of Malta between 1847...
Dr Aidan Enright
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Leeds Beckett, United Kingdom)
My fellowship at Durham (Lendrum Priory Residential Research Library Fellowship) was transformative for my research as it enabled me to access the little-studied medieval collections of Ushaw College in situ and even discover a hitherto unknown original charter of King John (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-47698594)
Dr Benjamin Pohl
(University of Bristol, England)
My time in Durham as a researcher under the Research Fellowship scheme was both congenial and very fruitful. It provided me with access to significant and essential materials that facilitated my project in transformative ways. The library and archives staff were exemplary in their welcome and generous assistance. Living in Durham for one month was also a most pleasant experience. My thanks to all who support the scheme and I commend it to any who are considering making an application.
Rev Dr Robert Fennell
Barker Visiting Fellowship (Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
'The opportunity to work intensively with the manuscript treasures of Durham special collections was invaluable. The collegial and friendly atmosphere generated in the cohort of fellows was an added bonus!'
Professor Gordon Pentland
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
"The Residential Research Fellowship at Durham University provided me with vital, extended access to important collections that uncovered, and helped explain how and why, Catholic kin networks engaged in settler colonialism and the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people in a bid to secure their own safety from anti-Catholic legislation. The collections proved that these networks were vast, global, and connected to theological and cultural change brought about by the Catholic Reformation as much by Protestant ones. Most importantly, the advice that I received from staff at Durham and Ushaw College with expert familiarity with these collections meant that I developed...
Dr Helen Kilburn
DRRL Visiting Fellowship (University of Manchester, England)
Durham University’s Residential Research Fellowship was a delightful experience. For part of a new book I’m writing on the history of empires and resistance, I used the Sudan Collection, arguably the most important archive of the British Empire in the Sudan. It is an amazing collection. I highly recommend this fellowship program, which brings together different scholars and offers them a rare sense of community in one of England’s most beautiful university settings. It’s world-class, and I want to return!
James Le Sueur
Barker Visiting Fellowship (University of Nebraska, USA)
The Baker Fellowship allowed me to spend a month researching at Ushaw and Palace Green Special Collections. During my visit, I met scholars from diverse backgrounds and discovered primary sources that expand my previous research on Anglo-Iberian relations, Brazilian history, and Atlantic history. The fellowship exceeded my expectations, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have spent time in Durham. As a result of my fellowship, I anticipate new career and research opportunities.
Luciane Scarato
DRRL Visiting Fellowship (Independent Scholar, Brazil)