American Council of Learned Societies ACLS Fellowships

ACLS administers a diverse suite of fellowship and grant programs to meet the needs of an ever changing academy and address challenges faced by early career, independent, and established educators, administrative staff, and public facing researchers. Current programs include the ACLS Fellowship Program, ACLS Digital Justice Grants, ACLS HBCU Faculty Fellowships and Grants, ACLS Leading Edge Fellowships, Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowships in American Art, Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies, Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships, Open Access Book Prizes, and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies.

Eligible fields for competitions include American studies, anthropology, archaeology, art history and architectural history, classics, economics, ethnic studies, film and media studies, gender studies, geography, history, languages and literatures, legal studies, linguistics, musicology, philosophy, political science, psychology, religious studies, rhetoric and communication, science and technology studies, sociology, and theater, dance, and performance studies. Social science proposals are eligible only if they employ predominantly humanistic approaches and qualitative or interpretive methodologies.

Fellows and grantees in all programs are selected through a peer review process by committees of scholars appointed for this purpose. ACLS embeds its commitment to inclusive excellence in all programs, from the recruitment of peer reviewers to the evaluation of proposals and the administration of awards.

Beyond financial support exceeding USD 25 million across programs, ACLS provides professional development resources for applicants and awardees. ACLS regularly hosts office hours sessions and webinars during application periods to answer questions and provide technical assistance, while current and past awardees participate in professional development workshops and convenings.