Graduate Student Fellowships

The Center for the Humanities at Washington University is pleased to offer a fellowship opportunity for WU graduate students writing dissertations in humanities disciplines. Graduate students who are not actively participating in a mentored teaching or mentored research experience with the Office of Graduate Studies in Arts & Sciences will be eligible for a Center for the Humanities Graduate Student Fellowship, which offers a $5,000 stipend for the one-semester fellowship period. During the 2026-27 academic year, the center will offer several Graduate Student Fellowships, split between the fall semester and the spring semesters.

The students awarded the Graduate Student Fellowship will be active members the center’s community of fellows, which offers an intensive, interdisciplinary intellectual environment in which the Graduate Student Fellows can discuss their research with the Faculty Fellows and other Graduate Student Fellows in residence. The students will also be provided with a working space at the center (including a computer) during the period of the fellowship.  

In order to be eligible for the Graduate Student Fellowship, the applicant should be a graduate student in good standing in a WashU humanities department. Grad fellows should be in the writing stage of their dissertations. We discourage students from applying while they are in coursework or actively doing fieldwork or archival research that will pose issues for fulfilling the residency requirement of the fellowship.

Additionally, students must not be actively participating in a mentored teaching or mentored research experience with the Office of Graduate Studies in Arts & Sciences during the semester of the fellowship at the center. Students must not be engaged in any type of teaching or research assistantships during their fellowships, including writing center fellowships. Questions about allowable activities may be directed to Meredith Kelling, assistant director of student research and engagement.

Read more about our current and past graduate student fellows.

How to Apply

Graduate Student Fellow Application Guidelines 

DEADLINE: Completed applications must be received by email no later than Friday, April 10, 2026.

Submit your application as a single PDF to cenhumapp@wustl.edu using the following naming convention for your application PDF: Last Name, First Name, Graduate Student Fellow App 2026-27

Applications must include:

  • Completed and signed Application Cover Sheet
  • Current C.V.
  • Letter of recommendation in support of the application from the student’s dissertation or primary advisor. Letters can be sent by e-mail to cenhumapp@wustl.edu
  • Brief letter from the chair or director of graduate studies of the student’s department approving the student’s application. The note must confirm that the student will not participate in a mentored teaching or research experience for the fellowship period in question and has completed all of the prerequisites required by the department with the exception of completing their dissertation. This letter can be sent by e-mail to cenhumapp@wustl.edu.  
  • Narrative: Attach a description not to exceed 800 words of the applicant’s dissertation project. The narrative includes sections on the proposed project’s research and contribution and work plan.

Download graduate student fellowship application

For questions concerning this application, send an email to Meredith Kelling, assistant director of student research and engagement.

The recipients will be selected by a committee of WashU humanities faculty. Announcement of the recipients will be made by May 8, 2026.

The most unexpected thing about my fellowship was that it showed me that work in the humanities does not have to be individualistic and solitary, it can also happen through the collaboration and support of your peers.

― Salvador Lopez Rivera Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (French) and Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Fall 2023 Graduate Student Fellow