Penn Faculty Fellowships

The Wolf Humanities Center offers fellowships each year to standing faculty at Penn in the humanities and allied departments. The fellowships are for research that relates to the Center’s theme for the year in which the award is granted. Applications are being accepted for research on the topic of Kinship, the Center’s topic for 2019-2020.

Junior scholars receive a $5,000 research fund stipend (paid in two installments). 

Senior scholars are invited to apply for either a $5,000 research fund stipend or one, possibly two, course reliefs. The Wolf Humanities Center provides course replacement money for up to two courses, to be paid to the fellow’s department at Penn’s LPS instructor rate and to be used solely for course replacement. Advance written approval of any course relief request is required from the applicant’s department chair. Scholars who have already had one semester of course relief between Fall 2016 and Spring 2019 may only apply for a $5,000 research fund stipend.

Fellows are required to attend the Center’s weekly Mellon Research Seminars (Tuesdays, noon-1:50 p.m.)* and present their research at one of the sessions during the year. In addition to Penn faculty, seminar members include Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows, regional faculty, the Center’s director and topic director, and others.

*NOTE: Interested applicants are advised to check well ahead with their department/s to avoid conflicts in scheduling classes and other obligations.

To apply: go to http://wolfhumanities.upenn.edu/forms/penn-faculty-fellowship-application and submit the following information as a single PDF, and name it: your Last name_First Name.pdf (Franklin_Ben.pdf). Please include:

• Your name, title, and department
• Project Title
• Project Abstract (125 words maximum)
• Project Proposal (approx. 1000 words)
• Up-to-date c.v.

If you are applying for course relief, ask your department chair to email Sara Varney, the Center’s associate director by March 20, 2019 with their written approval of your application and course relief request.

Questions: Please email or call Sara Varney at (215) 746-5940, saravarney@sas.upenn.edu

Penn Graduate Student Research Fellowships

The Wolf Humanities Center is currently offering two one-year research fellowships at $2,500 each to Penn graduate students in the humanities who are ABD. Students should be conducting dissertation research related to the Center’s theme for the year in which the award is granted. Fellows are required to attend the Center’s Mellon Research Seminar, held Tuesdays noon-1:50 p.m.* during the academic year, and present their work at one of the sessions. Seminar members also include postdoctoral fellows, faculty from Penn and regional universities, and the Center’s director and topic director.

*NOTE: Interested applicants are advised to check well ahead with their department/s to avoid conflicts in scheduling classes and other obligations.

Two $2,500 fellowships are available for Penn ABD graduate students in the humanities whose dissertation research relates to Kinship, the Center’s topic for 2019-2020. To apply, please provide the following information:

• Your name and department
• Project Title
• Project Abstract (125 words maximum)
• Project Proposal (approx. 1000 words)
• Up-to-date c.v.

Please submit all information to their secure online server as a single PDF, naming your file <your Last name_First name.pdf> (e.g., Franklin_Ben.pdf)

Also required: One confidential letter of recommendation from your dissertation advisor or graduate chair. Please ask your referee to upload their letter to the Center’s secure server no later than the application deadline.

Graduate Research Assistantship

The Wolf Humanities Center announces a Graduate Research Assistantship for the 2019-2020 academic year for a University of Pennsylvania dissertation-level (ABD) student in the humanities whose work pertains to Kinship.

The RAship provides full support for the 2019-2020 academic year (tuition plus a stipend of approx. $25,500), and carries membership in the Center’s Mellon Research Seminar on Kinship. Applicants may not be holding other positions and must be in good academic and financial standing with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The RAship is awarded competitively. Semifinalists are interviewed on campus in March/April as part of the selection process.

The half-time position requires 15–20 hours per week of service in a variety of functions:

• Assist the administrative staff of the Wolf Humanities Center and the Price Lab for Digital Humanities in carrying out general business. Requires some evenings and, rarely, weekends to help staff events.
• Staff and participate in the Center’s weekly Mellon Research Seminar and the bi-weekly Price Lab Mellon DH Seminar.
• Serve as the lead organizer of a one-day conference or symposium related to the theme of Kinship.

To Apply: Complete the following information and upload to their secure server as a single PDF:

• Cover letter expressing interest in the RAship.
• Project title, 125-word (max.) abstract.
• Project proposal (500 words) describing the research to be carried out during the course of the year and its relation to the Wolf Humanities Center’s 2018-2019 theme, Kinship.
• Curriculum vitae and scan of unofficial Penn course transcript.

Also required is one confidential letter of recommendation from either your dissertation director or your graduate chair. Please ask your referee to upload that letter to the Center’s secure server no later than March 20, 2019. Letters should not be emailed.

Penn Undergraduate Research Fellowships

The Wolf Humanities Center offers fellowships each year to Penn undergraduate students from any school who are interested in conducting extracurricular research in the humanities on some aspect of the Center’s annual theme. Students must be full time, on campus for the full academic year of the award and in good academic standing.

Fellows become members of the Wolf Undergraduate Humanities Forum, a community of undergraduates who meet biweekly to discuss and present their research, pursue various cultural activities of common interest, and occasionally meet in special receptions with the Center’s distinguished speakers. The year’s program culminates in a spring conference at which students give formal presentations on the results of their research.

The Wolf Humanities Center is offering 12 fellowships for the 2019-2020 academic year for Penn undergraduates from any school who are interested in conducting research on some aspect of Kinship.

Applicants must be full time and in good academic standing. Awards are available in three categories:

Research Fellowship and Undergraduate Chair (one $2,000 award)

Research Fellowship and Member, Executive Board (two $1,750 awards)

Research Fellowships (up to nine $1,500 awards)

To Apply: What’s needed? Your completed application form, unofficial transcript and one letter of recommendation from your undergraduate chair or a faculty member in your major. Please note that the application form asks applicants to consult with and identify a faculty advisor who will work with them on their proposed research during the fellowship year.

Please upload your application form and an unofficial copy of your transcript as a single PDF the secure server no later than March 20, 2019. Please name your file: LastName_FirstName.pdf. 

Please ask your referee to upload their confidential letter of recommendation to the Center’s secure server no later than than March 20, 2019. Letters should not be emailed.