In June 2023, Carnegie Corporation of New York announced a second phase of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program and a new focus on political polarization in the United States. For at least the next three years, the program will ask scholars to help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what we can do to strengthen the forces of cohesion in American society. The next class of fellows will be announced in spring 2025.
The fellows program was established in 2015 to provide philanthropic support to extraordinary scholars and writers for high-caliber research in the humanities and social sciences. During its first eight years, nearly 250 scholars received fellowships of $200,000 to explore a range of important and enduring issues.
After a one-year pause in 2022, the program has resumed with the focus on political polarization. The issue is characterized by threats to free speech, the decline of civil discourse, disagreement over basic facts, and a lack of mutual understanding and collaboration. In combination, these factors fracture our society, cause Americans to abandon the middle ground, and ultimately undermine our democracy.
Fellowships of $200,000 are awarded annually to 30 exceptional scholars, authors, journalists, and public intellectuals. The criteria prioritize the originality and promise of the research, its potential impact on the field, and the scholar’s plans for communicating the findings to a broad audience. The funding is for a period of one or two years with the anticipated result of a book or major study.
University presidents may nominate one junior and one senior scholar. Regardless of title, a junior scholar is defined as someone who received a PhD within the last 10 years (2014–2024, for the 2025 fellowship program).
Deadlines:
- Duke Internal Deadline: September 16, 2024
- Sponsor Deadline: November 8, 2024
After a one-year pause in 2022, the program has resumed with the focus on political polarization. The issue is characterized by threats to free speech, the decline of civil discourse, disagreement over basic facts, and a lack of mutual understanding and collaboration. In combination, these factors fracture our society, cause Americans to abandon the middle ground, and ultimately undermine our democracy.
The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program is open only to citizens or permanent residents of the United States whose names have been forwarded by a nominator designated by Carnegie Corporation of New York. Candidates must have a Ph.D., hold a terminal degree, or be a high-level professional working outside of academia. Nominators include heads of independent research institutes and societies, university presidents, leaders of some of the nation’s preeminent think tanks, and directors of major university presses, as well as editors of leading newspapers and magazines. Individuals may not apply for the fellows program via self-nomination.
In accepting an institution’s nomination, the candidate is affirming that if chosen for a fellowship, the individual will accept it and complete the research project. Winners may not accept other fellowships of equal caliber in addition to the Andrew Carnegie fellowship during the same time period
2023
Sunshine Hillygus, Redesigning Social Media to Reduce Partisan Animosity
2021
Christine Folch, The Crucible of Climate Change: Sustainable Development Solutions from the Global South
2020
Megan Mullin, Reshaping Communities: Local Political Response to Climate Risks
2019
Sally Nuamah Duke University, Sanford School of Public Policy. Project Title: How the Punishment of Black Women and Girls Affects Our Democracy
2017
Christopher A. Bail Duke University, Douglas and Ellen Lowey Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy. Project title: Countering Extremist Narratives on Social Media Via Computational Social Science.
Philip M. Napoli Duke University, James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy. Project title: Media Technocracy: The Rise of Algorithmic News and the Future of the Marketplace of Ideas.
2016
Curtis A. Bradley William Van Alstyne Professor of Law. Professor of Public Policy Studies, Duke University; “Comparative Foreign Relations Law and Democratic Accountability”
Owing to the sponsor's restriction on the number of applications that may be submitted from Duke, anyone wishing to pursue nomination should submit the following materials as one PDF:
- A 500 word project description and CV
Nominations will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
* Originality and promise of the idea
* Quality of the proposal
* Potential impact on the field
* Record of the nominee
* Plans to communicate findings to a broad audience
Please submit internal materials through My Research Proposal. (Code: ILN) https://www.grantinterface.com/sl/1ZhXti
Instructions for creating an account (if needed) and submitting your materials: https://ctsi.duke.edu/about-myresearchproposal