Mellon Graduate Fellowships Grant

The Mellon Graduate Fellowships at Cornell University, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, offer residential fellowships for graduate students in humanities. This program focuses on the 2026-27 theme of Survival, providing a stipend of $35,661, tuition waivers, and health insurance. Fellows engage in collaborative research, participate in seminars, and foster a supportive intellectual community in Ithaca, NY, while sharing experiences at Society for the Humanities events.

The Society for the Humanities at Cornell University, with support from an award by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, invites applications for residential fellowships from Cornell graduate students whose research projects reflect on the 2026–27 theme of Survival. The fellowships include a College of Arts & Sciences graduate tuition waiver, a $35,661 stipend, and health insurance. The two Mellon Graduate Fellows will share an office at the A.D. White House during the academic year.
Fellows include scholars and practitioners from other universities and members of the Cornell faculty released from regular duties. Fellows at the Society for the Humanities are “residential,” and will collaborate with one another and the Taylor Family Director of the Society for the Humanities, Durba Ghosh, professor of history. Mellon Graduate Fellows spend their time in research and writing during the residential fellowship, and are required to participate in a weekly Fellows Seminar workshopping each other’s projects and discussing readings based on the yearly theme. Mellon Graduate Fellows will not teach courses.
Mellon Graduate Fellows are invited and encouraged to attend all Society for the Humanities events. The nature of this fellowship year is social and communal—fellows forge connections outside the classroom and the lecture hall by sharing meals following the weekly seminar and attending post-lecture receptions and other casual events throughout the year. Fellows live and work in Ithaca, NY, and are expected to be in their offices on campus frequently. All applicants for Society Fellowships should share in this commitment to creating a supportive and intellectually stimulating community.