ACLS continues to be the leading private institution supporting scholars in the humanities and related social sciences at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels. Fellows and grantees in all programs are selected by committees of scholars appointed for this purpose. (See What is peer review?)

In the 2016-17 competition year, ACLS named more than 325 fellows and assisted additional scholars through grant programs, supporting humanistic work at over 100 US institutions of higher education and scores more outside the United States. More than $20 million was awarded across all programs. Descriptions for 2017-18 programs with fall deadlines are available here.

Applicants who are not US citizens or are based at institutions outside the US should see the information we provide international applicants here.

An individual may apply to as many fellowship and grant programs as are suitable. However, not more than one ACLS or ACLS-joint award may normally be accepted in any one competition year.

For the purpose of these competitions, the humanities and related social sciences include but are not limited to American studies; anthropology; archaeology; art history and architectural history; classics; economics; ethnic studies; film; gender studies; geography; history; languages and literatures; legal studies; linguistics; musicology; philosophy; political science; psychology; religious studies; rhetoric, communication, and media studies; science and technology studies; sociology; and theater, dance, and performance studies.

However, proposals in the social science fields listed above are eligible only if they employ predominantly humanistic approaches and qualitative/interpretive methodologies (e.g., economic history, law and literature, political philosophy, history of psychology). Proposals in interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary humanities and related social sciences are welcome, and most programs do not restrict the focus of research to any geographic region or to any cultural or linguistic group of study.

For more information, see "What are the humanities?"

As many of our programs have more specific eligibility criteria, please read the program pages carefully and review their specific FAQ if you have further questions as to what types of applications are or are not eligible.