National Humanities Center Fellowships Grant

The National Humanities Center offers fellowships designed to support scholars engaged in advanced humanities research. These fellowships are open to applicants from various academic backgrounds, including the natural and social sciences, who have a doctorate or equivalent credentials. The Center provides resources for both year- and semester-long projects, aiming to generate new knowledge and understanding of cultural expression and human thought. Fluency in English and a strong scholarly record are essential for eligibility.

NOTE: Letters of recommendation- represented by the full proposal deadline above, are due after the pre-proposal deadline above. Applicants may complete and submit their online application prior to the submission of the letters of recommendation; however, applications are not considered complete until the online application and all three letters of recommendation have been received. Applications that are missing letters will not be eligible for review.
The National Humanities Center is a private, nonprofit organization, and the only independent institute dedicated exclusively to advanced study in all areas of the humanities. The Center is supported by the generosity of individual donors, grants from private and public foundations, corporate philanthropy, and institutional sponsors—universities and academic organizations whose partnership specifically supports the Center’s fellowship program and public outreach efforts.
Fellowship Program
Through its Residential Fellowship Program, the Center provides scholars with the resources necessary to generate new knowledge and to further understanding of all forms of cultural expression, social interaction, and human thought.
In addition to all fields of the humanities, the Center accepts applications from scholars in the natural and social sciences, the arts, the professions, and public life who are engaged in humanistic projects.
Scholars can apply for year- or semester-long fellowships. The stipend amounts for Fellows are individually determined, according to the needs of the scholars and the Center’s ability to meet them.

Eligibility

Applicants must have a doctorate or equivalent scholarly credentials.Mid-career and senior scholars are encouraged to apply. Emerging scholars with a strong record of peer-reviewed work may also apply.The NHC welcomes applications from faculty at research universities, liberal arts and teaching colleges, Historically Black Colleges Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, tribal colleges and universities, and international institutions, as well as independent scholars.Successful candidates earned a PhD or an equivalent terminal degree in their discipline, such as the MFA, at least five years prior to applying for the fellowship. All candidates must be engaged in scholarly research that will result in publication.Fluency in written and spoken English is required.The NHC supports collaborative projects, however, the applications will be evaluated on their individual merit. Collaborators must apply individually and focus their application on their individual contribution to the project.Once the previous fellowship project has been published and at least five years have passed, former Fellows are eligible to apply for a fellowship for a new project.The National Humanities Center welcomes fellowship applications from scholars engaged in advanced humanities research regardless of citizenship or national origin. The NHC will sponsor eligible international applicants on a J-1 Research Scholar Exchange Visitor visa.

Ineligibility

The NHC does not fund post-docs; the applicant must be working on a significant project beyond their dissertation and have published at least one single-authored book or a substantial body of peer-reviewed scholarship.The Center does not support the revision of doctoral dissertations.Ineligible ApplicationsApplicants with an insufficiently developed scholarly record beyond the dissertation projectProjects that are collections of primary sources or edited volumesCreative writing projects such as works of fiction or poetryExplicitly pedagogical works such as syllabi and textbooksNon-humanities scholarship such as white papers and reportsProjects that are derivative of the applicant’s dissertationOur fellowships do not allow for institutional overhead.