Cornell University Doctoral/Postdoctoral Diversity Fellowships
The Cornell diversity fellowships are designed to support the early development of scholars who show promise of distinguished research careers and who are from sectors of the population historically underrepresented on the professorial faculties of colleges and universities in the United States. Eligible applicants might be from underrepresented minority groups, have faced economic hardship, be first-generation college graduates, or work on topics related to these areas. This list is not meant to be exhaustive. Applications should include a brief statement of the grounds of eligibility.
The fellowships are funded by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The fellowships come in two forms. Applicants who expect to complete their Ph.D.'s in 2013-14 are eligible for three-year fellowships consisting of a doctoral completion year followed by two postdoctoral years. Those who expect to complete their degrees in 2012-13 may apply for two-year postdoctoral fellowships. There is no teaching associated with the doctoral completion fellowship year. Postdoctoral fellows teach one course per year, above the entry level, in fields related to their research.
All fellows will also attend a weekly research seminar, in which they will be joined by postdocs continuing from the previous year and an annually changing group of Cornell faculty who have similar scholarly interests. The topic of the seminar will shift each year, to accord with the research agendas of its participants. The topic for 2013-14 will be “Diverse and Divergent (Post) Modernities.” The seminar has two main purposes. One is to provide a stimulating environment in which dissertations can be completed and prepared for publication. The other is to help each fellow identify and begin work on a second major project. In accord with these goals, funding will be available for conferences and for assistance with the publication costs of edited volumes containing the work of seminar members and perhaps co-edited by some of the fellows.
Fellows are required to be in residence each semester. In order to receive postdoctoral fellowships, they must show proof of completion of the Ph.D., in the form of a letter from the granting institution's Registrar or a copy of the diploma, prior to the beginning of the Fall term of the first year of the postdoc. This stipulation applies to both two-year and three-year fellows.
Cornell is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator.
2011 - 2012
Seminar Director:
Gerard Aching
Director of Africana Studies and Professor of Romance Studies
2013 - 2014
Seminar Director:
Eric Cheyfitz
Ernest I. White Professor of American Studies and Humane Letters
