The Career Enhancement Fellows are exceptional scholars whose work broadens the range of perspectives and understandings offered on college campuses and creates opportunities for crucial new scholarly voices to be heard in disciplines and institutions. Fellows are outstanding junior faculty committed to campus diversity and innovative research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. Through the program, Fellows build a diverse academic community and system of support as they pursue careers as university faculty and administrators.
The Career Enhancement Fellowship provides each Fellow with a six-month or one-year sabbatical grant; a stipend for research and travel or publication; and participation in an annual conference/retreat. A total of 30 Fellowships are awarded each year.
Programs like the Career Enhancement Fellowship and others at C&S support scholars committed to eradicating disparities in their fields. The Career Enhancement Fellowship seeks to increase the presence of underrepresented junior and other faculty members in the humanities, social sciences, and arts by creating career development opportunities for selected Fellows with promising research projects.
- A stipend of up to $35,000 will be sent to the institution.
- A grant of up to $1,500 for research, travel, or publication will be sent to the Fellow.
- The Fellow’s institution is expected to supplement the Career Enhancement Fellowship stipend so that the Fellow receives his/her academic salary.
- The Fellow’s institution is expected to provide yearly health and benefits coverage
- The award cannot be transferred to another institution. It will be sent to the institution that the applicant indicates when applying for the Career Enhancement Fellowship.
Deadline: Oct. 18, 2024
Eligible Fields
Humanities: Area/Cultural/Ethnic/Gender Studies, Art History, Classics, English, Film, Cinema and Media Studies (theoretical focus), Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Music Theory, Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, Linguistics, Literature, Performance Studies (theoretical focus), Philosophy and Political Theory, Religion and Theology, Theater (theoretical focus)
Social Sciences: Anthropology and Archaeology, Demography, Sociology, Geography and Population Studies
Who should apply to the CE Junior Faculty Fellowship?
- Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Programs alumni
- Minority junior faculty: African Americans, Latinos and Latinas, Native Americans, and Native Alaskans
- Junior faculty with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities, breaking down stereotypes, and promoting cross-racial understanding in their university communities.
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- At the time of application, considered by your institution to be in the third year of the tenure-track teaching appointment (the award is distributed in the fourth year of the tenure track);
- C&S understands that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted tenure clocks for many junior faculty and are aware of “stop the clock” situations. If you were currently in your third year on the tenure clock as of Fall 2021, but have been paused/stopped, please note that you will be able to apply this year (Fall 2022). You will be eligible as long as your institution acknowledges that you are in your third year.
- Teaching in one of the designated fields (see fields here), although interdisciplinary work will also be considered;
- Completed no more than two years on the tenure track at another institution prior to joining your current institution;
- Ability to accept the Career Enhancement Fellowship in the upcoming academic year. Please note that the Fellowship must be continuous; and
- Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States as of November 13, 2023 (include copy of green card if a permanent resident).
While all faculty members who meet these criteria may apply, those who have been Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows are strongly encouraged to do so.