Residential Fellowships

The National Humanities Center welcomes fellowship applications from scholars engaged in the study of China and its world, during and adjacent to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).

The Center is pleased to announce a partnership with the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation to provide residential fellowship support to a scholar engaged in the study of China in the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), or of regions and time periods adjacent to the Ming. Established in 2001, the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation encourages and supports scholarly research and interpretation of imperial China during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), as well as its immediate predecessors and successors, and of contemporaries in geographic areas with which the Ming interacted.

Emerging scholars, mid-career scholars, and senior scholars working in the designated areas may apply for a residential fellowship for the fall semester (September through December), spring semester (January through May), or academic year (September through May). Interested scholars must apply directly to the Center via our online application (available July 1, 2026). Each year, the residential fellowship competition opens on July 1 and closes in early October.

As part of its ongoing commitment to academic freedom and in response to a global refugee crisis, the National Humanities Center, in partnership with Duke University and the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund, is working to support threatened and displaced scholars.

The Center and its partners have funded a number of at-risk and refugee scholars by providing them a haven to pursue their work in safety and in an environment designed to foster scholarly excellence.

Scholars selected as a part of this program will be granted up to two years’ status as Visiting Scholars at Duke University and as Resident Associates at the Center, allowing them the opportunity to conduct their research and enjoy the benefits afforded other members of these scholarly communities.

Interested scholars are encouraged to apply directly to the Scholar Rescue Fund and may contact the NHC Scholarly Programs staff for more information.

The National Humanities Center is also a proud member of the Scholars at Risk network. For more information about the SAR network, please visit their website.

For the purposes of this program, “at-risk scholar” is defined as anyone who has left their home country or country of residence due to war, political persecution, or threat of persecution and who has not gained asylum or citizenship in another country.

If you would like to make a gift to the At-Risk Scholars program, please visit our support page.

The National Humanities Center welcomes fellowship applications from scholars engaged in advanced humanities research regardless of citizenship or national origin. Each year, several scholars from countries other than the United States come to the Center as part of the cohort of Fellows and contribute to the rich intellectual and diverse environment of the fellowship program.

International applicants must meet the general eligibility requirements of the fellowship competition, and should consult our Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.

Fellowship recipients who come from overseas are provided with guidance in securing housing, arranging local transportation, and finding schools to assist in their transition. The Center reimburses round trip travel expenses for the Fellow and those family members who will live with the Fellow during their time in North Carolina.

The stipend amounts awarded are individually determined, according to the needs of the Fellow and the Center’s ability to meet them. The Center seeks to provide half salary with the expectation that the Fellow’s home institution covers the remaining salary.

The Center sponsors J-1 (Research Scholar) visa applications for its Fellows who are not U.S. citizens, and can also provide J-2 visas for spouses and children. For more information, visit J-1 Visa Programs.

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The Center welcomes applicants who are working on a substantial humanistic scholarly project that is at an advanced stage. While most projects are single-author scholarly monographs, other forms of humanities research-based work are eligible. The Center is open to new forms and expressions of humanities scholarship. We consider a project to be at an advanced stage once most of the research is complete, and the scholar has begun writing.

Your project proposal should demonstrate the depth of your disciplinary and subject-specific knowledge, while also being clear to an interdisciplinary audience unfamiliar with your topic or the terminology of your field(s). A strong proposal will convey the importance of the project for advancing knowledge both within a scholar’s own field and for the humanities more generally.

In your proposal, be sure to address the objectives and scholarly significance of the proposed research, as well as the sources and methodology to be used. Applicants should distinguish what will be original about the proposed work in contrast to existing publications on the subject.

In the concluding paragraph of the project description, applicants should summarize the present status of their research, including how much has been done in relevant collections and archives, and what they would hope to accomplish at the Center. Proposals that do not explicitly address their project status and projected timeline will be deemed ineligible.

Please note that we have no citizenship requirements. International applicants are warmly invited to apply.

• The applicant holds a PhD or relevant terminal degree for their primary discipline (e.g., MFA for research-based non-fiction writers).
• The PhD or requisite terminal degree was received at least five years prior to October 1, 2026 (i.e., no later than September 30, 2021); or the applicant meets the requirements for one of two unique fellowships: 1) Geiss-Hsu Fellowship, for a project substantially addressing Ming-era China, possibly including adjacent eras; 2) Philip L. Quinn Fellowship, for a female-identified early-career philosopher.
• The applicant has published at least one scholarly monograph, for book-focused fields, or the equivalent in peer-reviewed scholarship for article-focused fields.
• The applicant is working on a project beyond the dissertation.
• The applicant is engaged in humanities research that will result in publication.
• The applicant’s project is grounded in one or more humanities disciplines, or it is grounded in other fields (the natural and social sciences, the arts, the professions, and public life) but substantially employs humanistic approaches and methodologies.
• The proposed project is at an advanced stage, meaning that most of the research is done, and the applicant is already writing.
• The applicant plans to spend the full term (one or two semesters) in residence at the Center. Extended time away, including trips for field research, is not permitted.
• The applicant speaks and reads English fluently. It is not required that the primary project publication be written in English.