Smithsonian fellowship: Experience and Outcomes

Dive into the Smithsonian Fellowship and discover what past fellows gained from this unique experience!

Please join face to face in Townsville [Building 004- Room 225] or Cairns [Building A1-Room 125] or via Zoom - Password: 527409

For 12 weeks from 2 Feb to 24 April 2026, Dr Elizabeth Smyth conducted research at the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of African Art in Washington DC as part of a Queensland-Smithsonian Fellowship. The article written during this research (for submission this year) is entitled: 'Dangerous and problematic: Representation of tropical forest in 1890s life writing, Northern Australia and Central Africa'.

While the article itself warrants an entire seminar, this presentation instead offers insight into the Fellowship application process and the recipient's personal experience of researching at the Smithsonian Institute: the world's largest museum, education and research organisation. Topics addressed will include funding, the proposed project and research priority, DC during unprecedented snowstorms and war, libraries and archives (Smithsonian, Library of Congress, Harvard's Dumbarton Oaks), distractions, outcomes, and a changed perspective.

See here for registration info