2026 An Apocrypha of Drowning
About: In Europe, drowning emerged as a notable form of accidental death in the mid-18th century. “Apparently drowned” bodies, teetering between life and death, presented objects of fear, revulsion, and fascination and advocates faced intense religious and scientific resistance in addition to their own organizational, educational, medical, and financial challenges. I have been writing an interdisciplinary cultural analysis of the rise of drowning advocacy and medicine from 1774 to the present. Coming to conclusion after five years, I am applying for funding for a student to assist with the final elements of the project, which includes a scholarly book and a gallery show (scheduled for the Green library in Winter 2027.)
Research Tasks: By summer 2026, the manuscript will be complete and in final preparation for publication. The student will be engaged in (1) the preparation of the final book manuscript, which will involve attainting and finalizing image permission, photoshopping and finalizing all art images and captions, finalizing bibliographic materials and records, fact-checking, and (2) assistance with curatorial details of the gallery show including design, organizations, publicity, and catalogue preparation.
Qualifications: The RA should be an upper level undergraduate with research experience and attention to detail.
Base stipend is $8500 with up to $1500 additional stipend based on financial need.
- This is a full-time position; students are expected to participate 35+ hours/week for 10 consecutive weeks. Participants are not permitted to engage in another full-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity (whether funded by Stanford or otherwise). They also may not hold a part-time internship, job, or volunteer opportunity unless their faculty mentors or program mentors have approved these arrangements before the start of the summer. Students also cannot receive an additional VPUE part-time grant within the same quarter.
- Students must be current undergraduates in good standing at Stanford during the summer quarter; those graduating in June are not eligible.
- Students may not receive both academic units and a stipend for any single project activity.
- Students pursuing a coterminal MA degree are eligible ONLY IF 1) they have not conferred their undergraduate degree AND 2) they are in the undergraduate (not graduate) tuition group.
- Students may not be serving a suspension or be on a Leave of Absence (LOA) while using grant funding.
