“Scholar” 1878, Photo Credit: Osman Hamdi Bey
As Researchers in the humanities, we are all well aware that our noble pursuits, unfortunately, require one thing: money. We are also well aware that filtering through
multiple databases to find that one niche fellowship that aligns with your equally niche research interests and having to draft, scrape, and revise multiple essays, all while you bother your mentors for letters of recommendation and ponder if your CV is impressive enough, only to receive a rejection months later, can be a tedious and arduous process—it is simply NOT FUN. But, if there is one thing I am sure of, it is that being unable to wholly dedicate yourself to reading, writing, and thinking about your research is way less fun than sacrificing some time now to apply for future funding. So let’s take a moment to gather our application materials, whatever grant proposal drafts you have, and a copy of your latest CV because here I bring you a quick roadmap on some of the best well-known (and lesser-known) fellowships, grants, and opportunities you can apply to as an undergraduate student in the humanities and as a budding scholar!
First Year
As a freshman entering college, you might not have your research interests
clearly defined, and you might not even know what field of study to pursue, so I
encourage you to slowly become acquainted with the world of academia and take your
first steps toward becoming a researcher in the classroom. After all, the classroom is
where learning begins and where, with some guidance, your critical thinking and writing
skills will blossom.
Yet, this does not mean that there are no programs ready to teach, guide, and,
best of all, fund eager first-years interested in research. For example, the Laidlaw
Undergraduate Research and Leadership Scholars Program offers 16 months of
educational programming, including workshops, retreats, seminars, and lectures meant
to help first-year students develop a summer research project. Laidlaw will provide up to
two summers of research experience and, as an intercollegiate program, counts with a
robust network of scholars perfect for making connections.
If you are looking to go outside Columbia for the summer, various universities
offer Summer Research Opportunities (SROPs), where you can undertake a research
project under the mentorship of a faculty member. The Big Ten Academic Alliance puts
out a neat list of public research institutions offering SROPs. Likewise, the Leadership
Alliance partners with a variety of elite institutions to offer Summer Undergraduate
Research Fellowships (SURF), their version of SROPs.
If all else fails, Columbia also offers support to students pursuing independent
research projects. Through their Independent Project Fellowship under their CUSP
Independent Research & Creative Projects Funding, the Berick Center for Student
Advising provides partial funding for students who wish to conduct their own
independent research or creative project under the guidance of a professor or creative
professional. Similarly, if you are stuck with a non-paid research assistantship or
internship, their CUSP SEF Internship & Research Assistantship Funding may be ableto provide some support.
Second Year
Having conducted some research during your freshman summer, you might feel
brave enough to present your findings at Columbia’s Undergraduate Research
Symposium. Presenting your research at the symposium is a great way to learn from
and build community with your fellow student researchers. Adding this relatively low-
stakes experience to your CV can also help showcase your dedication to the many
fellowships that become available during your sophomore year, such as the Kluge
Fellows Summer Research Program which offers sophomores and juniors the
opportunity to collaborate with a Columbia faculty member on a research project during
the summer. SURFs are again available to you for the summer of your second year at
various institutions through the Leadership Alliance and through individual institutions
such as the University of North Carolina which offers the Moore Undergraduate
Research Apprenticeship Program (MURAP). Similarly but more specific to Columbia
students in general, is the Humanities Research Scholars Program which provides
rising Columbia College juniors training in research methods and assistance in
developing an independent research project during the summer.
During your second year you may also begin thinking about future opportunities
for your third year, many of which open their applications during the spring of your
second year. Most selective and all-encompassing is the Mellon Mays Undergraduate
Fellowship (MMUF) which offers a hefty yearly stipend, a large intellectual community,
and graduate school preparation for minority students interested in obtaining a PhD.
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows also gain access to MMUF-specific regional
conferences where they can present their work and extra summer opportunities such as
the Summer Research Training Program (SRTP) at the University of Chicago and the
Writing and Research Training Program at UCLA.
Third Year
By your third year you might want to consider if graduate school is for you. If so,
there are a couple of early scholarships meant to support you financially and
intellectually through the graduate school application process. For example the
Beinecke Scholarship seeks highly-motivated juniors who wish to pursue graduate
studies in the humanities and provides them with $5,000 immediately prior to entering
graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. The
Truman Scholarship provides a similar amount of support for students interested in
graduate school and in working in the public service sector.
Having shown a commitment and capacity for research, in your third year you
may also want to expand your search for funding beyond Columbia and university-
specific opportunities. External funding is available through many non-university
institutions such as the New York Public Library which offers, amongst other
fellowships, the Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute for minority students
interested in pursuing a PhD in African-American Studies. Your local Rotary Club,
museums like the Smithsonian, and professional associations dedicated to your
discipline also offer a number of programs, grants, and fellowships to budding
researchers at all stages of their careers.
Fourth Year
In your last year at Columbia, you might be busy applying to graduate school or
looking for employment, but one thing is for certain—the research never stops!
Especially if you are writing a senior thesis, which many students in the humanities and
social sciences do, you might find yourself needing to buy books or travel to a certain
site to conduct your investigations. Well, fear not because Columbia has a Columbia
College Senior Thesis Fund through which you can get up to $250. If $250 is not
enough, you can turn to your department, which often has funding opportunities for its
majors and concentrators. The department of history for example offers a $5,000 Senior
Thesis Fellowship to engage in archival research in Europe. Many departments likewise
offer smaller funding opportunities to juniors and seniors for summer research and even
award monetary prizes to the best research projects.
Having navigated three whole years of academic technicalities and done as
much research on funding opportunities as you have on your own research project, you
may want to consider paying it forward by helping younger students who have only just
begun their academic journeys. If so, consider applying to become a Columbia College
Rose Research Ambassador, the lovely fellowship that enables me to bring you this
blogpost today.
While we may all be vying for the same opportunities, nothing remains more
important than the community we build as scholars in the humanities. Never cease
looking for opportunities to improve your intellectual self and your academic
pursuits—whatever funding you may need can be found with just the right amount of
research, and, thankfully, we’re pretty skilled at that already!