Remele Fellowship: Scholarly research pays off
A person standing in front of a mass of people with an original idea that has ties to both the past and the present.
In addition, the most important part is that the idea can turn the heads of an entire state and make them listen.
The Remele Fellowship has been active in providing state scholarships for both the researching and presenting of academic information by state residents or employees since the late 1980s.
This year, the Fellowship will be honoring yet another round of scholars.
Fellowship presentations are always awarded to scholars with studies that address deeply engaging topics in the humanities.
Larry Remele once wrote “Literature is unquestionably history. Not only does most prose and poetry create and capture moments in time, but the results of the writer’s work represent the state-of-mind of a particular society at a given moment in history.”
Robert Littlefield, professor of communication, is one of the four presenters this year.
He has a fellowship presentation surrounding the history of public oratory and fine arts in the state of North Dakota.
He will compare the information to similar subjects from across the United States during the 20th century.
Littlefield’s dedication to the subject is an example of the information that the Remele Fellowship is trying to help communicate to state residents.
“Creating opportunities for students to engage in public oratory and the performing arts is essential because of the effect these activities have on the individual participants,” Littlefield said. “At a time when our country is experiencing polarization on many social and political issues, the ability to express oneself and engage in meaningful discussions is vital.”
According to the North Dakota Humanities Web site, the program was first started in 1986 when North Dakota was searching for individuals to fund who could help represent the state.
The council did not want representation for the state in a political realm, but rather in a new form fashioned just for the North Dakota public.
Their mission was to help spread aspects of academic knowledge created by North Dakota scholars across the state.
Although founded in 1986, it was not until 1989 that the fellowship was named after long time historian Larry Remele.
Remele was an editor for an academic journal named North Dakota History, which was created and funded by the State Historical Society.
According to the Northern Great Plains History Web site, Remele’s death in 1988, brought to mind the dedication and spirit needed of a scholar and, in his honor, the Larry Rowen Remele Fellowship was established.
The North Dakota Humanities Council supports the Larry Remele Memorial Fellowships as an important program to “promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of human thoughts ... through the humanities disciplines,” according to the council’s Web site.
The application guidelines for submitting a proposal to the Remele Fellowship are strict, but also clearly state that the North Dakota Humanities council has welcomed proposals on subjects of public interest in any field of the humanities.
The number of presentations usually reaches up to five per year, although this year only has four.
The Remele Fellowship will have each scholar give one public presentation at the Heritage Center in Bismarck, as well as three free public presentations around the state.
The presentations at the Heritage Center will begin at 7:30 p.m. every Thursday evening during the month of March.