External Humanities and Creative Arts Fellowships - Spring 2025
Photo by Olena Bohovyk on Unsplash
Below, you'll find a list of external fellowships and residences for humanities scholars and creative artists with deadlines in Spring 2025.
For further possibilities, scholars should also search Pivot, the most comprehensive online database of funding sources available. Access is free with SU email account. See the Office of Resource Presentations and Trainings Page under “Developing a targeted funding search with Pivot" (2/14/2021).
Finally, I would recommend browsing a comprehensive lists of individual and institutional funding opportunities in the humanities and creative works posted by the Hall Center for the Humanities (Kansas University).
Contact Sarah Workman for additional support.
Yaddo Artist Residency [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: January 6, 2025
Yaddo offers residencies to professional creative artists from all nations and backgrounds working in one or more of the following disciplines: choreography, film, literature, musical composition, painting, performance, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video. You may apply individually or as members of collaborative teams of up to three artists. Residencies last from two weeks to two months and include room, board and a studio. The January 6 deadline is for residencies starting May of the same year, through March of the following year. NOTE: The August 1 deadline is for residencies starting November of the same year through June of the following year.
Harvard University, Hutchins Center W.E.B. Dubois Fellowship [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: January 15, 2025
The Fellowship Program is at the heart of the activities of the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute. Started in 1975 as the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, the Institute has annually appointed scholars who conduct individual research for a period of one to two semesters in a wide variety of fields related to African and African American Studies. With a record of supporting more than 300 Fellows since its founding, the Institute has arguably done more in its short existence to ensure the scholarly development of African and African American Studies than any other pre-doctoral or post-doctoral program in the United States.
Open Society Foundations – Soros Equality Fellowships [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
On pause for 2025
Open Society Foundation: Soros Justice Fellowships [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
On pause for 2025
New England Regional Fellowship Consortium [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: February 1, 2025
NERF is a collection of 30 major cultural agencies. Projects may be in the fields of history, literature, art history, African American studies, American studies, women's and gender studies, anthropology, sociology, philosophy, religious studies, environmental studies, oceanography and the histories of law, medicine and technology. Each NERF itinerary must be a minimum of eight weeks; include at least three different member institutions, and include at least two weeks at each of these institutions. Each grant will provide a stipend of $5,000 for a minimum of eight weeks of research at participating institutions.
New America Fellowship [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: February 3, 2025
Invests in thinkers—journalists, scholars, filmmakers, and public policy analysts—who generate big, bold ideas that have an impact and spark new conversations about the most pressing issues of our day. New America fellows are selected on a highly competitive basis and serve—most on an adjunct basis, some full-time—for a one-year term. During that period, we aim to give them an intellectual home where they have the time, space, and resources to pursue their projects; a community where they can learn from one another; and opportunities to engage with others at New America and help shape the longer-term agenda and focus of our organization. The Fellows Program aims to support National Fellows in three primary areas: provide funding to support talented individuals to pursue ambitious endeavors; build a community grounded in cohort gatherings that take place throughout the year; and provide access to platforms and partners that can support their work.
MacDowell Fellowship [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: February 10, 2025
MacDowell accepts applications from artists working in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts for a 2 - 6 wk. residency. The sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence, which MacDowell defines in a pluralistic and inclusive way. For residencies September 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026.
American Philosophical Society – Philips Fund for Native American Research [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: March 1, 2025
Grants of up to $3,000 will be awarded in support of research in the areas of Native American linguistics, ethnohistory, and the history of Native Americans studies in the United States or Canada. Grants are intended to support travel, the cost of tape or film, and consultants' fees. Grants are not made for projects in archaeology, ethnography, or psycholinguistics; for the purchase of permanent equipment; or for the preparation of pedagogical materials. The organization prefers to support the work of younger scholars who have received their doctorate. Applications are also accepted from graduate students for research on master's theses or doctoral dissertations.
New York Public Library Short-Term Research Fellowships [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: March 4, 2025
Particularly tailored to those based outside the New York metropolitan area, this fellowship is intended to support projects that would significantly benefit from research drawing on collections accessible at The New York Public Library and conducted onsite at one of our three research centers: The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Bogliasco Foundation Arts and Humanities, Genoa, Italy [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: March 7, 2025
Semester-long residencies are available to both students and more senior individuals working in the arts and humanities. Applicants may propose projects on any subject area in the following disciplines:
- Archaeology
- Architecture
- Classics
- Dance
- Film/Video
- History
- Landscape Architecture
- Literature
- Music
- Philosophy
- Public Humanities
- Theater
- Visual Arts
In the Arts, the Center welcomes individuals doing both creative and scholarly work. Applicants are expected to demonstrate significant achievement in their disciplines, commensurate with their age and experience. Projects should lead to the completion of an artistic, literary, or scholarly work, followed by publication, performance, exhibition, or other public presentation.
Creative Capital Award [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: April 4, 2025 (anticipated)
Creative Capital welcomes innovative and original new project proposals in visual arts, performing arts, film/moving image, technology, literature, multidisciplinary, and socially engaged forms. The Creative Capital Award provides unrestricted project grants up to $50,000 which can be drawn down over a multi-year period, bespoke professional development services, and community-building opportunities .Grants are awarded via a democratic, national, open call, external review process. The first round of the application process consists of 6 questions. Creative Capital's goal is to fund approximately 50 individual artists creating conceptually, aesthetically, and formally challenging, risk-taking, and never-before-seen projects.
NEH Fellowships [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: April 9, 2025
NEH Fellowships are competitive awards granted to individual scholars pursuing projects that embody exceptional research, rigorous analysis, and clear writing. Applications must clearly articulate a project’s value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both Fellowships provide recipients time to conduct research or to produce books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, digital materials, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, or critical editions resulting from previous research. Projects may be at any stage of development. NEH invites research applications from scholars in all disciplines, and it encourages submissions from independent scholars and junior scholars. $5,000/month for 6-12 months.
What is NEW for 2025: The Fellowships for Digital Publication program has been integrated into the regular Fellowships program. Born-digital projects and resources are welcome to apply. Please see the Notice of Funding Opportunity for details.
Whiting Foundation Creative Nonfiction Grant [NON-RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: April 23, 2025 (anticipated)
The chief objective of the Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant is to foster original, ambitious projects that bring writing to the highest possible standard. Up to eight grants will be awarded annually to writers in the process of completing book-length works of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction for a general readership. Projects must be under contract with a US publisher to be eligible. The grant is intended to support multiyear projects requiring large amounts of deep and focused research, thinking, and writing at a crucial point mid-process, after significant work has been done, but when an extra infusion of support can make a difference in the ultimate shape and quality of the work. Contracts with self-publishing companies are not eligible. Applicants must be US citizens or residents. The foundation particularly encourages applications from writers of color.
Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society [RESIDENTIAL]
Deadline: June 15, 2024 (anticipated)
The Carson Center functions primarily as a research think tank that contributes to public discussions about environmental issues and policies. It offers residential fellowships to both senior and postdoctoral scholars working on international, historical, and comparative environmental studies whose projects fall under one of the Center’s research themes. The length of fellowships is flexible. Fellowships are usually granted for six, nine or twelve months, but can also be granted for three months or broken up into individual three-month periods. Residencies are staggered for greater flexibility.