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. Fellows receive office space in the Center’s magnificent building on the University of Pennsylvania’s 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.

In addition to the continuing fellowship programs described below, the Center is delighted to announce three new opportunities for 2009-2010:

The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Early American Literature and Material Texts

A major new grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation will make possible the appointment of two Early American Literature and Material Texts Fellows for 13-month terms beginning 1 July 2009. Offered in collaboration with the Library Company of Philadelphia, the fellowships will be awarded to scholars in the research and/or writing phase of dissertations in English, American Literature, Comparative Literature, American Studies, History, Art History, or related fields whose work combines in innovative ways the study of texts—novels, poems, plays, newspapers, magazines, scribal publications, genres not traditionally defined as “literary”—with the material circumstances of their production and dissemination. Fellowship projects will range widely but should fall within the McNeil Center’s concentration on the histories and cultures of North America in the Atlantic World before 1850 and rely on the extraordinary rare book, print, and ephemera collections of the Library Company. The fellows’ terms will begin and end with a summer workshop in which incoming and outgoing fellows will share and critique their work under the guidance of a senior invited scholar. The stipend for a 13-month term will be at least $28,000.

The Richard S. Dunn Fellowship

In honor of the McNeil Center’s founding director, a endowment gift from an anonymous donor will acknowledge excellence in Early American Studies through the appointment of a one-semester dissertation fellow in the research and/or writing phase of work on any aspect of the histories and cultures of North America in the Atlantic World before 1850. This fellowship carries a stipend of at least $9,500. The selection committee may combine this award with other funds to support a nine- or twelve-month fellowship.

The Bruce Baky Valley Forge Fellowship

The National Park Service and the Friends of Valley Forge Park have made possible the The Bruce Baky Valley Forge Fellowship, to be awarded to a dissertator specializing in military history during the American Revolution, broadly defined, when a suitable candidate is available. The  fellowship honors the late Bruce Baky, former Chairman of the Friends of Valley Forge Park and a long-time advocate of strengthening connections between the academic community and the park. The Baky Fellow will be appointed to a ten-month term with a stipend of at least $21,000 and will be offered housing in Valley Forge National Historical Park. While devoting the majority of his or her time to dissertation work, the fellow will also develop and present public programming at the park, work with park staff, and develop at least one research or educational project for the park.

In addition to these new fellowships, the equivalent of at least five nine-month dissertation fellowships with stipends of at least $19,000 will be offered.

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. Most fellowships are for a nine-month term beginning 1 September 2009. While a limited number of shorter-term awards may be made, all candidates should apply for a nine-month appointment.

Awards may be made in the following categories, depending on the qualifications of the applicants and the availability of funding. In a given year, appointments may not be made in all categories.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Society of the Cincinnati Fellowship, funded by generous contributions from the State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania, supports research on the era of the American Revolution.

The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Fellowship in Early American Religious Studiesis open to candidates in any discipline researching any aspect of religion in North America and the Atlantic world before 1850.

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 a portion of their fellowship term 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 the remainder 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 and is awarded occasionally.

The Monticello-McNeil Fellowship, co-sponsored by the McNeil Center and the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello, facilitates scholarship on Thomas Jefferson and his times. Holders of this fellowship spend a portion of their fellowship term at the ICJS in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the remainder in Philadelphia. Reasonable travel costs between Philadelphia and Charlottesville and, subject to availability, housing at ICJS are included.

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