Pamela H. Simpson Presenter’s Fellowships

The Vernacular Architecture Forum seeks nominations for the 2025 Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship. This fellowship will be presented at the annual conference in 2025. 

The application deadline for 2025 Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship is November 15, 2024.  

In memory of Pamela H. Simpson, whose commitment to mentoring young scholars touched the lives of numerous students and colleagues, the VAF Board of Directors has renamed the Annual Presenter’s Fellowships the Pamela H. Simpson Presenter’s Fellowships.

Since 1989, the VAF Board of Directors has allocated funding for financial assistance to students and young professionals presenting papers and posters at VAF annual conferences. Awards are intended to offset conference and travel cost for students, and to attract developing scholars to the organization.

Any person presenting a paper or poster at a VAF annual conference who is currently enrolled in a degree-granting program, or who has received a degree within one year of the annual conference is eligible to apply. Awards cannot exceed $1,000.00. Previous awardees are ineligible, even if their status has changed. Recipients are expected to participate fully in the conference, including tours and workshops.

Application Instructions

Applications must be submitted with paper or poster abstracts to the Conference Papers committee following the guidelines issued in the annual Call for Papers. An application consists of a one-page attachment with "Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship" at the top and the following information: 1) name, 2) institution or former institution, 3) degree program, 4) date of degree (received or anticipated), 5) mailing address, 6) permanent email address, 7) telephone number, and 8) paper or poster title.

Please see the 2025 Call for Papers for further instructions. 

Past Pamela H. Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship Recipients

In memory of Pamela H. Simpson, whose commitment to mentoring young scholars touched the lives of numerous students and colleagues, the Simpson Fellowship provides funding to students and young professionals presenting papers or posters at VAF annual conferences.

2024 Awardees: 

Bethany Bell, University of Virginia 

Pedro Miguel Castelo Ferreira, University of London

Lincoln Lewis, University of Virginia

Verónica Rosales, Brandenburg University of Technology

Becca Lo Presti, University of Delaware

Dilruba F. Shuvra, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Estrella Salgado, University of Delaware

Jeremy Lee Wolin, Princeton University

Yuchen Zhao, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 

2023 Awardees:

Carter Jackson, Boston University – “Constructing a Solution for the Welfare Apparatus: The Ambitions, Contradictions, and Functionality of Boston’s Government Service Center”
Jesse Kling, Higgens Quasebarth & Partners – “Solid Brick Homes” The Continuing Row House Tradition of Postwar Brooklyn and Queens”
Alba Menéndez-Pereda, University of California, Los Angeles – "Shaky Foundations: Rebuilding the Coricancha in the Twentieth Century"
Mania Tahsina Taher, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee – “World-making through Everyday Objects Inside the Dwellings of Bangladeshi Immigrant Women in New York”
Emily Varley, University of Southern California – “Reconstruction Right Now: Conserving Vernacular Heritage in Beaufort, South Carolina as an act of Reconstructing Preservation Practice”
Stephen Yerly, University of Florida – “Sconset: Authenticity, Form and Place”
Tian Zhang, University of Virginia & Tongji University, Shanghai – “Constructions before Architects: A Study of Chinese Builders by Analyzing Lawsuits in Shanghai 1880-1930”