The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has invited the Graduate Center, along with a limited number of other institutions, to participate in the 2019 New Directions Fellowships competition.  Fellowship Guidelines are here and contain important information about the specifics of the proposal and other required materials.

The New Directions Fellowships provide support for exceptional faculty members in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, who received their doctorates between six and twelve years ago (2007 and 2013).  Both central line and consortial doctoral faculty are eligible.  The fellowships enable them to pursue systematic training outside their own special fields, and are intended to support the acquisition of new academic competencies needed for the pursuit of a cross-disciplinary research agenda.  Unlike other fellowship awards, this program does not aim to facilitate short-term outcomes, such as completion of a book.  Rather, New Directions Fellowships are meant to be viewed as longer-term investments in scholars’ intellectual range and productivity.

Applicants should submit the following documents to the Office of the Provost (by email attachments to Rachel Sponzo rsponzo@gc.cuny.edu) no later than Friday, September 6, 2019:

  1. project summary of no more than 300 words.
  2. proposal of no more than 2,000 words, providing an explanation of the overall significance of the research being undertaken and how the proposed new direction will assist in the development of the field.
  3. budget and budget narrative, following the Mellon guidelines. It is not necessary to use the Mellon budget template at this time.
  4. A letter of recommendation from your EO or department chair, which should address your preparation and the relationship of the “new direction” to the your research and pedagogy.  An additional letter of recommendation may be submitted from a colleague in the new field, if appropriate.
  5. A concise curriculum vitae, no more than five pages in length.

A small committee, convened by my office, will select one proposal to go forward to Mellon.  The institutional letter of endorsement will be provided at that time if your proposal is selected.  We will notify the author immediately so that so that s/he can undertake any further refinements of the proposal and finalize the materials and budget for submission through Mellon’s online portal.  The deadline for our submission to Mellon is September 27, 2019.

Applicants should familiarize themselves with the fellowship-specific application guidelines described online here[mellon.org].

If you are considering submitting a proposal or have additional questions, please inform Helen Koh, Director of Institutional Giving and Strategic Initiatives (hkoh@gc.cuny.edu) as soon as possible.