Ragdale: The HUMAN Residency Fellowship

Ragdale is pleased to announce the HUMAN Residency Fellowship, an exciting new partnership with Lake Forest College, made possible by the Mellon Foundation

ABOUT

The HUMAN Residency Fellowship at Ragdale is part of Lake Forest College’s $1.2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation for HUMAN: Humanities Understanding of the Machine-Assisted Nexus, led by Professor of English and Executive Director of the Krebs Center for the Humanities, Davis Schneiderman.

“We are thrilled to partner with Ragdale on this important initiative,” said Schneiderman. “The HUMAN Residency Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for artists to engage with the critical questions surrounding AI, and to explore how the humanities can inform our understanding of these technologies and their impact on society.”

Benefiting from the interdisciplinary expertise of Lake Forest’s diverse faculty, the wider HUMAN grant aspires to navigate the rapidly evolving technological advancements connected to AI and automation through a humanities lens that is historical, practical, and attuned to questions of ethics and social justice. At the highest level, HUMAN seeks to demonstrate that unchecked AI and automation can replicate and exacerbate social inequity, and disproportionally impact marginalized populations.

“This partnership with Lake Forest College provides a special opportunity to bring together an innovative group of artists whose work is actively engaged in how technology and AI are shaping the humanities,” said Ragdale Executive Director Paul Sacaridiz. “Artists play a critical role in helping us to see the world in new ways, and this residency provides a platform to explore new ideas, to take risks, and to expand our understanding of contemporary culture.”

The application deadline for the HUMAN residency at Ragdale is July 31, 2024.

Apply

FOR APPLICANTS:

This multi-year collaboration invites artists from diverse disciplines to explore the intersection of the humanities, artificial intelligence, and social justice. Ragdale encourages applications from individuals whose work addresses questions about the impact of bias on AI outputs, the influence of dominant historical narratives on current AI technologies, and the ethical considerations for integrating AI into daily life. Emerging, midcareer, and established writers, dancers, musicians, composers, and visual artists are all encouraged to apply.

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee comprised of Ragdale’s curatorial board, staff, and representatives from the Krebs Center for the Humanities at Lake Forest College.

RESIDENCY AWARDS

Selected artists will spend two blocks of time at Ragdale; an initial six-day AI-themed residency in spring 2025 (dates TBD), and an individual 18-day fee-waived residency to be scheduled in the subsequent two years of the project (2026 or 2027). The fellowship includes a $1,000 stipend for the initial themed residency and a $3,000 stipend for the individual residency, which may be used for travel or other expenses.

Full 18-day residencies are comprised of cohorts of up to 14 multidisciplinary artists working on their own projects. All applicants who apply for the HUMAN Residency Fellowship will be asked to participate in a program, such as a panel talk, visiting artist lecture, workshop, or other related event as part of a culminating AI symposium in 2027. Program details will be determined after the cohort is selected.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

11:59 PM CST July 31, 2024. Late applications cannot be accepted.

ELIGIBILITY

Ragdale encourages applications from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives and demographics, and to that end, emerging as well as established artists are invited to apply. While there are no publication, exhibition or performance requirements for application, applicants should be working at the professional level in their fields. Ragdale encourages artists of all backgrounds to apply and does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of age, disability, gender, origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

GUIDELINES

All applicants submit electronic materials through the Submittable application portal. Do not email or mail any application materials. Ragdale’s standard selection criteria includes the review of work samples and their presentation, the written work plan, and evidence of the artist’s continued engagement with the work. Please note the following requirements to complete your application. A completed online application form includes:

A one-page artist statement and proposal. Proposals should describe how a residency would support the applicant’s work in exploring the intersection of the humanities and artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, with an emphasis on questions of equity and social justice.
A one- to two-page CV or resume that summarizes your professional background.
Work samples that show work from the past 2-3 years. All media is acceptable. Most electronic file types and sizes are accepted.

PLEASE NOTE: Letters of recommendation are not required nor accepted.

There is an application fee of $10. This amount covers the cost of application processing. Ragdale does not profit from application fees. If you are not in a position to cover the processing fee, please reach out to Deanna Miera at deanna@ragdale.org to request a fee-waived application.

Some questions you may consider in your proposal:

 In what ways does existing racial bias impact AI outputs?
How have dominant historical narratives influenced current AI technologies to the detriment of historically marginalized peoples?
What ethical considerations arise when integrating AI into daily human life, and how do the potential answers to those ethical questions intertwine with questions of race and class?
How do different cultures and traditions interpret and respond to the rise of automation?

EVALUATION

Applications are reviewed by Ragdale’s Curatorial Board and staff alongside Lake Forest College’s faculty and staff. Evaluations of work are based on the following criteria:

Work samples: documented works are original, inventive, and exciting.
Work samples indicate relevance in their contemporary field.
Work sample presentation: work samples are high-quality and technically proficient in execution and are professionally presented and documented.
Artist’s experience: artist statement and CV/Resume reflects continued development of ideas, serious inquiry into subject matter, and exceptional aesthetic investigation in the chosen medium.
Work plan: artist demonstrates how their work relates to the concepts of the HUMAN Residency Fellowship and how they will maximize their time at Ragdale.

NOTIFICATION

Applicants are notified of admission status via email in September.

TIMELINE