Special Collections is accepting applications for Freshman Fellows, a one-year fellowship exclusively available to the fabulous JHU Class of 2025! The program is designed to introduce students to the joys, challenges, and thrills involved in conducting research with primary sources. Limited to just four freshmen, Freshman Fellows provides its scholars with support by pairing each fellow with a mentor who will guide them through every step of the research process. Successful students will also receive a research award of $1,000!

Why should you apply? Because you will get to conduct original research with awesome rare things, be mentored by curatorial staff, and will be able to delight friends and family alike with bizarre historic facts. Don’t believe me? Well, just look at all the strange and wonderful things Kobi Khong, a Class of 2024 Freshman Fellow, discovered from our collection of historic cookbooks.

I am sure you now have an appetite for historic research! This year, we have four intriguing research topics on our plate, sure to meet the needs of your discerning palate:

  • Explore Romance Comic Books from the 1940s and 1970s
  • Translate Untranslated Works in Greek, Latin, or Spanish
  • Uncover Hopkins History through a Century of Yearbooks
  • Use GIS to Explore Antiquarian Maps of the Caribbean

Sounds enticing, right? Just think: you can spend your freshman year at Hopkins reading comic books, gaining language translation skills, training to become your generation’s Hopkins historian, or applying today’s technology to artifacts. Fortunately for you, the application process is a breeze. All you need to do is write a 750-word essay on why you would like to be in the program and what you would like to research.

Applications are due by 11:59PM on Sunday, September 12.  Please go to our webpage for full descriptions of the research projects and complete application details. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all about the fellowship. You can also attend one of our HOP 101 Info Sessions about the program. They will be held in the Macksey Seminar Room (M-level, Brody Learning Commons) on Friday, August 27th at 2pm, 3pm, and 4pm.