Now in its fifth decade, the Newcombe Fellowship has become a nationally recognized award that distinguishes recipients within their fields. Fellows receive a $31,000 stipend to complete the writing stage of their dissertation. The Newcombe Fellowships have supported over 1400 graduate students who have written dissertations which respond to and participate in, deep and meaningful conversations within religion, values, and ethics. The conversation may be from the ancient past, with modern relevance; it may be a unique perspective on a well-known topic; it may revolve around culture, art, societies, or identity. Those awarded a Newcombe Fellowship are often at the forefront of creative and original scholarship, proposing new insights and ground-breaking work in the questions and conversations surrounding religion, ethics, and values.
Candidates are evaluated based on scholarly excellence; quality and originality of the project; and commitment to research that advances religious understanding, ethics, and values.
The purpose of the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship is to offset living expenses while the dissertation is completed. Fellows must use the award for the final year of writing the dissertation. Fellows’ graduate schools will be asked to waive tuition and fees while maintaining health insurance for Newcombe Fellows.
Deadline: Nov. 1, 2024
Applicants must:
- be candidates for Ph.D. degrees in any field of study in the humanities and social sciences at accredited graduate schools in the United States. Candidates working on D.Min., JD, Psy.D., Ed.D. and other professional degrees are not eligible. Students in science, technology, engineering, and math fields may apply provided questions of religious understanding, ethics, or values are central to the dissertation.
- be ABD, and have completed all pre-dissertation requirements fulfilled by the application deadline, including approval of the dissertation proposal.
- be in the writing stage of the dissertation. Usually, this means that fieldwork or other research is complete and writing has begun by the time of the award.
- expect to complete the dissertation between April 1 and August 31, the year of the tenure of the award.
- have never held a similar national award for the final year of dissertation writing.
2021: Nathaniel Berndt • Duke University, history
Descendants of Zabarkan, Citizens of the World: A History of Cosmopolitan Imagination in Decolonizing Niger, 1958-1974