AAS Humanities Fellowships

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Program Overview

This iniative is designed to provide opportunities for career development and research projects for Asian Studies professionals on the periphery of Asian Studies. These constituents include Black scholars of Asia, contingent/adjunct faculty in academic institutions, first-generation scholars, junior scholars in the field, independent scholars, and Asia specialists working outside the professoriate. This program is a solid step toward promoting greater equity and inclusion in the field of Asian Studies.

There are 5 different fellowship types available to applicants. Twelve (12) Fellowships of $60,000 each will be awarded, with funds disbursed on a monthly basis for a 1-year duration. Fellows are expected to work on their projects full-time.

The first stipends will go out to Fellows on May 1, 2022 and end April 1, 2023.

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AAS Minority Fellowships

Eligibility Requirements: Must be Black scholars of Asian humanities with preference to those within 7 years of their Ph.D. Junior faculty may apply, but preference will be given to unemployed, furloughed, or contingent faculty.

AAS Pipeline Fellowships

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants for this grant include those within 7 years of Ph.D. award date who have yet to secure full-time employment in their field/discipline of study. This includes individuals who have been furloughed due to budget cuts; who have yet to find employment; who are working as adjunct faculty; or who are working in industries and/or positions unrelated to their specialization.

AAS Digital Humanities Fellowships

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants should be junior scholars (within 7 years of Ph.D. conferral or have a terminal M.A.), contingent faculty, unemployed, or independent scholars who are developing or continuing a digital research project. Projects may include public digital humanities projects, digital archives, online Asian Studies curriculum resources, or Asian Studies humanities database resources, among others.

AAS Public Research in Asian Studies Humanities Fellowships

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants should be public scholars not in the professoriate who work with communities in developing public programs on Asia and Asian communities. The program promotes the visibility and value of the Asian Studies humanities scholar by offering opportunities for Asian Studies specialists who have either an M.A. or Ph.D. in a humanities-based discipline to contribute to the public good while enhancing their work in community development, cultural education, and media.

Applicants will need to secure a letter of support from a local community advocacy agency and/or non-profit organization. When applicants fill out their application, they will need the name and email of a contact at the advocacy agency or non-profit agency to submit with their application. The organization must submit a letter of support for the proposed project through the application portal via upload or typing directly into the form before the deadline of Friday, January 14th, 2022 at 5 PM ET for the application to be considered.

AAS Asian American Pacific Islander/Asian American History and Communities Fellowship

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants must develop, produce, and distribute a multimedia project (podcast, short film, community member oral history project, digital magazine, etc.) aimed at educating the public on AAPI/Asian history and communities. Projects must be grounded in Asian humanities scholarship and demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical; proposals must demonstrate the potential to attract a broad general audience.

How to Apply

Applicants will submit their application through the submission portal, with the deadline of Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5:00 pm ET.

Please note: you may only submit an application to one fellowship program. Multiple applications will not be accepted.

What you will need to prepare:

Cover letter detailing the need for fellowship support. Applicants must demonstrate how they have been adversely impacted by the pandemic. (500 words max)
Curriculum Vitae (2 pages max)
Research Project Proposal.
- Please tailor your proposal to the specific fellowship type.
- The proposal should not exceed 1,000 words. The project statement must describe the topic of this project and the role that this support will play in enabling the project’s completion.
- For Public Research Fellowship Applicants Only: Applicants must propose a plan for a public project with the support of a local community advocacy agency and/or non-profit organization and must submit a letter of support for the proposed project from the organization.
Schedule of expected completion of project and/or publication.
A budget outline of how your funds would be used

Timeline

The application period will close on Friday, January 14, 2022 at 5:00 pm ET.

Awardees will be notified of their acceptance in March 2022.
The first installment of the stipend will go out on May 1, 2022 and end with the final installment of $5,000 per recipient on April 1, 2023.
Midterm reports will be required to ensure compliance with the fellowship program.

Eligibility

Per NEH guidelines, applicants must possess U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status or have lived in the United States for a period of three years or more.
- Foreign nationals who take up permanent residence outside of the United States any time between the application deadline and the end of their period of performance will forfeit their eligibility to receive an award. (Leaving the U.S. on a temporary basis is permitted.)
Applicants must be Asian Studies specialists with a recent Ph.D. (within 7 years of conferral) in the humanities or humanistic social sciences for the AAS Pipeline Fellowship
Applicants who are Asian Studies Specialist without a Ph.D. but have an M.A. degree are welcome to apply for the AAS Public Research in Asian Studies Humanities Fellowship and AAS Multimedia Projects on AAPI/Asian History and Communities Fellowships

FAQ

I am currently a student. Am I eligible to apply?

No, per NEH guidelines students are not eligible to apply for this program.

Do all grant and fellowship programs require me to have a recent (within 7 years of conferral) Ph.D?

No. While many of the Fellowship and grant programs are intended to support recent Ph.D. graduates in Asian Studies, unless it is explicitly stated on the program description, you do not need to be a recent Ph.D. graduate. For example, M.A. applicants are welcome to apply to AAS Digital Humanities Fellowship, AAS Public Research in Asian Studies Humanities Fellowship, and AAS Multimedia Projects on AAPI/Asian History and Communities Fellowships.

Funding Restrictions

Please note that if you are awarded a fellowship or grant from this program, funds may not be used for:

research by students enrolled in a degree program, including research for doctoral dissertations or theses
educational impact, language impact, or technical impact assessments
the writing of guidebooks, how-to books, and self-help books
promotion of a particular political, religious, or ideological point of view
advocacy of a particular program of social or political action
support of specific public policies or legislation
lobbying
projects that fall outside of the humanities and the humanistic social sciences (including the creation or performance of art; creative writing, autobiographies, memoirs, and creative nonfiction; and quantitative social science research or policy studies)

All individuals awarded funding will need to adhere to the cost principles outlined in CFR 200 Subpart E – Cost Principles

Please note if you are awarded grant funds from another NEH supported program, you will be ineligible for this award since NEH does not allow for overlapping funding.