The Lemelson Center Fellowship Program supports projects that present creative approaches to the study of invention and innovation in American society. These include, but are not limited to, historical research and documentation projects resulting in dissertations, publications, exhibitions, educational initiatives, documentary films, or other multimedia products. The program provides access to the expertise of the Smithsonian's research staff and the vast invention and technology collections of the National Museum of American History (NMAH). The Lemelson Fellowship projects cover a broad spectrum of research topics that resonate with the Center's mission to foster a greater understanding of invention and innovation, broadly defined.
The Lemelson Center is proud to announce the 2016-2017 class of Fellows:
- Alana Staiti, PhD candidate, Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University
Project Title: A body in motion: a history of human modeling for computer animation, 1960s-1980s - Dr. Heather Toomey Zimmerman, Associate Professor, Education, Pennsylvania State University
Project Title: Designing Educational Supports for Family Learning during Spark!Lab Inventing Activities - Dr. Kyle Stine, Adjunct Professor, Media & Communications, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Project Title: Image Circuits: The Folding of Cinema and Computing - Samuel Franklin, PhD candidate, American Studies, Brown University
Project Title: The Cult of Creativity: Searching for the Source of Progress After the End of Ideology - Dr. Kendra Smith-Howard, Associate Professor, History, University of Albany (SUNY)
Project Title: The Messy History of Cleaning Up in America, 1900-2000