Faculty Fellowships
We encourage all Wesleyan faculty members to apply for a semester-long residential Faculty Fellowship at the Center for the Humanities. Faculty Fellows spend their time pursuing an original project that coincides with the theme for the semester, attending the Monday Night Lecture Series and Tuesday morning colloquia, and teaching one course that is germane to their research project. Each fall, the Center selects its themes based upon solicited proposals that emerge from the Wesleyan faculty itself. We strongly encourage faculty to develop a thematic pitch for Center and, then, to envision a fellowship application that aligns with your theme (if selected). Please see here for a detailed description of the current themes. Faculty Fellows are afforded the opportunity to attend dinners, lunches and informal discussions with prominent scholars who are invited to participate in conversation about the Center’s theme.
Faculty Fellows are provided with an office in the Center’s building at 95 Pearl Street, research support, a student research assistant, and teach only one course during their semester in residence at the Center for the Humanities. Fellows working on book-length projects during the academic year in which they are fellows are eligible to apply for funding to workshop draft manuscripts with two or three eminent experts in their field (up to $3000 plus travel expenses). Fellows whose research results in a book contract are eligible to apply for publication subventions (up to $2000).
The Center for the Humanities’ Monday Night Lecture Series is typically held on Monday evenings at 5:00 pm with a dinner or reception to follow. Colloquia are held on Tuesdays from 10:30am to 12:00pm with lunch from 12-1pm. Faculty Fellows are required to attend these intellectual and social events as central to their fellowships.
The Center serves as a sanctuary for scholars and as a place where they can practice shared devotion to their scholarship, humanistic exchange, and interdisciplinary learning. Accordingly, Faculty Fellows are expected to spend the majority of their labor time in residence at the Center for the Humanities. We aim to support our Faculty Fellows’ research needs and to foster a vibrant intellectual community. Your application serves as affirmation that you understand these commitments and agree to these expectations.
Finally, department chairs are required to countersign Fellow applications to ensure that the one course relief received as a Fellow of the Center will not leave a serious gap in a department or program’s offerings. The Center does not provide funding to departments to provide replacement appointments for faculty who hold Center fellowships. Faculty may not hold more than two residential fellowships within a four-year period.
Applications are due by 5pm on Friday, October 17th, 2025. Selection of the faculty fellows will be made by early November and notifications will follow.