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International Visitor Program


JASNA's International Visitor Program (IVP) provides a member the opportunity to work on a creative or scholarly project in Jane Austen’s village of Chawton, England, for up to six weeks in July and August.

International Visitor Support

JASNA provides the International Visitor a fellowship of $3,250 (US dollars), which is to be used to defray the costs for round-trip airfare to England from the continental United States or Canada, housing, and miscellaneous travel and research expenses.  

Austen Project

The International Visitor Program requires a full-time commitment from the recipient for the duration of the visit. While much of the time in England will be spent working on a self-defined Austen project, the International Visitor will also work two days a week at Austen-related institutions in Chawton performing duties as assigned. The Visitor will also attend the U.K. Jane Austen Society’s Annual General Meeting in July and provide assistance as requested by the Society.

Chawton CottageJane Austen's House Museum, Chawton (photo © Allan Soedring)

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • the importance of the project,
  • the applicant’s need for access to materials in Chawton or nearby,
  • the viability of the project (in terms of project parameters, time, and resources),
  • the useful skills that the applicant brings to JASNA’s Austen-related partners in Chawton.

glassesicon  Learn more about the Austen-related institutions below.

Eligibility

IVP candidates must be members of JASNA who live in the United States or Canada and have an Austen-related project that requires access to resources in England. It is not necessary to be a student or a career academic.

ChawtonHouse St.Nicholas

Chawton House and St. Nicholas Church (Photo © Allan Soedring)

How to Apply

Download the Application Fact Sheet and the Application Form for more information about the application process.

The application deadline is December 16 in the year before the summer stay in Chawton. The IVP Committee will make every effort to announce its decision on or before February 15.


The 2020 International Visitor has been selected,
but the visit to Chawton has been postponed to 2022 due to the global pandemic.

Please check back in fall 2022 for details about the 2023 program
and to download the 2023 application and fact sheet. 

 

More about Austen Projects

The IVP Committee is particularly interested in applicants whose Austen-related projects and interests match the needs of one of our Chawton partners: Jane Austen’s House Museum, Chawton House, and St. Nicholas Church. Find out more about each institution's needs and past IVP projects below.

Austen-Related Institutions | Show Details ↓Hide Details ↑

  • Jane Austen’s House Museum:  Research may be conducted on the artifacts in the museum’s collection, some of which are housed in the Hampshire Record Office. (A listing of available research resources has been compiled for applicants.) The museum welcomes anyone seeking the experience of working in a museum with a literary collection that is used in educational programs. A variety of volunteer opportunities are typically available for the International Visitor: organizing events (e.g., Jane  Austen Regency Week or the JASNA Tour); stewarding (acting as a docent, welcoming visitors, and helping with inquiries); working on the collections (transcribing archival materials, assisting with audits, conservation cleaning); gardening (experienced gardeners only); and administrative projects (e.g., conducting visitor surveys, desk-based market research, and data entry).
  • Chawton House:  In keeping with its unique collection, Chawton House is interested in projects that will promote knowledge of Austen, her era, or her lesser-known contemporaries and predecessors by making use of the library's resources. Applicants are encouraged to review the items in the general collection, the materials in the Knight collection, and to contact the Chawton House Curator. Among its projects for 2020, Chawton House welcomes assistance in researching and interpreting the collections for all audiences. This work will include assisting in the preparation for future exhibitions and will involve researching Chawton House's primary and secondary resources and other tasks.
  • St. Nicholas Church, Chawton:  St. Nicholas was Jane Austen’s parish church. Although a fire destroyed much of the building that Austen knew, the chancel and family memorials survived. Applicants may refer to the church’s files for information about St. Nicholas and its contents. The Church has created a list of potential projects for an International Visitor.
  • Other Local Archives:  An International Visitor may also make use of nearby archives, such as the Hampshire Record Office in Winchester or research institutions in London, a little over an hour from Chawton by train.

Past International Visitors | Show Details ↓Hide Details ↑

Articles written by past International Visitors about their experiences are linked below. 

Questions?

Please contact Marilyn Francus at chawtonivp@jasna.org.

 

The International Visitor Program is supported by a generous donation from JASNA's New York Metropolitan Region in order to sustain the Society's strong bonds of friendship with Austen-related organizations in England.

“My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation.”

Persuasion