Application Instructions
To be considered for a Buchanan Library Fellow position, candidates must be undergraduate students enrolled at Vanderbilt University in good academic standing. Previously selected Library Fellows may not reapply for a new project. Required documents include:
- Completed application form including statement of interest for the fellowship
- Curriculum vitae including name, address, email, and telephone
Applications for fall 2026 fellowships are due September 2nd (by midnight). Notifications will be sent out the week of September 8th.
**Please note that all all undergraduate award/stipend payments are considered financial aid and may affect a student's eligibility for other financial aid. If applicants do have financial aid, they are highly encouraged to check with the Office of Student Financial Aid to inquire about any possible impact this award may have on their financial aid package.**
For questions or general information about the Buchanan Library Fellows program, contact melissa.mallon@vanderbilt.edu.
Fall 2026 Fellowships
Artistry and Representation: Black Women in Country Music
In this fellowship, students will have the opportunity to engage with the Women in Country Music Collections, held in Vanderbilt Libraries Special Collections and University Archives. Fellows will focus on three major themes: artistry and songwriting in Country, Americana and Folk music; marketing efforts by independent musicians in the early 2000s; and representation in Country Music and the music industry. For the final project, fellows will create a digital “mixtape” emulating promotional materials produced by the musicians, using images, video, and audio clips from the collections, accompanied by original descriptions and other writings, such as song lyrics and prose inspired by these materials. This fellowship allows students to develop research skills using archival materials, primary and secondary sources, as well as practice succinct writing to describe collection items, learn visual storytelling techniques, and gain experience using WordPress to create a public-facing digital project. Fellows will meet as a group weekly in Special Collections and University Archives. Sessions will include discussions of assigned readings, listening and viewing materials, individual and group work, and invited speakers.
Engaging the community beyond campus, students will tour the National Museum of African American Music or Country Music Hall of Fame, and have the opportunity to attend live performances in Nashville.
Mentors: Jason Schultz; Julia Khait; Kate Linton
Building a University: Vanderbilt’s Sixth Decade, 1925-1935
This project uses primary sources to explore the history of Vanderbilt University’s sixth decade from 1925 to 1935. During this decade Vanderbilt and the United States experienced the shift between the Roaring Twenties to the Great Depression, life after World War I, and the New Deal. Vanderbilt also celebrated their Semi-Centennial, 50 years after the founding of the school. Other events that occurred at the university include the installation of the first dean of women in 1925, the establishment of the first Jewish fraternity in 1928, and the fire of Wesley Hall in 1932. Fellows will examine historically significant university manuscripts and documents in the Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) and place them in context with the University’s and the nation’s history. At the end of this project, Fellows will blend curatorial practice and the history of the University into an exhibition held on campus.
Mentors: Faith McConnon; Kathy Smith; Brynna Farris; Carla Beals
Identity, Data, and Meaning Making in the Digital Age
What does your online footprint say about who you are? Inspired by Vauhini Vera’s book Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, students in this fellowship will treat search histories, location tags, and social media posts like entries in a digital diary. Together we’ll explore issues of digital privacy, media literacy, and digital selfhood while conducting both personal and scholarly research into the role of data shaping identity. Each fellow will create a final creative project that reflects their inquiry. Examples of possible works include zines, poetry or fiction, an audio collage, or even a surveillance self-portrait.
While students in this fellowship will be encouraged to examine their digital lives deeply, there is no expectation to share personal data students are not comfortable disclosing. Fellows' insights and boundaries will be equally respected.
Mentors: Emily Bush; Melissa Mallon
Gender in Play: Exploring Media Narratives of Sports
With viewership and investment in women's sports at an all-time high, this fellowship will explore media coverage of sports through the lens of gender. Using the Vanderbilt Television News Archive (TVNA) as a primary source, fellows will investigate a specific topic related to gender and sports in order to analyze how media narratives both reflect and shape the public's attitudes. For example, fellows may choose to research media coverage of the passage and implementation of Title IX; compare language used to describe male versus female athletes; track longitudinal trends in the volume of coverage for a specific women's sport; or examine narratives about transgender athletes.
Fellows will have the opportunity to practice both qualitative and quantitative analysis methods using the TVNA's collection of 56,000+ hours of archived national television news broadcasts and 1.5 million metadata records and transcripts. Fellows will learn search strategies to locate relevant content in the TVNA, and will use Databricks, a computational analysis platform, to analyze trends in the language used by news media over the past five decades. The project will culminate in a video essay or other multimedia exhibit showcasing the fellows' research on their chosen topic related to media coverage of gender and sports.
Mentors: Giselle Hengst; Namrah Khan; Kristy Roschke
Otros Saberes: Curating with Unique and Creative Library Collections from Latin America and the Caribbean
Vanderbilt Libraries’ Latin American Collections are world-renowned, providing scholars, students, and the public with an invaluable source of knowledge about Latin America and the Caribbean. Many of our items in Special Collections and University archives are unique and non-traditional. From zines to textiles to cookbooks to music and dance recordings, these objects help us learn about Latin America and the Caribbean and their diasporas in new ways by bringing underrepresented voices, unique formats, and creative endeavors into conversation with researchers, students, and academic works. In January 2027, we will be opening an exhibit at Central Library that highlights just that. Tentatively entitled “Otros saberes en las Colecciones Latinoamericanas: Learning from Latin America beyond traditional academic texts,” the exhibit brings our attention to the construction of knowledges -- how what we know, who we learn from, and where and how those voices are transmitted inform our understandings of the world around us and our imaginations of the world we are building for the future. The fellows involved in this project will work with Librarian and Curator for Latin American, Iberian, and Latinx Studies, Lara Lookabaugh, and other coconspirators across campus to curate the exhibit. Fellows will be involved in researching materials housed in Special Collections and University Archives and writing exhibit labels in Spanish and English. Students will gain experience in research, translation, coordinating public exhibits and events, and exhibit curation and design. Students will need advanced Spanish language skills to participate in this fellowship.
Mentor: Lara Lookabaugh
Shared Shelves: Sustaining and Growing the Zeppos College Library
Building on the work of the Shared Shelves Buchanan Fellowship in spring 2026, this project focuses on strengthening and sustaining the Zeppos College Library as a long-term community resource. After consultation with the spring 2026 fellows, this semester's fellows will finalize decisions about the library's physical space, create additional signage and promotional materials using the established branding, and develop systems for ongoing collection curation, maintenance, and inventory management. They will work with Vanderbilt Libraries, Residential Colleges, Housing and Residential Experience, and other campus partners to ensure the library remains organized, accessible, and responsive to student interests.
In addition to maintaining the collection, fellows will explore ways to integrate the library into the traditions and culture of Zeppos College. This may include developing a recurring library-related event such as a study break, annual book exchange, or community reading initiative. Fellows will also identify opportunities to expand partnerships with academic departments, campus centers, and student organizations, while exploring additional merchandise and outreach materials that promote awareness of the library. Through this work, students will gain experience in project management, community engagement, and program sustainability while helping ensure the library continues to grow and evolve beyond its initial launch.
Mentors: Maggie George; Jeong Oh Kim; Leslie Foutch
Strategic Communications for Library Wellness Spaces: Research, Design, and Implementation
This fellowship investigates effective communication strategies for promoting wellness spaces in academic libraries through a collaborative, research-to-practice approach. Fellows will work together to conduct a focused literature review examining wellness space promotion, student engagement theory, and health communication principles while analyzing 4-6 peer institutions' approaches to promoting similar spaces. This research phase will produce an annotated bibliography, a research summary paper with a comparative analysis, and an evidence-based strategic communications framework that synthesizes key findings and applies theoretical insights to practical implementation.
The applied phase translates research into practice through professional multimedia content creation. Working collaboratively with clear task division, the fellows will produce a promotional video or podcast, a comprehensive social media content suite, print materials, and digital content—all designed using evidence-based best practices identified in the research phase. Throughout the project, fellows will document how theoretical frameworks informed creative decisions and maintain peer accountability through weekly check-ins and collaborative review processes. The fellowship culminates in a joint research poster presentation showcasing both scholarly findings and applied outcomes, along with individual reflective essays examining the learning process and collaboration experience. This team-based project develops transferable skills in research, strategic communications, multimedia production, and collaborative project management while contributing meaningful work that enhances student awareness of library wellness resources and models effective partnership in professional settings.
Mentors: Jennifer Castle; M Roberts
The Vanderbilt Bestiary Project: Reexamining the Natural World
This Fellowship project is based in the medieval bestiary tradition, which used a description of the characteristics and behavior of animals and the symbolism of plants to reveal moral lessons to the reader. Students will update that tradition by examining the boundaries between science and other forms of knowledge from the early modern period through today. The Fellowship will include visits by guest experts from the fine arts, biological sciences, and climate studies, and access to historical interpretations of animal life. Students will explore the discipline of scientific observation of animal behavior, conducted on the Vanderbilt campus, and with multiple traditions and styles of writing about the natural world. For the final project, fellows will create their own books, taking those observations in a direction congruent with their interests (e.g., fiction, botanical and animal illustration, historical investigation, or displaying data), as well as create an online gallery to display and explain their projects.
Mentors: Elizabeth J. Moodey, Christopher Ryland, Elizabeth Meadows