Call for Applications: Announcing the Sharing Stories Fellows Program for 2026-2027 to Serve on the Editorial Board of the Sharing Stories from 1977 Digital Humanities Project
Deadline: April 30th, 2026
Application Site: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EPboKDMgxT-l2Q2TcSwrZ5BcULZeR-p2uHFfdMKvwAA/viewform?edit_requested=true.
Sharing Stories from 1977, a nationally recognized digital humanities project, is pleased to announce we are accepting applications for our 2026-2027 Graduate Fellows Program to serve on our Editorial Board. Sharing Stories from 1977: Putting the National Women’s Conference on the Map is the central hub for documenting, preserving, and interpreting the 1977 National Women’s Conference (NWC), the first and only federal conference of its kind in US history.
We are seeking twenty graduate student Sharing Stories Fellows who will be competitively selected in a national search to serve on our Editorial Board in 2026-2027. This program is in its second year. For the inaugural class of fellows, see our About Project page.
All scholarship published on our site is written by student researchers and undergoes a rigorous peer-review process. Sharing Stories Fellows will conduct editorial review of biographies published on our Discover NWC Stories page and demographic data published on our Researching the NWC page. Fellows will also participate in a mentorship network supporting graduate scholarship and advancement.
Program Benefits
- An honorarium for your service of $400 will be provided at the completion of your term
- Engagement in an innovative digital humanities project that uniquely offers editorial and digital training
- One-on-one mentorship from faculty Review Leader as well as the Sharing Stories Team
- Connection with top graduate students at other national universities with like interests
- Contribution to an incubator of new scholarship with a chance to gain feedback on your own work-in-progress
- A certificate of service and public recognition as a Sharing Stories Fellow
Time Commitment
- Fellows will serve on the board from September 2026 to July 2027 with the possibility of reapplying.
- The time commitment is 5 hours per week with flexibility to complete hours based on individual schedules and to bank hours to accommodate scheduling needs.
- Participation in 3 mandatory virtual workshops (1.5 hours) in the fall for onboarding and 3 mandatory virtual workshops (1.5 hours) in the winter/spring for professional development as well as a mandatory half day spring Sharing Stories Research Symposium.
- Participation in Editorial Pod (four fellows and faculty lead) activities including a monthly check-in meeting to ensure strong collaboration on editing tasks.
Sharing Stories Editorial Board Team
The Sharing Stories network is dynamic and growing with educators, practitioners, and scholars mentoring student researchers across North America. Nearly 50 educators in over 25 states and over 3000 students have contributed to the Sharing Stories project. Our Editorial Board, entering its second year, is an integral part of this network and Sharing Stories Fellows are essential contributors to the editorial process.
In 2026-2027, the Editorial Board will be led by scholars long associated with the Sharing Stories project:
- Stacie Taranto (Ramapo College of New Jersey)
- Emily Westkaemper (James Madison University)
- Judy Tzu-Chun Wu (University of California, Irvine)
- Nancy Beck Young (SS Co-director, University of Houston)
- Leandra Zarnow (SS Co-director, University of Houston)
Our Project’s History and Ambition
The Sharing Stories from 1977 digital public history project was launched in 2017, shortly after University of Houston hosted a 40th anniversary conference to commemorate the 1977 National Women’s Conference. The NWC stands out for its bi-partisanship, inclusiveness, and democratic decision-making. In 1976, Representatives Bella Abzug (D-NY) and Patsy Takemoto Mink (D-HI) shepherded the NWC law appropriating $5 million through Congress. Their purpose was to ensure that women’s rights would be a central focus in the wider human rights debate, and they capitalized on the momentum of the United Nations International Women’s Year initiative.
Because of a diversity mandate written into the law, the nearly 2000 delegates elected to deliberate and pass a 26 plank National Plan of Action reflected a cross-section of American women more diverse than the US Congress was then or is today. No single biography can capture the story of the highly active NWC participants. For this reason, the Sharing Stories from 1977 team launched a prototype open-access website in 2022 to bring equal visibility to the lives of all NWC participants.
In 2027-2030, we aim to meet our first major milestone. We will publish the biographies and demographic data of nearly 2000 elected delegates on our site. This goal is just the beginning. Ultimately, we aspire to capture 150,000+ participant stories including state/territory meeting attendees, volunteers, reporters, torch relay runners, dignitaries, and observers, and we will trace the numerous political networks and legislative legacies of the NWC. Our site will bring greater visibility to the NWC, fostering new scholarship as an interpretive engine and hub for researchers seeking historical data and resources.
The Important Role of the Sharing Stories Editorial Board
Because our project is rigorous, we abide by the scholarly standard of a multi-tiered, peer-review process outlined in our Editing Procedures guidelines. This process is laborious and requires many editorial reviewers. As of 2026, we are over 95 percent of the way towards our goal of drafting 2000 biographies by the 50th Anniversary of the 1977 National Women’s Conference in 2027. However, we face an editorial backlog in which the majority of our drafted biographies and demographic data have not yet been published. Accordingly, the Editorial Board is instrumental in helping us meet publishing demands. The Editorial Board also speaks to our commitment of open-access, digitally empowering, intersectional scholarship and collaborative research as outlined in our Feminist DH Manifesta.
How to Apply to the Sharing Stories Fellows Program
We welcome applications from graduate students at any stage of their program and seek an interdisciplinary cohort. All applicants must be still enrolled in an MA or PhD program through the end of 2026. No editing or digital humanities experience is required.
Please submit as one PDF:
1) CV
2) Letter of interest. This should outline any familiarity or interest with the topic, individual research concentration and dissertation/thesis/projects underway, and any digital humanities, public humanities, and/or editing experience (no more than two pages)
3) Short writing sample (no more than ten pages)
This attachment should be uploaded after completing a short questionnaire on this site by April 30, 2026:
Twenty fellows will be selected for the 2026-2027 cohort. Applicants accepted to this competitive national program will be notified on June 3.
Questions? Check out the FAQ on the application site.
More questions? Reach out to our project manager Dr. Sandra Davidson: sddavids@central.uh.edu