1. Humanities Research Center
  2. Research
  3. Residential Fellowships
  4. Graduate Residential Fellowships

Graduate Student Residential Fellowships

The Humanities Research Center will award at least one fellowship each year to a PhD student (candidate preferred) working on an interdisciplinary humanities project. Fellows will receive a stipend, mentoring, professional development opportunities, and will be expected to make significant progress on their dissertations during the fellowship year. All HRC fellows are expected to attend weekly Fellows Seminars, as well as other events at the HRC during their fellowship year. Publications and public presentations resulting from this fellowship program must acknowledge the Center’s support. The fellows will also submit a report of their activities during the fellowship year by May 1st.

Apply

Residency: 2025-26
Annual Theme, 2025-26: No theme
Deadline: November 1st, 2024

The HRC invites applications for graduate student fellowships during the 2025-26 academic year. The HRC fosters interdisciplinary work, both within the humanistic disciplines, and between the humanities, the arts, and the social sciences. The selected graduate student(s) residential fellow will be awarded a stipend of at least $2,000, and will join a cohort of HRC faculty fellows. Projects will be chosen based on the quality of the proposals and the needs of the applicants. Advanced graduate students will receive priority consideration.

A complete application will consist of the following, submitted as a single PDF document:

  1. Cover page (applicant’s name, contact information)
  2. 200-word abstract
  3. 1,000-word project proposal
  4. 1-page work plan for the year
  5. Short bibliography (up to 2 pages)
  6. Curriculum vitae (up to 4 pages)
  7. A letter of support from the program director or dissertation supervisor

Submit full applications (one PDF document) to cstanciu@vcu.edu by November 1st, 2024.

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by a committee of faculty, including the previous year’s fellows, appointed by the center director. The applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Scholarly/creative excellence and promise of the project
  • Applicant’s readiness to pursue proposed research
  • Quality of the proposal
  • Demonstrated need for support
  • Explanation of how the experience of an HRC fellowship will benefit the applicant and the project