Humanities Grants
This is a sampling of funding opportunities available in the humanities. You should review these opportunities determine if they would be a good fit for you, and contact Jeff Ritchie if you’d like to receive additional information, such as more specific program guidance or sample proposals.
Don’t see what you need? If nothing below fits your research, contact Jeff Ritchie.
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Albee Foundation
The Foundation provides a four- or six-week residency at the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center (Montauk, NY) available for visual artists and writers (fiction, plays/screenplays, and poetry) near the beginning of their careers. Note that there is no stipend and residents are responsible for their own living and travel expenses. -
Albright Institute of Archeological Research
The Institute offers several fellowship s (1 month or 3-6 months) for scholars in Near Eastern studies; fields of study include archeology, anthropology, art history, historical geography history, language, literature, religion, and related disciplines. -
American Academy in Rome
The Rome Prize is an 11-month residency available to scholars in ancient studies, architecture, literature, medieval studies, modern Italian studies, musical composition, Renaissance and early modern studies, and visual arts. Stipend is $28,000. -
American Association of University Women
American Fellowships. Research Leave Fellowships are $30,000 for a single year. Application is in November of the year before leave. Research Publication Grant Application is for $6,000 and typically occurs over the summer. Deadline is November of the preceding year.
International Fellowships. Provides post-doctoral fellowships for women who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The program is open to all academic disciplines. -
American Council of Learned Societies
ACLS Fellowships ($40,000 - $70,000). The ultimate goal of the project should be a major piece of scholarly work by the applicant, which can take the form of a monograph, articles, digital publication(s), critical edition, or other scholarly resources. Deadline: Late September. -
American Historical Association
The AHA offers four named research grants and multiple fellowships of varying duration and in several sub-disciplines. The Association also provides travel and child care funding to assist recipients in attending annual meetings. Recipients must be members of the AHA. -
American Institute of Indian Studies
The AIIS provide short-term (4-mo) and long-term (9-mo) fellowships for scholars specializing in South Asia to pursue further research in Indian and to establish formal affiliation with an Indian institution. Performing and Creative Arts fellowships are also available. -
American Philosophical Society
Franklin Research Grant ($6,000) The Franklin program is particularly designed to help meet the costs of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes; the purchase of microfilm, photocopies, or equivalent research materials; the costs associated with fieldwork; or laboratory research expenses. The Phillips Fund ($3,000) supports research in Native American linguistics and ethnohistory. APS also offers 1-month digital humanities fellowships ($3000), in addition to fellowships from 1 to 3 months to use resources at the APS Library and Museum in Philadelphia. -
American School of Classical Studies at Athens
The ASCSA offers multiple fellowships for post-doctoral researchers ranging from one month to an entire academic year. Stipends range from $1000 to $30000. Eligibility requirements vary among the various opportunities, which include a wide range of academic disciplines. -
American Society for Theatre Research
ASTR offers several research grants, publication awards, and travel grants. Opportunities exist for research in both theater and dance – note that some opportunities are reserved for scholars with no institutional affiliation. Deadlines for research grants tend to be in mid-summer. -
Art Omi Residencies
On hiatus for the 20-21 year, Art Omi offers one-month residencies at their facility in Ghent, NY. Disciplines include Architecture, Art, Dance, Music and Writing. Recipients are responsible for the cost of travel to Ghent, but all other living expenses are paid by Art Omi. -
Asian Cultural Council
The Council provides 1-6 mo. fellowships in arts and humanities to conduct research and study, receive specialized training, undertake observation tours, or pursue non-commercial creative activity in China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Macau SAR, Philippines, and Taiwan; disciplines supported include archaeology, film/video, architecture, literature, art history, museum studies, arts criticism, music, photography, theatre, curation, visual art & dance. -
Association for Asian Studies
AAS offers a number of grants are offered through its portal, and these have varying deadlines and requirements for eligibility. Allied organizations include the American Institute of Indian Studies, the Japan Foundation, and the Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Program in China Studies. -
Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
The Deming Fund provides small artist grants of $500 - $1500 to support projects that are already underway. In even years, the fund supports visual art, fiction, and mixed genre projects, while odd years have support for nonfiction and poetry. -
Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies
Research support at the Freie Universität Berlin open to junior scholars in all social science and humanities disciplines, including historians working on the period since the mid-18th century. Stipends are $1,600 Euros per month. -
Blue Mountain Center
Four-week residencies are available for creative and non-fiction writers, activists, and artists of all disciplines—including composers, filmmakers, and visual artists during summer & early fall. No stipend or travel reimbursement, but lodging and meals are provided at the Center in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. -
Brown University Pembroke Center
Residential fellowships at the Pembroke Center are for pre-tenured and non-tenured faculty who have received their Ph.D. within the last five years. The Center provides support to a wide variety of disciplines but is based on the center’s annual theme. Underrepresented and international scholars are encouraged to apply. -
Camargo Foundation
Based in Cassis, France the Comargo Core Program offers 2-3 month fellowship in the fall and spring for arts and humanities scholars working in French and Francophone studies, including cross-cultural studies that engage with the Mediterranean region. The residency provides transportation to the Foundation and a stipend of $250/week. -
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences
The Center offers a residential fellowship program for scholars working in a diverse range of disciplines that contribute to advancing research and thinking in social science. Fellows represent the core social and behavioral sciences (anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology) but also the humanities, education, linguistics, communications, and the biological, natural, health, and computer sciences. -
Center for Chinese Studies
The Research Grant Program provides travel and research subsidies for faculty from Chinese Studies programs who wish to pursue research in Taiwan. Research topics should focus on Taiwan or Chinese studies. The Center will also provide assistance by acting as a liaison between the research and local academic institutions. -
Center for the Philosophy of Science (Pitt)
The Center seeks candidates for the Visiting Fellowships (1 – 2 semesters) or Postdoctoral Fellowship and Senior Fellowships (2 semesters). Candidates’ principal interest should be in the history and philosophy of science. Residents will receive a $1500 stipend for living expenses and will have access to the Hillman Library special collections. -
Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation
The CCKF offers research grants up to two years to faculty conducting research on Chinese studies in the humanities and social sciences; priority is given to collaborative projects involving institutions in Taiwan, and projects in Taiwanese Studies are strongly encouraged. -
Cornell Society for Humanities Fellows
Cornell offers a one-year residential fellowship with a $55,000 stipend. Fellowships are base on an annual theme. Fellows teach one small seminar during the fellowship year appropriate for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Applicants must have at least one year of teaching experience, and international scholars are encouraged to apply. -
Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
The Cullman Center, part of the New York Public Library, offers nine-month residential fellowships for writers who would benefit from access to the library’s research collections. The Center provides an office and a stipend of $75,000. Fellows frequently give talks about their project and participate in other library programs. -
Davis Center for Historical Studies
The Shelby Cullom Davis Center at Princeton University offers fellowships from one semester to a full year, on a topic that changes annually. Fellows are typically on sabbatical from an established position at another institution, and non-U.S. nationals are encouraged to apply. -
European University Institute
This portal offers multiple fellowships in the field of government, economics and social sciences and includes links to other fellowship opportunities in the European Union. The eligibility criterion varies among the opportunities. -
Folger Shakespeare Library
Folger offers both fellowships from 1 – 9 months for the study of the early modern period (1500 – 1800) resources located in the Folger Library. Folger is also offering non-residential fellowships in the amount of $3500 to support four continuous weeks of research. -
Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
The Frankel Center, located at the University of Michigan, provides a fellowship ranging from $55 - $60K based on duration of the fellowship and experience of the fellow. Both tenured and non-tenured faculty, including emeriti. -
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
The web portal for the DAAD offers dozens of funding opportunities, more than a dozen of which are geared to U.S. faculty seeking to conduct research in Germany. Fellowships are in multiple disciplines and are funding by several agencies (including the Fulbright Program). -
Getty Research Institute
Two programs are available through the Getty Research Institute: The Getty Scholars program, which is for established scholars, and the Getty Fellowship, which is available to scholars who received their Ph.D. after 2016. The Scholars program has residencies of 3, 6, and 9 months. The Fellowship is for 9 months. -
Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
Humanities Program ($10,000 - $20,000) The sponsor intends to further the humanities along a broad front, supporting projects which address a humanistic education rooted in the great traditions of the past. Deadline: Continuous. -
Guggenheim Foundation (Harry Frank)
The Foundation seeks proposals from the natural and social sciences and humanities that will increase understanding of the causes, manifestations, and control of violence and aggression. Grants may be from one to two years, and there are no established degree requirements for applicants. -
Guggenheim Foundation (John Simon)
Guggenheim Fellowships are for senior scholars with a demonstrated capacity for exceptional work in the creative arts. Fellows come from all disciplines with the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts. The amount of the fellowship varies. The Foundation awards about 175 Fellowships each year. -
Harry Ransom Center – University of Texas
The Ransom Center offers 1-3 mo. Residential fellowships in all areas of the humanities. Projects must require substantial on-site use of the Center’s collections; travel stipends are available for scholars needed less than one month on site. -
Houghton Library (Harvard)
The Houghton Library provides a number of one-month residential fellowships for individuals seeking to use the library’s collections. Fellowships include a $3,600 stipend. Houghton also sponsors the Pantzer Fellowship in Descriptive Bibliography; the Pantzer Fellowship is for up to 12 months and also carries a $3,600 stipend per month. -
Howard Foundation
One-year fellowships for independent projects by early- and mid-career faculty who have completed at least one major project. The disciplines supported are in a five-year rotation and include Creative Nonfiction, History, Photography, Film Studies, Music Performance, Musicology, Emerging Arts and Science & Technology Studies. Fellowship last up to 12 months and bring a stipend of $35,000. -
Humanities New York
Vision Grants ($500 to $1500). Support activities such as focus groups, new partnership meetings, collaborative research, scholar consultations, and professional development that help organizations develop public-facing humanities programs. Deadline: Continuous
Action Grants ($1,500 to $5000, 1:1 match required) Implementation grants for public-facing humanities projects that encourage audiences to reflect on their values, explore new ideas, and engage with others in their community. -
John Carter Brown Library
The Library offers short- (2-4 mo) and long-term (5-10 mo) residential research fellowships for scholars who work centers on colonial American history. The Library’s collection consists of primary documents pertaining to North and South America prior 1825. Short-term fellowships are also available for the study of the African Diaspora in the New World, in addition to the Hodson Trust, a 4-month fellowship for scholars researcher the cultural and artistic history of the Americas before 1930. -
Lapidus Center Fellowships
The Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery provides short- and long-term fellowships to scholars studying transatlantic slave trade and would benefit from the archives at the Schomberg Center at the New York Public Library. Long-term residential fellowships are six months and bring a $30,000 stipend. Short-term are available for up to three consecutive months and provide a stipend of $6,000. Applicants must reside outside the NYC Metropolitan Area. -
Leo Baeck Institute
The Institute offers a Career Development Award as a personal grant to a scholar or professional in the pre-tenure stage, whose proposed work would deal with topics within the Leo Baeck Institute’s mission, namely historical or cultural issues of the Jewish experience in German-speaking lands. Awards are up to $20,000 per year. -
Levy Center for Biography
The Leon Levy Center offers for full-year fellowships in biography; the awards provide for workspace, research assistance, and a stipend of $72,000. The Center is also host to a fellowship funded by the Sloan Foundation. Preference is given to scholars who have not yet published a work of biography. -
Library Company of Philadelphia
Offers the Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES) for scholars studying the development of the American economy prior to 1850; PEAES carries a $40,000 stipend. The Program in African American History (PAAH) provides support to research in African American history in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries; PAAH carries a $50,000 stipend. -
Louisville Institute
The Institute supports scholarship in religious studies and theology. The First Book for Minority Scholars offers $40,000 for a one year fellowship to complete a book-length work on North American Christianity. Project Grants for Researchers provides a $30,000 Fellowship. Sabbatical Grants for Researchers provides $40,000 per year. Deadlines are (respectively) January, October, and November. -
Lowell Travelling Scholarship
This award provides $60,000 annually to a poet who will be traveling abroad during the award year. The stipend is to pay living and travel expenses, and the awardee must remain abroad throughout the award year. Any poet, regardless of academic affiliation, may apply. -
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The MET offers some 50 fellowships each year in the areas of art history, visual culture, preservation, curatorial studies, and research. Awards are available to junior, mid-career, and senior scholars. -
Modern Language Association
The Humanities Innovation Grants offer $3,000 stipends for course development in English, languages and related disciplines that revitalize students’ interest in the humanities. The MLA is particularly interested in collaborative and multi-disciplinary project. -
Murphy Institute for Ethics and Public Affairs (Tulane University)
A one-year visiting faculty or residential scholar position to support faculty with an interest in the areas of ethics, political philosophy, or political theory. The award is open to fulltime faculty of all ranks. -
National Academy of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine (Ford Fellowship)
Offers a post-doctoral fellowship for scholars within seven years of obtaining their Ph.D. Fields of study comprise traditional humanities, but also include earth sciences and psychology. The Fellowship favors those with a record of scholarly achievement and a willingness to engage in and with underrepresented communities. -
National Endowment for the Arts
The NEA offers two fellowships, which alternate by year. One year the fellowships are in fiction, and in the alternate year the fellowships are in creative nonfiction and poetry. The fellowships are differing criteria, but they both require a history of prior publication (in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry). The stipend is $25,000. -
National Endowment for the Humanities
Collaborative Research Grants (Awards Vary) Collaborative Research grants support groups of two or more scholars engaging in significant and sustained research in the humanities. Deadline: Mid-October (pre-proposal); December (final proposal).
Humanities Connections ($35,000 – Planning Grant; $100,000 Implementation Grant) These grants support the development of innovative curricular advancements the encourage collaboration among humanities disciplines and between the humanities and non-humanities disciplines. Deadline: Mid- to Late-September.
Summer Stipends ($6,000) Summer Stipends support individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both Deadline: Late September. -
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery offers senior fellowships (9 mo.) and visiting senior fellowships (up to 2 mo.) for scholars researching history, theory, and criticism of the visual arts – painting, sculpture, architecture, prints and drawings, film, photography, decorative arts, etc. -
National Humanities Center
Offers residential fellowships for advanced studies in the humanities. The Center accepts mid-career scholars and early career scholars with a demonstrated record of scholarly publication. The stipend is $65,000 per year. Deadlines are typically in early fall. -
New York Historical Society
The New York Historical Society offers a variety of short-term and full year fellowships. Eligibility requirements, stipends, and submission deadlines will vary depending on the specific program. Most programs tend to favor early career researchers. -
Newberry Library
Multiple short-term and long-term fellowships are available for scholars conducted research related to the collections at the Newberry Library. Newberry also offers a publication subvention award for works of European History prior to 1700. -
Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies
One and two semester fellowships are available for humanists, social scientists, legal scholars and artists who conduct research and creative activity based on the annual theme of the Institute. The fellowship comes with both a stipend and a research budget. The theme for AY 21-22 is “Resilience.” -
Oxford Center for Islamic Studies
Offers a number of 10-month fellowships for research in the arts, humanities and social sciences that is relevant to the study of Islam or the Muslim world. Preference is given toward classic Islamic Studies, but all disciplines are invited. -
PEN/America Literary Awards
Offers multiple awards and prizes annually in fiction (short story, collections, novels) non-fiction, poetry, drama, and translations. Multi-genre awards are also offered. -
Phi Beta Kappa – Sibley Fellowship
The Sibley Fellowship for female scholars alternates annually between Greek and French studies. The award may be used for the study of Greek culture (language, literature, history, archeology) or the study of French language and literature. -
Princeton University – Hodder Fellowship
The Hodder Fellowship is for writers and non-literary artists of exceptional promise to pursue new projects. Most successful candidates have already published a first book or have a similar accomplishment in their field. -
Princeton University – Rockefeller Fellowship
The Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellowship supports scholars who are conducting research on topics involving human values in public and private life. Open to all disciplines. -
Radcliffe Institute Fellows
Two-semester residencies in the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts. In addition to salary, a small research budget and funding for relocation and childcare is also available. In most disciplines, the Ph.D. must have been granted more than two years earlier and the applicant should have published previously. -
Robert Penn Warren Fellowships (Vanderbilt University)
The William S. Vaughn Visiting Fellowship is typically based on an annual theme (tied to the Faculty Fellowships). It’s a residential fellowship and the Visiting Fellow is expected to attend workshops and seminars on a regular basis. The Faculty Fellowships and the Vaughn Visiting Fellowship is currently on hiatus for the 2020-21 academic year. -
Rockefeller Center (Harvard)
The Visiting Scholars and Fellows program is open to academics from Latin America as well as Latin Americanist Scholars from the US and other parts of the world. Proposals must have a clearly defined project and should address how the proposed project connects to and benefits from Harvard's unique resources -
Rockefeller Foundation – Bellagio Program
The Foundation offers a residency in academic writing and an arts and literary residency. The program lasts four weeks and is open to early-career scholars. -
Rose Library – Emory University
The Library provides a number of short-term fellowships for scholarly use of the Rose’s research collections in English-language literature, the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, African American history and culture, Southern history and culture, modern politics, LDBTQ collections, and the Alice Walker papers. -
Rubenstein Rare Manuscript Collection – Duke University
The institution offers research grants of up to $1,500 for scholars who would benefit from access to the collection, which include the history of medicine, women’s history, African American history, German studies, Jewish studies, and Human Rights. -
Ruth Landes Memorial Fund
The Fund sponsors research in the areas of aging, gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, immigrant and minority populations, culture and education, language and identity, and religion, particularly among African American and Native American populations. Typical grants are from $10,000 to $60,000. -
Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture
Schomberg has a Scholars-in-Residence Program with long term (six months) and short-term (1 – 3 months) available for researchers in the area of history, politics, literature or culture of Africa or the African diaspora. -
School for Advanced Research
Located in Santa Fe, NM, the SAR offers nine-month residential fellowships are available for scholars who need time to prepare manuscripts in the humanities and social sciences The School offers specific fellowships for Native American and Latinx scholars. -
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian offers a host of Fellowships for pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and senior researchers. They can last from three months to three years, with stipends that vary widely depending on the status of the reviewer and the length of the Fellowship. Deadlines occur throughout the year. -
Society for Classical Studies
The Society sponsors the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL) Fellowship at the TLL Institute in Munich. The fellowship carries a $50,000 stipend and a small budget for lexicography training. Scholars study Latin language and culture from the classical period through the early Middle Ages. -
Stanford Humanities Center
Offers one-year fellowships available for scholars conducting research in the traditional and emergent disciplines of the humanities and the interpretive social sciences. The Center is especially interested in projects that are likely to contribute to intellectual exchange among a diverse community of scholars. -
Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience
Offers two fellowships. The Patrick Henry Writing Fellowship for scholars working on book-length projects (including a film, podcast series or museum exhibit) that address the history and legacy of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideals. The Hodson Trust-John Carter Brown Library Fellowship supposer scholars from a wide range of disciplines who are pursuing projects on the literature, history, culture, or art of the Americas prior to 1830. -
State Department
Fulbright Program (Award Amount Varies). The Fulbright Core Scholars Program provides travel funding and limited salary replacement for U.S. faculty who wish to spend a year abroad. Deadline: Early August -
The Huntington Library
The Huntington offers multiple short- and long-term fellowships for scholars wishing to use Huntington’s library holdings and art collections with particular emphasis on Hispanic history and culture, medieval manuscripts, Western American history, and the Pacific Rim. Long-term fellowships carry a $50,000 stipend. -
UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Ahmanson Research Fellowships for the Study of Medieval and Renaissance Books and Manuscripts support the use of any of the UCLA Library Special Collections’ extensive holdings in medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and printed books. Fellowships are for three months with a stipend of $2500 per month. -
University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
UConn Humanities Fellowships are opportunities for individuals to pursue advanced work in the humanities. Humanities Fellowships are year-long and allow for time and space to research, write, and collaborate on work that extends and celebrates humanities scholarship. Take advantage of the time and space UCHI fellows are afforded as well as UConn’s research facilities, archives, special collections, and museums with ideal proximity to Hartford, New Haven, Boston, and New York City. -
University of Connecticut Humanities Institute
UConn Humanities Fellowships are opportunities for individuals to pursue advanced work in the humanities. Humanities Fellowships are year-long and allow for time and space to research, write, and collaborate on work that extends and celebrates humanities scholarship. Take advantage of the time and space UCHI fellows are afforded as well as UConn’s research facilities, archives, special collections, and museums with ideal proximity to Hartford, New Haven, Boston, and New York City. -
University of Wisconsin
The Institute for Research in the Humanities offers several external Fellowships to researchers in a variety of humanities disciplines. Awards vary, but are typically for one year and $50,000. Applications are typically due in the Mid- to Late-Fall. -
Vermont Studio Center
Four-week residencies available for visual artists and writers. Residencies include private room in shared housing, 24-hor access to private studio space in one of six medium-specific studio buildings on the campus in Johnson, Vermont. Fellowships cover all cost of living and a small amount for travel expenses. -
Villa I Tatti (Harvard)
The Center for Italian Renaissance Studies offers several fellowships from four months to a full year. Fellowships explore all areas of the humanities with regard to the Italian Renaissance, with particular attention paid to the digital humanities. Applicants must be conversant in English and Spanish with a reading knowledge of Italian. -
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
One semester or one-year fellowships for humanities faculty whose research engages the public in intellectual and artistic discovery. Research fellows have the status of visiting faculty at the University of Virginia. -
Wenner-Gren Foundation
The Foundation offers a number of grant opportunities for research in anthropology, principally the Post-Ph.D. Research Grants, which provide up to $20,000. The Foundation is particularly interested in comparative projects that can integrate two or more subfields in anthropology. -
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library
Fellowships range from two weeks to four months at the Winterthur complex. The primary interest of Winterthur is the decorative arts, but research spans a number of humanities disciplines and the creative arts, with a specific interest in Shaker life and material culture. -
Woodrow Wilson Foundation
The Career Enhancement Fellowship is for minority junior faculty seeks to strengthen the role of underrepresented scholars in the humanities. The award comes with a $30K stipend, with the understanding that the home institution will supplement (i.e., sabbatical leave salary) to bring funding to 100%. Note that the Foundation will be changing its legal name sometime in the 2020-21 academic year.