living room What is the Hazel Barnes Flat?

The Hazel Barnes Flat in the heart of London is a gift to scholars in the humanities and arts by Hazel Barnes (1915-2008), the much-admired Professor of Philosophy at CU Boulder and founder of the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities. Her will stipulates that the flat be made available to CU Boulder faculty and graduate students working in the humanities and the arts and that its operation be entrusted to the Center for Humanities & the Arts. The flat is arranged so that two independent parties may stay there at the same time if necessary. There are two bedrooms (the second has just a single bed) and two bathrooms.

Eligibility

Applications from all CU Boulder faculty and graduate students conducting humanistic or artistic research will be reviewed. Research proposals must have arts and/or humanities scope/theme/major focus. 

  • Faculty: Applicants must have a CU Boulder faculty appointment at the time of application and that appointment must be active during the dates the flat is being requested. Adjunct/Lecturer positions are temporary and therefore ineligible.
  • Graduate Students: Applicants must have an active CU Boulder student status at the time of application and that appointment must be active during the dates the flat is being requested. Students on academic leave are ineligible.
  • Staff: CU staff are eligible if conducting research on behalf of faculty or unit.
  • Retired Emeritus Faculty: those who have requested and received "emeritus" status upon their retirement are eligible to use the flat within three years of their retirement from CU Boulder. Retired faculty who have not requested or received "emeritus" status or those who are retired emeritus and applying after 3 years of their retirement are ineligible. 
    • Retired emeritus faculty are not eligible to use the flat during peak periods (CU Boulder Fall/Spring & Winter Break, or summer between graduation and the first day of Fall semester)

Know before you apply

  • The flat may be requested for up to two weeks. 
  • Applicants are limited to one visit per year. 
    • If you have stayed in the flat five or more times, you will not be eligible to apply in advance of 60 days and will not have access to the Schwalbe travel award. If you have stayed in the flat more than ten times, you will not be eligible to apply in advance of 30 days and will not have access to the Schwalbe travel award

    Deadlines

    We have updated the application process to the Hazel Barnes Flat to make access more equitable. Reservations are accepted no more than one year in advance of the requested travel dates* (exemptions apply, please read below)

    Travel Dates Application Deadline
    Before December 31, 2023 Rolling deadline: consult the Hazel Barnes Flat calendar for available dates
    FALL
    August 16-December 31    		 FEBRUARY 15
    SPRING
    January 1-May 15    		 MAY 15
    SUMMER
    May 16-August 15    		 NOVEMBER 15

    * Existing reservations, approved before December 2022, will remain in effect

    Deadline Exemptions

    Rolling applications will be accepted at any time for the following scenarios:

    • The Hazel Barnes Flat calendar shows available dates in-between deadlines. Cancellations and dates that were not requested can become available anytime. 
    • Past visitors to the flat who have visited more than 5 times or more than 10 times who must wait to apply 60-days and 30-days respectively to apply. 

    Travel Award

    Applicants to the flat may be eligible to receive a Schwalbe travel award, provided that they have not received an award in the past year. The awards are on a sliding scale:

    • Graduate Students: $1,500
    • Non-tenured track faculty and staff: $1,200
    • Associate Professors with tenure: $750
    • Full Professors with tenure: $500

    Application 

    Selection Criteria
    Applications will be reviewed by a sub-committee in the Center for Humanities & the Arts. The committee will determine priority should conflicting dates arise. Selection criteria is based on:

    • the applicant’s prior use of the flat (priority for first-time users)
    • applicants from the humanities and the arts fields will be given priority; however, applications from all CU Boulder faculty and graduate students conducting humanistic or artistic research will be reviewed, so long as the project has arts and/or humanities scope/theme/major focus.
    • the overall quality and benefit of the project

    Application Process

    1. Research Statement: submit a statement that explains how using the flat will benefit your scholarly and/or artistic research in the arts and humanities; and why you need to be in London and using the flat to accomplish it. Be as specific and detailed as possible when listing venues you plan to visit and whom you plan to interview/collaborate with. 
    2. Submit an application form

    Hazel Barnes Application Form

    Contact hazelbarnesflat@colorado.edu with questions

    After Approval Policies

    • The University requires all international travelers to request Travel Approval prior to booking their trip
    • All flat occupants must complete the Occupancy Agreement at least three weeks prior to their visit
    • Within thirty days of vacating the flat, applicants must submit a written summary of activities and research completed. Failure to do so automatically forfeits future applications
    • Each successful applicant will receive information about the flat
    • Dates of travel may be adjusted depending on illness, quarantine recommendations, etc
    • Occupancy of the flat is currently limited to one person, one household, or one research team applying together.
    • Any approved applicants and travelers must adhere to University, U.S., and U.K. travel restrictions, requirements, and guidelines at the time of their travel.  Such requirements may include wearing face coverings on aircraft and public transport, temperature screening, social distancing, providing contact details upon landing, self-isolation period of up to while in the U.K., and restricting gatherings and activities.  Due to the changing nature of the virus and its variants, visitors should be proactive in researching travel restrictions and guidelines that may impact their travel.
    • Additional information can be found at:
      https://www.colorado.edu/coronavirus/travel
      https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-TravelCountry-Information-Pages/UnitedKingdom.html
      https://uk.usembassy.gov/covid-19-coronavirus-information/
      https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

    Giving credit to the CHA 

    Acknowledgment of the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) is required on all published materials for funded projects as a result of your use of the flat. Use this language for print and verbal credit: “This project is supported, in part, by a grant from the Center for Humanities & the Arts”
    Download the Center for Humanities & the Arts logo here.

      The Hazel Barnes Flat residence aims to support the purpose outlined by the generosity of Hazel Barnes, Doris Schwalbe, The Center for Humanities & the Arts and the University of Colorado UK Foundation to provide eligible CU Boulder faculty and graduate students the opportunity to conduct scholarly research activities in and around London.

    Thanks to more than $3 million in estate gifts from two University of Colorado faculty members, Hazel Barnes and Doris Schwalbe, CU-Boulder is the beneficiary of this London property. This flat makes CU-Boulder one of just a handful of major American universities with a residential presence in the U.K., and gives faculty and students a rare opportunity to pursue select projects within striking distance of important literary, artistic, and political venues.

    This opportunity is possible because long-time CU-Boulder philosophy professor Hazel Barnes and her partner and CU Denver English professor Doris Schwalbe both left a portion of their estate to the University through the CU Foundation. Barnes’ bequest included the explicit stipulation that the funds be used to purchase and maintain a flat in London for use by CU-Boulder scholars with projects in the arts and humanities and to support their research. Schwalbe, who taught English at CU Denver for 24 years, had jointly agreed to support this idea years before their passing and bequeathed a portion of her estate for these same purposes. Schwalbe passed away in 2007, and Barnes passed away in 2008.

    Their combined gifts are the largest made to support the humanities at CU-Boulder in many years. These gifts help CU-Boulder take a big step toward a Flagship 2030 strategic goal: bringing the world to CU and CU to the world.

    “This will be an extraordinary means of supporting faculty and student research in the humanities and arts,” says former graduate school dean John Stevenson, who played a role in the property purchase along with the CU Real Estate Foundation. “It means that researchers who need to work in London’s unmatched research collections will not have to raise funds for lodging or pay for it themselves; this will allow more scholars to conduct research there and be able to stay longer.”

    Stevenson says universities nationwide are striving to bolster their presences internationally. “This is an emerging model. Notre Dame has a building in London. Harvard has a presence in Florence. North Carolina State has a place in Prague,” Stevenson says. “Students all around CU will benefit, in that the faculty doing research will take that research into the classroom. And it will be an extraordinary asset in faculty/graduate student recruiting.”

    The gifts not only funded the purchase of the London flat but also funded an endowment that covers the flat’s maintenance and operation costs in perpetuity, as well as program funds that assist faculty and graduate students with travel expenses.

    Hazel Barnes, whose translation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness helped introduce existentialism to America, taught at CU-Boulder for 33 years, and is the namesake for the University’s most prestigious teaching and research prize, the Hazel Barnes Prize. She held positions in the classics department, as chair of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, and in the department of philosophy. Internationally renowned in her field, Barnes is the recipient of many awards including the CU Regents Medal, the Colorado Humanities Award, a Mellon professorship, and a Guggenheim fellowship. Barnes also founded CU-Boulder’s humanities program, one of the nation’s first interdisciplinary programs.

    Barnes firmly believed that time spent abroad was vital for a well-rounded scholarly perspective. In 1991 she said, “London is not only a center for research in English literature, it’s a place that scholars of every kind might find important.” She added, “For a person who is involved in any sort of work in literature and philosophy, living abroad is very important.”

    Just as scientists conduct research in laboratories, humanities scholars use libraries and museums. Often, a scholar must travel to the source of needed research materials – to London for records of Elizabethan drama, or to Athens for archeology. Diminishing University resources, coupled with the exorbitant costs of travel and lodging, can limit scholars’ access to the tools of their trade. Barnes and Schwalbe recognized this. Wanting to help make available the “laboratories” of the world for their colleagues, through their bequests, they provided scholars with a place to stay in London when traveling to the great museums and libraries of England.

    “We know how important it is for scholars to go to the great universities abroad, and London is an obvious center. We’ve realized the educational value of travel, of living in a place for a period of time and getting to know the people,” Barnes remarked. As specialists in philosophy and literature, Professors Barnes and Schwalbe travelled a great deal to study their subjects and see the world?

    After receiving her Ph.D. from Boulder in 1962, Schwalbe taught in the English department at CU Denver for 24 years on the subject of the English novel. Her research specialty was Courtesy Literature, handbooks for the young pages who served in aristocratic households in the 16th and 17th centuries. These guides were later used to set standards for proper young women, and were the precursors to today’s etiquette books.

    Schwalbe believed that one of the greatest benefits of a faculty house in London would be freedom – freedom to travel, live comfortably, and study in a pleasant environment. “This is something which will enrich the lives of faculty and graduate students, personally and professionally, and will broaden their experience beyond CU,” Barnes added.

    “We have very much appreciated what CU has offered us and want to help its faculty and its students,” both concluded.

    The University’s Center for Humanities & the Arts administers the use of the London property and the distribution of program funds, with priority given to faculty and graduate students conducting research in the arts and humanities.

    Since November 2010, the property has been used regularly by University faculty, Ph.D. candidates and graduate students from a variety of disciplines primarily focused in the arts and humanities.