Since 1978, more than 150 advanced graduate students from some 50 different universities in North America and Europe have received dissertation fellowships from the McNeil Center. At least six new fellows will be appointed to nine-month terms beginning 1 September 2008, with a stipend of at least $18,000 payable in monthly installments. While a limited number of shorter-term awards may be made, all candidates should apply for a nine-month appointment. Fellows receive office space in the Center’s magnificent new building on the University of Pennsylvania’s historic campus and library, computer, and other privileges at the University. Limited travel funds for research are also available. While no teaching is required for most fellowships, all McNeil Center fellows are expected to be in residence in Philadelphia during the academic year and to participate regularly in the Center’s program of seminars and other activities.

Doctoral candidates from any PhD-granting institution who are in the research or writing stage of the dissertation are eligible to compete for these fellowships. Any project dealing with the histories and cultures of North America in the Atlantic world before 1850 will be considered. Proposals dependent on the use of Philadelphia-area archives and libraries are particularly welcome. Applications are encouraged from students of all relevant disciplines, including African American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Folklore, Gender Studies, History, Law, Literature, Music, Political Science, Religion, Urban Studies, and Women’s Studies.

Awards may be made in the following categories, depending on the qualifications of the applicants and the availability of funding:

MCEAS Consortium Fellowships are open to candidates from research universities that are members of the McNeil Center Consortium, which currently includes the University of Delaware, Fordham University, The Johns Hopkins University, Lehigh University, New York University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Stony Brook University, and Temple University. For more information concerning consortium membership, please contact the Center Director.

 

MCEAS Barra Dissertation Fellowships are open to candidates from any discipline working on projects dealing with the histories and cultures of North America in the Atlantic world before 1850.

 

The Barra Foundation Fellowship is designed primarily for candidates specializing in Early American art or material culture.

Friends of the MCEAS Fellowships are supported by annual donors to the McNeil Center to facilitate dissertation research dealing with the Philadelphia or the Mid-Atlantic region before 1850.

The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Fellowship in Early American Religious Studies is open to PhD candidates in any discipline who are in the research or writing phase of a dissertation on any aspect of religion in North America in the Atlantic world before 1850. This fellowship is made possible through a generous grant from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

 

The Quinn Foundation Fellowship, co-sponsored by the McNeil Center and the New Netherland Institute, facilitates research on New Netherland and on the Dutch colonial Atlantic World. Holders of this fellowship spend one semester in Albany, New York, working in the rich collections of the New Netherland Institute, the New York State Archives, and the New York State Library, and one semester in residence at the Center in Philadelphia. Projects in any discipline dealing with the Dutch experience in North America in the Atlantic world before 1850 are welcome. This fellowship is made possible through the generosity of the Doris Quinn Foundation.

 

The Monticello-McNeil Fellowship, co-sponsored by the McNeil Center and the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, facilitates scholarship on Thomas Jefferson and his times. Holders of this fellowship spend six months in residence in Philadelphia and three months at the ICJS in Charlottesville, Virginia. Reasonable travel costs between Philadelphia and Charlottesville and, subject to availability, housing at ICJS are included.

 

Marguerite Bartlett Hamer Fellowships are awarded to advanced doctoral candidates from any relevant program at the University of Pennsylvania and may include some teaching responsibilities.

 

Other specialized fellowships may become available. Please check this web site for updates.

A cover sheet (click here);

A curriculum vitae;

A research proposal of 3-5 double-spaced pages;

A sample of work related to the project not to exceed 25 double-spaced pages. (Except for published articles, longer submissions will be discarded).

Submit all materials to:

The McNeil Center for Early American Studies
University of Pennsylvania
3355 Woodland Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4531