U-M Faculty Fellowships

The Institute for the Humanities, founded in 1987, promotes interdisciplinary research and discourse in the humanities and the arts. Fellows spend an academic year in residence in the Institute, pursuing their research and participating in a cross- disciplinary, weekly seminar. We seek applicants working in humanities research areas who demonstrate capacity to contribute to and gain from interdisciplinary exchange through the fellows seminar.

The Institute has a faculty director and small staff who manage its programming and facilitates research by the resident fellows. To the core community formed by the faculty and graduate student fellows, we add several distinguished visiting fellows who typically join us for anywhere from one week to a full term.

Faculty Fellowship
Faculty fellows are released from their usual teaching and service duties to pursue their research while continuing to receive their normal salary and benefits. Faculty fellows take up residence at the Institute for the full academic year (September 2 - May 31), participate in the weekly fellows seminar, and present a lecture in our Hear, Here: Humanities Up Close series. For LSA faculty, the Institute directly funds 50 percent of a faculty member's salary and benefits. For other schools and colleges, the Institute funds 50 percent of a faculty member's salary and benefits up to a cap of $75,000. The balance is funded by the faculty member's administrative school/college.

Digital Scholarship Faculty Fellowship
The Institute for the Humanities, U-M Library, and LSA are supporting a new Digital Scholarship Fellowship as part of the Institute for the Humanities Faculty Fellowships. The fellowship is designed for scholars with an early-stage project that has a strong digital component (including subject, methodologies, or publication format) to help make further progress in the project's lifecycle. Complete details.

Norman Freehling Faculty Fellowship for Flint and Dearborn Faculty Members
Effective academic year 2024-25 the Institute will guarantee at least one Faculty Fellowship to a faculty member on the Flint or Dearborn campus. The Institute will fund 100% of the faculty member’s salary and benefits for the fellowship year. The Normal Freehling Visiting Faculty Fellow will also be provided with $5,000 in research support. Funds may be used for research travel, conference attendance, and research or teaching materials. Equipment (including laptops/computers/iPads) may not be purchased with these funds. Up to $2,500 of any funds remaining at the end of the fellowship may be transferred to the faculty member’s research account in their home unit.

Expectations

1. Faculty fellows must be in residence at the institute for the academic year (September 2 - May 31).
2. Faculty fellows must attend and participate in the weekly two-hour fellows seminar and attend the institute's Hear, Here series throughout the year.
3. Faculty fellows are required to present a lecture in the institute's Hear, Here series.
4. Faculty fellows are expected to participate in the life of the Institute such as meeting with our undergraduate interns and attend events of interest.

Policies Set by the College of LSA/Eligibility

1. Applicants must hold a full-time, tenured/tenure-track appointment on one of the university's three campuses: Ann Arbor, Flint, or Dearborn.
2. Faculty may not apply during the year in which their tenure will be decided (i.e., faculty who submitted their tenure dossier in May-June 2025 are precluded from applying).
   
3. LSA Faculty must have returned from an academic leave to one year of active duty in order to qualify for a fellowship, a Modified Duties leave is not considered an academic leave for these purposes. They may apply during their year of active duty for the fellowship year following. Faculty in other schools and colleges must adhere to the leave policy in those units.
   
4. Newly hired faculty in tenure-track positions must teach for two consecutive years in order to take up a fellowship. That fellowship may occur in their third year of employment or thereafter.
5. Assistant Professors who are not renewed during their third year review process may not accept a fellowship for their terminal year.
6. University of Michigan emeritus faculty members are not eligible to apply.
7. Faculty eligible for any college-funded leave who accept our fellowship offer will be expected to combine that support with institute support during the fellowship year. This does not apply to nurturance leaves for assistant professors. Other schools and colleges have generally followed LSA’s pattern.
8. During a given year, faculty may not apply for a Humanities Institute Faculty Fellowship if they have applied either for a Michigan Humanities Award offered by OVPR and LSA or for a fellowship in the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies.
9. Faculty who have already held a Humanities Institute Faculty Fellowship become eligible to re-apply six years after the end of their earlier award.
10. The fellowship year does not count towards sabbatical equity.
11. Prospective applicants must consult with their chairs or deans about unit policies and expectations regarding leaves and fellowships before applying.
12. Applicants must notify the head(s) of the unit(s) in which they hold funded appointments of their intention to apply for a Humanities Institute Faculty Fellowship.

If selected as a fellow, faculty must accept or decline the fellowship within the specified time period in the fellowship offer letter. Fellowship awards may not be deferred to a future year under any circumstances.

Selection Criteria
The selection committee looks for applicants and projects that will benefit from and contribute to the interdisciplinary nature of the group of fellows and the work of the Fellows Seminar. It seeks to achieve variety and balance in the disciplines represented by the fellows.  

Projects are judged based on (A) promise and significance of the proposed research project; (B) the humanities and arts content of the project; (C) the quality, significance, and breadth of the applicant’s prior work.

Application Process and Deadline

Applications and recommendation letters must be submitted through Interfolio. The next application deadline is Monday, October 14, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. for fellowships in the 2025-26 academic year. Fellowship applications and letters of recommendation are only accepted through Interfolio*.

Required Elements of the Application

1. Institute for the Humanities Faculty Fellowship Application Cover Sheet (within Interfolio application)
2. Curriculum vitae (long or short form is acceptable)
3. Project description (no more than 1000 words)
4. Personal statement describing career trajectory and how the Institute for the Humanities fellowship will support the proposed research (no more than 250 words)
5. Writing sample (such as articles or chapters of books no more than 6000 words, excluding footnotes and bibliography) or scholarly work sample (creative work such as audio/visual aids or portfolio placed on a website with the URL provided as a file)
6. Acknowledgment of Application form signed by the head(s) of the unit(s) in which you hold funded appointments (upload with other application materials)
7. Please note that recommendation letters are no longer required

* Please note, you will receive an email confirming your application was received and is complete in Interfolio.vIf you do not receive such a notification within 24 hours, double check your application for errors or missing documentation that may require a resubmission. The institute is not responsible for applications that fail to reach the institute’s Interfolio site.

The selection committee will consider only those applications that are complete and that adhere to the specified word and page limits.

December 2024 is the approximate notification date.