Research Fellowships in the Humanities – NYU Abu Dhabi

The NYUAD Institute has embarked on a multi-year research fellowship program in the Humanities. This program aims to help create an energetic, multi-faceted research environment for the Humanities at NYUAD’s campus. To this end, NYUAD will annually invite applications from distinguished senior scholars as well as from promising junior scholars for residential fellowships at NYUAD’s Institute. Fellows will contribute to NYUAD’s intellectual community through research and research-related activities, including sharing their work-in-progress with NYUAD faculty and students and participating in scholarly networks engaged in ongoing research centered at the NYUAD Institute.

While open to scholars working in all areas of the Humanities, the program aims in particular to build a center of outstanding research capacity in areas of the Humanities that are relevant for the study of the Arabic world, its rich intellectual, religious, and scientific history, its cultural and artistic heritage as expressed in traditional and new media, and its interaction with other cultures in the past and present. Scholars of Arabic culture and history will find it enriching to work alongside fellows who conduct research in related and adjacent fields. Scholarship furthered by this program will be closely connected to the research profile of NYUAD’s faculty in the Arts & Humanities; its Liberal Arts curriculum, with concentrations on History, Literature, Philosophy, the Arab Crossroads program, and Museum Studies; related departments and research centers at NYU New York; and NYUAD’s outreach program in the UAE.

Awards & Facilities

The Institute will host up to two senior fellows and up to four junior fellows.

For the period of their fellowships, scholars are offered work/office space at the Institute, full use of NYUAD’s library facilities (which are substantial, closely connected as they are to NYU’s Main Library in New York), administrative support, housing at NYUAD’s campus on Saadiyat Island, a fellowship stipend commensurate with experience, a personal research allowance, support for travel to and from Abu Dhabi. Fellowship recipients will be responsible for conforming to tax requirements of their home countries.

Start Date & Duration

September 1, 2015 or February 1, 2016

Scholars may apply for one- or two-semester fellowships

Candidate Qualifications

Eligible candidates for the senior fellowships have an outstanding scholarly accomplishment, including internationally recognized publications record. Mid-career scholars with strong publication records and exceptional scholarly promise may be considered in this category. Eligible candidates for the junior fellowships, which are intended especially for young scholars who wish to turn their doctoral dissertations into book manuscripts publishable with major academic presses, have received their PhD within the previous five years and have a strong record of scholarly accomplishment.

All research fellowships will be offered to scholars who demonstrate interest in playing an active role in the intellectual community of NYUAD, in particular by exchanging ideas with other Institute fellows and with NYU faculty and students. The fellowships are open to scholars of all backgrounds and nationalities

Research Community Involvement

Fellows are expected to play an active role in the intellectual life of the NYUAD campus. All fellows are required to participate in the bi-weekly Humanities Research Seminar, a colloquium for the discussion of pre-circulated research papers. In addition to presentations by fellows, the Humanities Research Seminar may feature presentations by NYUAD faculty, other NYU faculty who are in residence at NYUAD, UAE scholars, and other invited speakers. Seminar sessions will also be open to graduate students and a select group of undergraduate students from NYUAD and to UAE-based scholars with relevant expertise. In addition to participating in the Seminar, fellows may be invited to contribute to the Institute’s community outreach program, for example by serving as invited speakers in the public evening lecture program or participating in one of the international workshops organized by the Institute. Fellows may also be asked on occasion to serve informally as mentors to scholars engaged in research in areas of their expertise. Junior fellows may request the opportunity to teach a course at NYUAD and may apply for teaching opportunities at NYUAD following their fellowships.

The call for applications for 2015-2016 will be open September 1, 2014.

Application due date will be November 1, 2014.

Please submit all questions and applications to nyuad.humanities.fellowships@nyu.edu.