Visiting Research Appointments

The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures welcomes a limited number of qualified visitors whose academic interests intersect directly with the teaching and research activities of its members in the form of active collaboration. Because faculty and students thrive on intellectual engagement with guest researchers, visitors are encouraged to participate actively in the life of the Department and the University, attending lectures, conferences, film showings and classes with permission of the instructor. Visitors may be invited to present an informal talk or seminar during the course of their stay.

Although research appointments carry no financial support of any kind, they enable a visiting researcher to obtain a Harvard identification card, which gives access to Harvard University libraries, museums, and an email address. For certain types of appointments, the University provides assistance with the visa process for scholars coming from outside the U.S.¹ Visitors are entirely responsible for obtaining funding, for making their own travel and living arrangements, and for obtaining health insurance. The Department is unable to provide office space or supplies.

Appointment as a Visiting Scholar is designed to permit scholars who have completed the Ph.D. and hold current, tenure-track or tenured appointments at other institutions to conduct research at Harvard University. Pre-doctoral or post-doctoral scholars who do not have on-going appointments elsewhere may be eligible for appointment as Fellows or Associates as appropriate.

Appointment extends for a period of no less than three months and no more than one year.

Important Guidelines

• Visiting research appointments have a limit to how many years they can be renewed.² For an appointment to be renewed, there must be proof of progress or activity with regards to the active collaboration undertaken between the visitor and their faculty sponsor, which speaks to the ways in which the visitor’s presence contributes to the intellectual life of the department.
• A current ladder faculty member (i.e. non-emeritus) must serve as the visitor’s faculty sponsor.
• Faculty members are limited to sponsoring a maximum of 3 visitors at any given time.
• The executive committee will review applications for visiting research appointments once a semester (on or around September 15, February 15). Please submit, by the beginning of September and the beginning of February, an application that contains the following materials: 
   
  • Current curriculum vitae
  • Brief description (1-2 pages) of the research project and how it contributes to the intellectual life of the department
  • Cover letter specifying the desired dates of appointment
  • Brief letter from the RLL faculty member who has agreed to serve as a sponsor

To apply or for any questions, please contact Vanessa Osgood, Department Administrator, vanessaosgood@fas.harvard.edu.

[1] Please refer to Research Appointments for information on the various types of research appointments.

[2] Associates can be renewed for an additional four years, Visiting Scholars for a second year. If a faculty sponsor would like for their visitor to continue to have access to Harvard library resources beyond the renewal limit, they can name their visitor as a research assistant through Widener Library.