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Visiting scholar positions for a sabbatical?

A reader writes in by email:

I have been granted a sabbatical for the Spring semester 2026 from my College. Although I have applied for several fellowships, my applications were not successful. Now that the fellowship application period has passed, I'm looking for ways to make the most of my sabbatical. 

One option is to apply for visitor or visiting scholar positions at a university, which are typically unpaid. Another option is to pursue a visitor scholar position that may allow me to teach a class or two at the host university or at a nearby school, to offset the cost of travel and living expenses. 

I would greatly appreciate any advice from philosophers who have sought similar opportunities. Are there specific opportunities I should be looking for? What is the best approach to applying for visiting scholar positions? Do you have tips for reducing the cost associated with such visits?

Good questions. Do any readers have tips to share?

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4 responses to “Visiting scholar positions for a sabbatical?”

  1. a thought

    Given that no one else has written in, I think I will. I think you should aim to go away for 4 months – visit another university, even if this costs you. Sabbaticals are a chance to rejuvinate and give your career a push forward. Find a place where you either know someone’s work (and would like to interact with them) or you could benefit in some other way from being there. I did something like this for two sabbaticals. And they were career changing experiences. Before someone protests and says “oh, you must be privileged and wealthy”. I am not – quite the contrary. In fact, I was sending money home to my mother for a long time. But I wanted to benefit from my sabbatical (they are not just paid holidays).

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  2. go for it

    ne may be concerned with costs if one lives in a low COL area and wants to visit a high COL area. Otherwise, it is (I think) normal to visit places without additional pay. After all, not many people can get those fellowships at those sought-after destinations. I think this is perhaps as normal as having no income during the summer (some have grants that pay, and a few teach, but most I know don’t have any).
    So modulo financial difficulties, I recommend going for those unpaid visiting opportunities. My personal suggestion is not to apply for those unpaid visitor positions which sounds unnecessary, but just contact people and visit.

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  3. Peter

    Usually, I have just contacted institutions or colleagues that I deemed interesting and asked if I could visit. They usually indicated then the official process to apply (e.g., sending a CV through a specific application form explaining the purpose of my visit etc.). This way, I visited three different institutions as visiting researcher. Everytime, this research visit opened new doors, resulted in new contacts etc., so I strongly recommend it. Luckily, though, I had grant money to pay for these visits.
    Maybe you can apply for some funding within your university to cover at least partially travel costs and accommodation?

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  4. William A. B. Parkhurst

    You might think about archival library fellowships. They have pretty wide application dates. However, they will likely pay only to cover housing costs (if that). However, it is great if you are doing research that can be helped by that library’s collection.

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