ACLS Fellowship & Research Opportunity for CC Humanities Faculty

American Council of Learned Societies Launches Fellowship Opportunity and Research Initiative for Community College Faculty in the Humanities

Pilot Initiative Will Support Virtual, Hybrid, and In-Person Residencies at Humanities Research Centers for Community College Faculty in 2025

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce a fellowship opportunity designed to advance the research of community college faculty in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. The pilot initiative, which is made possible by the support of the Mellon Foundation, will also explore the diverse contributions of the community college sector to humanistic scholarship.

The ACLS Community College Faculty Research Fellowships offer scholars in the humanities and interpretive social sciences who teach at two-year degree-granting institutions the opportunity to pursue their research in virtual, hybrid, or on-site residencies at select humanities research centers. In 2025, ACLS will offer up to 13 awards for community college faculty to take up two- to three-month fellowships at one of three participating organizations:

The American Antiquarian Society (Worcester, MA)
The Folger Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, DC)
The Newberry Library (Chicago, IL)

“Community college faculty are pursuing exciting, innovative research in the humanities, and the academy has much to gain from their perspectives as scholars and teachers deeply engaged with their local communities,” said John Paul Christy, Senior Director of US Programs at ACLS. “ACLS is grateful to our partners at the American Antiquarian Association, the Folger, and the Newberry for their partnership in this initiative, and for their commitment to enhancing access to the networks and resources their centers offer for community college faculty across the country.”

Based on feedback from faculty in the community college sector, the awards are designed to be flexible and allow fellows to design a residency that works best for them, from fully on-site to fully remote. The awards offer $3,500 per month in support, plus an additional $1,500 per month to defray costs associated with travel and accommodation at their selected research center.

In addition to offering direct support for research, the program will bring fellows and other scholars together with funders and the leadership of research centers and scholarly associations to advise on the development of more inclusive infrastructure for scholars in teaching-intensive faculty roles.

ACLS is now accepting applications for the ACLS Community College Research Fellowships, with all proposals due by December 4, 2024, 9:00 PM EST. Applicants are invited to consult the ACLS program page for more information and to sign up for an informational webinar, which will be recorded, and for office hours sessions where they can receive answers to their questions from ACLS program staff.

This fellowship opportunity and learning project is part of the ACLS Community College Humanities Initiative, a suite of research, funding, and convening activities designed to advance the humanities in the community college sector.

Learn More About Application and Eligibility Requirements

Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 81 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS expands the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship. In all aspects of our work, ACLS is committed to principles and practices in support of racial and social justice.

The Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Mellon believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom to be found there. Through its grants, Mellon seeks to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. The Foundation makes grants in four core program areas: Arts and Culture; Higher Learning; Humanities in Place; and Public Knowledge.

Opportunity: CAORC-NEH Research Fellowship (Deadline 1/15)

CAORC-NEH RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

The CAORC – National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship is accepting applications! This fellowship provides the opportunity for scholars to carry out advanced research in the humanities and to spend significant time in one country with an Overseas Research Center as a base. Approximately three to four awards will be granted and fellowship stipends are $5,000 per month for four to six consecutive months.

Fields of study include, but are not limited to, anthropology, history, philosophy, archaeology, linguistics, religious studies, languages, literature, literary criticism, ethnomusicology, and art history. In addition, research that embraces a humanistic approach and methods will be considered.

Applicants must hold a PhD or a terminal degree, or have completed all requirements, except for the actual conferral of the degree, by the application deadline. Applicants must be US citizens or foreign national scholars who have been resident in the US for at least three years. Please see the fellowship guidelines for more information.

Minority scholars and scholars from Minority-Serving Institutions are encouraged to apply.

Deadline: January 15, 2025

Apply here.

Questions: fellowships@caorc.org

Fellowship Guidelines: here.

Annual McMurry Lecture: 10/28 from Monroe CC English & Philosophy Dept.

The Monroe Community College English & Philosophy Department is pleased to announce the annual McMurry Lecture by. Lynn Sebastian Purcell, Associate Professor of Philosophy at SUNY Cortland.

Save the Date: Oct. 28, 3:30 to 5:00, Monroe B

Livestream: McMurry Lecture 2024

Professor Purcell’s topic is The Aztec’s 5-Fold Path to A Good Life

The Aztecs had a robust philosophical tradition that, unlike what popular culture suggests, was centered on learning to live a cooperative life well. This path had five parts. First, you must recognize that each of us slips up and errs. Second, we do this because we are unbalanced. Third, the solution to this lack of balance is to grow deep roots in our communities and with our dearest friends. Fourth, this is done through exercising the virtues of prudence, humility, justice, moderation, and courage. Finally, you must engage in a series of drills–sometimes called spiritual exercises–to form the right habits of those virtues. Their view is both strikingly like Aristotle’s yet at each moment differently focused.

Livestreamed at McMurry Lecture 2024

For more information, contact Robert L. Muhlnickel at rmuhlnickel@monroecc.edu.

McMurry Lecture Flyer full ADA compliant

The Great Questions Foundation in red, stylized text on a white background.

The Great Questions Foundation Faculty Fellowship Program

Application Deadline: October 15th, 2024

Community college faculty members are invited to assemble a team at their institution and apply to collaborate in this national project to expand discussion-based liberal education opportunities for community college students. Join your colleagues in this movement to make general education liberal education at community colleges.

Funded by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation, The Great Questions Faculty Fellowship program will place 20 community college faculty members who teach general education courses in a two-year faculty leadership incubator, positioning them at the creative center of discussion-based and student-centered pedagogy in the liberal arts. Fellows will work to redesign a frequently taught course to center the discussion-based study of transformative works and ideas while exploring and practicing discussion-based pedagogies, and active, collaborative, and reflective assignment design with faculty leaders. Each Fellow will develop their capacity as institutional leaders and will organize at least one humanities-centered event at their institution with TGQF’s support. Additionally, Fellows will have the opportunity to apply for grants from TGQF of $5,000 – $40,000 to support the further development of humanistic inquiry in the liberal arts at their institutions.

Along with regular online workshops, engaging with invited community college faculty leaders in liberal education work, Fellows will convene in two in-person meetings during their fellowship tenure, one held in Austin, Texas, and another at a Fellow’s home institution, to-be-determined. All travel costs for these meetings, including hotel, flights, and group meals will be covered by TGQF.Each fellow will receive a $5,000 stipend for their full participation in the fellowship program.

Prospective Fellows who teach in the humanities and humanistic social sciences at community colleges are encouraged to apply as campus teams of 3-4 faculty. The application deadline is October 15th, 2024.

Find out more and apply here: https://www.tgqf.org/fellowship/. If you have any questions about this opportunity, please let me know. I’d be grateful if you would please share this opportunity widely within your networks of community college faculty colleagues.

Thanks!

Ted Hadzi-Antich Jr.

Executive Director

The Great Questions Foundation (501c3)