Stanford Humanities Center
Fellowships
The Humanities Center offers residential fellowships to scholars from Stanford and elsewhere at all career stages, giving them the opportunity to pursue their work in a supportive intellectual community.
- Fellowships for External Faculty
External fellowships are intended primarily for individuals currently teaching in or affiliated with an academic institution, but independent scholars may apply. Faculty fellowships are awarded across the spectrum of academic ranks (assistant, associate, and full professor). The selection process intends to create a community of scholars from diverse institutions, roles, experiences and perspectives. Applications are open to any and all candidates that meet the below requirements. We welcome and encourage applicants of all identities and backgrounds. There are no citizenship requirements for these fellowships; non-U.S. nationals are welcome to apply. Awards are made from an applicant pool of approximately 350.
- Fellowships for Stanford Faculty
Internal Faculty Fellowships are intended primarily for active Stanford Academic Council faculty, but senior lecturers with continuing appointments and emeriti faculty may also apply. The selection process intends to create a community of scholars from diverse roles, ranks, experiences, and perspectives. Applications are open to all that meet the above requirements, and we welcome applicants of all identities and backgrounds.
- Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in the Humanities brings to Stanford outstanding early career scholars to be part of a vibrant cross-disciplinary community. Fellows teach two courses per year, and participate in an active program of scholarly exchange with Stanford faculty, Stanford Humanities Center fellows at all stages of career, and established scholars from around the world.
Founded in the 1970s with a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the fellowships were brought together into a coherent program under the leadership of Seth Lerer in 2001, to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. Lerer developed the program into a genuine community of scholars, fostering intense dialogue across disciplines based primarily on regular and close engagement by the fellows with one another’s work.
The Mellon Fellowship is directed by Kären Wigen, Frances and Charles Field Professor in History.
- Fellowships for Stanford Graduate Students
The Stanford Humanities Center awards three highly selective fellowships for Stanford doctoral students in the humanities and the interpretive social sciences: the SHC Dissertation Prize fellowship; the Mellon Dissertation fellowship (in collaboration with the School of Humanities and Sciences); and the Next Generation Scholar fellowship.
The application deadline for all three fellowships occurs in early February. Graduate students may apply to the SHC Dissertation Prize/Mellon Dissertation fellowships or the Next Generation Scholar fellowship but not DP/Mellon and Next Generation Scholar in the same application cycle.
The SHC Dissertation Prize fellowships and Mellon Foundation Dissertation fellowships are awarded to advanced graduate students who are completing their dissertations. SHC Dissertation Prize fellows are required to spend the academic year (fall/winter/spring quarters) taking part in the daily life of the Humanities Center. Mellon dissertation fellows are required to meet the campus residency expectations set by their dean/department. The application cycle opens in fall quarter each year, with a deadline in early February.
For more information and to apply, please see the SHC Dissertation Prize fellowships and Mellon Foundation Dissertation fellowships application page.
The Next Generation Scholar fellowship (formerly Career Launch fellowship) supports Stanford graduate students in year 7 or above whose work demonstrates the highest distinction and the promise of future achievement. These fellowships are intended to serve as a bridge between the end of the university’s formal support and the transition to a postdoctoral fellowship or faculty position. In addition to completing the dissertation, fellows pursue professional development part-time during one quarter (e.g., teach a course connected to the fellow’s research profile, develop skills in the digital humanities, engage closely with a Public Humanities program, or another endeavor of the fellow’s choosing). The application cycle opens in fall quarter each year, with a deadline in early February.
For more information and to apply, please see the Next Generation Scholar Fellowship application page.
- Fellowships for Stanford Undergraduate Students
Since 2013 the Humanities Center has been awarding Hume Honors Fellowships to eight to ten seniors writing an honor’s thesis in one of Stanford’s humanities departments. Fellows are chosen from candidates nominated by faculty across the humanities at Stanford.
In the stimulating scholarly environment of the Humanities Center, undergraduate fellows benefit from a year-long association as a cohort, as well as with graduate students and faculty fellows in residence. These intensive intellectual interactions are meant to enable the students to deepen their scholarly focus and expose them to advanced and inspiring research in the humanities.
The Hume Honors Fellowships are made possible by a gift to the endowment by Mr. George and Dr. Leslie P. Hume.
Please contact Svetlana Turetskaya, International and Academic Programs Manager, by email or call (650) 690-0763 if you have questions about this fellowship.
- Fellowships in Medical Humanities for Stanford Physicians
The Stanford Humanities Center is excited to announce a new opportunity for Stanford Medicine physicians interested in pursuing nonfiction scholarly work in Medical Humanities: a fellowship at the Stanford Humanities Center.
Applications for the 2025–2026 fellowship year are now closed.
This is a one-year pilot for a short-term residential program housed at the Humanities Center, Stanford’s center for advanced research in the humanities. During their fellowship, Medical Humanities fellows will have a dedicated office at the Center, located on the historic campus, and be immersed in the Center’s interdisciplinary community of scholars.
- Fellowships for International Visitors
Since 2008, the International Visitors Program at the Stanford Humanities Center has brought high-profile international scholars for short-term residencies to Stanford. Stanford departments, programs, research centers, and institutes nominate candidates to be considered for a residency. During their stay, the international scholars share their research through a series of presentations and engage with faculty and students, developing ongoing intellectual collaborations. Often, these experts have worked in similar fields or on complementary projects with their campus counterparts. Visitors are chosen for their ability to expose the campus to new and relevant research agendas or geographic regions, and the likelihood that the residency will result in lasting scholarly contributions.
For inquiries regarding SHC Fellowships (faculty, Mellon postdoctoral, graduate), please contact shc-fellowships@stanford.edu.
What surprised me most was the atmosphere, which was collaborative, engaged, and free from the kind of competition that often shapes academic spaces. That tone of mutual respect and openness shaped my experience of the year in lasting ways. I came for time to write, but I leave with a deeper sense of what it means to be part of a thoughtful and generous intellectual community.
