Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies

Since 2012, the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies has worked to strengthen the field in North America, with a focus on scholars early in their careers. In 2023, after extensive consultations, the program was reimagined to meet the needs of China studies in the twenty-first century.

Through fellowships, grants, workshops, events, and field-building resources, the program aims to make the field more inclusive, foster publicly engaged scholarship, and develop resources and capacity in order to sustain the field into the future.

Program Goals

The redesigned Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies has three goals:

1. To shift the standard for China studies as a field to be more capacious and inclusive, both in terms of research funded (from multidisciplinary and multimethod approaches to Sinophone/graph studies and Global China) and support for a wider diversity of scholars and institutions.
2. To foster and sustain publicly engaged, creative, and responsive scholarship that will inform public understanding of cultures, histories, and societies in China and their influence and impact on communities, countries, and cultures around the world.
3. To initiate effective strategies for long-term change, through collaborative working groups and network- and community-building activities.

Fellowships and Grants

In 2025-26, ACLS is offering fellowships and grants to support research, writing, and publicly engaged and creative scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. There are no restrictions regarding methodological approach or time period.

• Grant competitions:
  • Travel grants for graduate students and contingent faculty or non-tenured faculty at any career stage. Grants are $5,000 for travel at any time during a 12-month period.
  • A collaborative grant of up to $150,000 for groups to implement pilot programs or develop resources in response to pressing challenges in the field.
• Fellowship competitions:
  • Flexible, short-term fellowships for early career scholars (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) with no leave requirements. The stipend is $15,000.
  • Long-term research fellowships for early career scholars that will enable recent PhDs (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) to take leaves from university responsibilities for four to nine months to carry out research and writing towards a scholarly text. The minimum stipend is $20,000 and the maximum is $45,000.

Awards are financially supported by the Henry Luce Foundation.

Resources for Fellows and Grantees

Publicly Engaged Scholarship

ACLS holds the core belief that knowledge is a public good. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider the broader impact of their research, especially its potential to increase public engagement with humanistic knowledge and scholarship—from media and outreach to engaged research, teaching, and public programming.

ACLS offers a professional development workshop in public scholarship to all recipients of the Early Career Fellowship in China Studies. The workshop is designed to help fellows develop public communication and media training skills to amplify their research and enhance their ability to contribute to public conversations on key China-related issues.

Mentorship

ACLS hosts a networking and mentorship event in conjunction with the Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference for current fellows and alumni. Further information on this year’s event, which will take place in Vancouver, BC, will be shared with fellows in January 2026.

Special Projects

Luce/ACLS China Studies Digital Mapping Project

The Luce/ACLS China Studies Digital Mapping Project is an ongoing initiative that aims to enhance and expand access to primary materials and source collections that are vital to the advancement of the China studies field. The project and website are comprised of three main elements: a survey of significant Sinophone source collections available outside mainland China; a common access plan to enable scholars to utilize databases and collections at key institutions regardless of current rank or affiliation; and a knowledge base of best practices for organizations seeking to digitize and preserve print collections.

The Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies promotes inclusion, equity, and diversity as integral components of merit that enhance the scholarly enterprise. It is a priority that every cohort of fellows and grantees be broadly inclusive of different backgrounds, cultures, and any aspects that make one unique. In China studies, we seek a wide range of educational backgrounds, unique personal experiences, and current university affiliations, as well as disciplinary approaches, topics, and historical periods studied. The program welcomes applications from all eligible individuals, and selection is made without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability, age, or any other aspect of identity.

Contact

Please email [email protected] with questions. Institutional administrators (e.g., Office of Sponsored Projects) should read our general guidance.