The Princeton Society of Fellows, an interdisciplinary group of scholars in the humanities and humanities-related social sciences, calls for fellowship applications annually. Each year, the Society of Fellows offers three-year fellowships to three to five early-career scholars to pursue research and teach half-time in their academic host department, the Program in Humanistic Studies, or other university programs. The fellowships also carry with them an appointment as Lecturer in a fellow's academic host department. Fellows receive a competitive salary and benefits, a $5,000 research account, access to certain university grants, a shared office, a computer and other resources. Fellows are expected to be on campus during the academic year in order to attend weekly seminars and participate fully in the intellectual life of the Society.
All fellowships will be awarded to applicants in the disciplines represented in the Society who are at the beginning of their academic career. Selection is based on exceptional scholarly achievement and evidence of unusual promise, range and quality of teaching experience, and potential contributions to an interdisciplinary community. The Society of Fellows seeks a diverse and international pool of applicants, and it especially welcomes those from underrepresented backgrounds.
For the 2025-2028 fellowship competition, applications may be submitted for the following fellowship categories:
1. Two or Three Open Fellowships in the Humanities and Social Sciences
These fellowships are open to applicants in all disciplines represented in the Society of Fellows. The fellowships' responsibilities include both research and teaching, one course each semester in the first and second years, one course in the third year. The fellows will either participate in team-taught courses or offer self-designed courses in the host department and/or an interdisciplinary program. In addition, fellows normally take on some advising in their specialty or related research areas.
2. One Fellowship in Humanistic Studies
This fellowship is supported jointly by the Humanities Council and the Society of Fellows and is open to candidates in the humanities disciplines represented in the Society. The fellowship’s responsibilities include research and teaching, one course each semester in the first and second years, one course in the third year. Courses are offered in a fellow’s host department and cross-listed with the Program in Humanistic Studies, possibly additional programs. In the fall semester of the first two years, the fellow will join a faculty team to co-teach in the Humanities Sequence, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Western Culture: From Antiquity to the Middle Ages. The fellow will be called upon to lead or contribute to occasional activities designed to build a sense of community among undergraduates in the Program in Humanistic Studies, which offers local and international field trips, an undergraduate society, workshops and other opportunities.
3. One Fellowship in LGBT Studies
This fellowship is to be awarded to a scholar working on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender issues in any of the disciplines represented in the Society, and particularly in new and emerging fields. The fellow will be expected to pursue research in any scholarly areas that will make a positive contribution toward public discourse around contemporary LGBT issues. In each of the first two years, the fellow pursues research half-time and teaches one course each semester, either team-taught or self-designed, in the host department and/or an interdisciplinary program. In the third year, the fellow teaches only one course. In addition, the fellow normally does some advising in their specialty or related research areas. The LGBT fellow is also encouraged to share research interests with the wider campus community, with the aim of creating a sustained dialogue on issues related to LGBT equality.
Deadline: August 6, 2024
As part of the online application, applicants are required to select one academic host department from the following options:
African American Studies, Anthropology, Architecture, Art and Archaeology, Classics, Comparative Literature, East Asian Studies, English, French and Italian, German, History, Music (limited to Musicology, Music Theory, and Ethnomusicology), Near Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Sociology, Spanish and Portuguese.
We ask applicants to refrain from contacting faculty in potential host departments; we will do so on behalf of finalists at a later stage of the search.
In addition to a host department, applicants may choose to be affiliated with one of the University's interdisciplinary programs:
African Studies; American Studies; Ancient World; Asian American Studies; Classical Philosophy; Contemporary European Politics and Society; Environmental Studies; European Cultural Studies; Film Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Hellenic Studies; History of Science; Indigenous Studies; Italian Studies; Judaic Studies; Latin American Studies; Latino Studies; Linguistics; Media and Modernity; Medieval Studies; Political Philosophy; Population Studies; Renaissance Studies; Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies; South Asian Studies; Theater and Dance; Translation and Intercultural Communication; Urban Studies; Values and Public Life.
Applicants already holding the Ph.D. degree at the time of their application will need to have received their degree between January 1, 2023 and August 6, 2024. The receipt of the Ph.D. is determined by the date on which all requirements for the degree, including the defense and filing of the dissertation, were fulfilled. Priority will be given to applicants who have received no more than one year of research-only funding past the Ph.D. degree.
Applicants with a Ph.D. are asked to upload a document to the application site with evidence of completion of all requirements for the Ph.D. degree (either a formal Ph.D. certificate, an official transcript, or a degree confirmation letter by the individual’s dean, graduate school, or registrar).
Applicants who are ABD (All But Dissertation) at the time of their application: Applicants who do not meet the August 6, 2024 deadline for receipt of their Ph.D., but are expected to have fulfilled all conditions for the degree, including defense and filing of dissertation, by June 15, 2025, may apply for a postdoctoral fellowship, provided they have completed a substantial portion of their dissertation (at least half).
Applicants who are ABD need to upload an official letter by the Department Chair or Director of Graduate Studies confirming “progress to degree” as part of their online application.