ACLS Emerging Voices Fellowships

In response to the severe economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, ACLS created the Emerging Voices Fellowship program in 2020 to support early career scholars whose voices, perspectives, and broad visions will strengthen institutions of higher education and humanistic disciplines in the years to come.

The 2022-24 competition marked the final year of the Emerging Voices Fellowship. The program maintained a focus on the vanguard of scholars whose voices, perspectives, and broad visions will strengthen institutions of higher education and humanistic disciplines in the years to come. It sought to sustain emerging scholars who are “both-and”: who are both outstanding scholars and effective communicators to diverse audiences inside and/or outside the classroom. We are proud of our record in the program of supporting scholars of color, scholars from low-income and unconventional backgrounds, scholars who have taken on extraordinary roles in graduate school (organizing public art exhibits, teaching in prison education programs, managing research support groups, to name just a few). Since the program’s conclusion, 62% of fellows have secured academic positions, including roles as assistant professors, visiting scholars, postdoctoral fellows, and lecturers. 8% of fellows now serve as academic administrators, while 18% have taken on roles in other professional fields—highlighting the program’s support for diverse career pathways.

Fellows took up placements with members of the ACLS Research University Consortium, where they advanced their research and professional development while contributing to the teaching, programming, and administrative work of their host university.

The Emerging Voices Fellowship was funded through the ACLS endowment, which has benefited from the generous support of esteemed institutions and individuals including The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Arcadia Charitable Trust, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the ACLS Research University Consortium and college and university Associates, past fellows, and friends of ACLS.

“My focus was to transform my dissertation “Writing Antagonism: Exploring the Fissures of Hegemony in Mexico 1994-2020” into a book manuscript. Thanks to the fellowship, I could fully commit to research and writing and be highly productive and efficient. Having time for research allowed me to discover new paths and topics to envision new research and draft a second book project. The ACLS Emerging Voice Fellowship also gave my work visibility as an academic and a writer. I am now part of an interactive map of women writers, an active contributor of the podcast Hablemos Escritoras, and consolidated my position at Letras Libres.”

Gaëlle Le Calvez House F’21

ACLS Emerging Voices Fellow/Associate Research Scholar, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Yale University