The Medieval Academy Blog

The William Sanders Scarborough Fellowships

Deadline: November 1, 2020

This fellowship is intended to honor Professor William Sanders Scarborough’s memory and to help foster diversity in the fields of Classical and Hellenic Studies and the Humanities more broadly by supporting students and teachers from underrepresented groups in their study and research at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

William Sanders Scarborough (1852–1926), the son of an enslaved woman and a freedman, was a pathbreaking African American Classical scholar and public intellectual. Scarborough’s scholarship included philological works on Greek and Roman authors, as well as studies of African languages and African American folklore. His First Lessons in Greek (1881) was the first foreign language textbook by an African American author. He taught at Ohio’s Wilberforce University and Payne Theological Seminary, serving as Wilberforce’s president from 1908–1920. At least twice in his life (1886 and 1896), Scarborough hoped to attend the American School, with the encouragement of the School’s Managing Committee. Lack of funding, coupled with his many professional responsibilities, kept Scarborough from realizing his dream of going to Greece.

Eligibility:  Graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars residing in the United States or Canada, regardless of citizenship, whose geographic origin, diverse experiences, and socio-economic background are underrepresented at the School (including persons from the Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color communities), and whose studies, research, or teaching would benefit from residency at the School. Fellowship recipients need not be specialists in the field of Classical Studies. The School welcomes applicants from public and private universities, colleges, and community colleges, and particularly encourages those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Terms and Duration:  The fellowship supports up to three months in residence at the School to carry out proposed research projects and/or join the School’s academic programs (field trips and seminars during the regular academic year or the summer, excavations at the Agora or Corinth, scientific field schools, etc.). Applicants interested in using the fellowship to participate in summer programs should submit separate applications to programs of interest. The summer programs for 2021 are already largely filled with deferred applicants from 2020. Applicants to the Scarborough fellowship program wishing to be considered for summer programs in 2021 should contact the ASCSA Programs Administrator at application@ascsa.org for further guidance. Awards granted in the 2020 competition should normally be used between June 1, 2021 and May 30, 2022.

Each of the awards provides for $1500 per month (rounded upwards to the nearest whole month to a maximum of 3 month) as a stipend. The fellowship covers the costs of room and board in Athens, a waiver of any applicable School fees, and one roundtrip economy-class airfare to Athens. The School intends to make up to four such awards each year.

Application: Submit an online application here, https://ascsa.submittable.com/submit/171376/william-sanders-scarborough-fellowship. A complete application will include:

• A 2-page, single-spaced, statement indicating your eligibility, describing the proposed use of the fellowship including any formal program at the School you plan to apply for, the proposed timeframe for your work at the School, and your research project (as applicable).
• A curriculum vitae.
• A copy of current transcripts (for student applicants).
• Arrange for two letters of recommendation. Once an online application is submitted, recommenders will be sent an automated email with instructions about how to submit their letters of recommendation. Recommenders will be asked to upload their letters via the online application system, Submittable. It is also acceptable for recommenders to submit letters directly to this email address: application@ascsa.org.

Web site: https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/fellowships-and-grants/graduate-and-postdoctoral
E-mail: application@ascsa.org
Award decisions will be announced in March 2021.

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, sexual orientation, color, religion, ethnic origin, or disability when considering admission to any form of membership or application for employment.

ASCSA National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships
Deadline: October 31, 2020

Founded in 1881, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) is a premier resource in Greece for American scholars in the fields of Greek language, literature, history, archaeology, philosophy, and art, from pre-Hellenic times to the present. It offers two major research libraries: the Blegen, with over 113,000 volumes dedicated to the ancient Mediterranean world; and the Gennadius, with over 146,000 volumes and archives devoted to post-classical Hellenic civilization and, more broadly, the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean. The School also provides centers for advanced research in archaeological and related topics at the Athenian Agora and Corinth excavations, and at the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Sciences. By agreement with the Greek government, the ASCSA is authorized to serve as liaison with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports on behalf of American students and scholars for the acquisition of permits to conduct archaeological work and to study collections.

Since its inception in 1994, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship program at the ASCSA has demonstrated its effectiveness by supporting projects for 60 scholars with distinguished research and teaching careers in the humanities.

Eligibility:  Postdoctoral scholars and professionals in all fields relevant to the mission of the ASCSA who are US citizens, or foreign nationals who have lived in the US for the three years immediately preceding the application deadline. Applicants must already hold their Ph.D. or have completed all requirements, except for the actual conferral of the degree, by the application deadline.

Terms:  Two to four fellows will be selected for awards of 4, 5, or 9 months duration. The monthly stipend per fellow is $4,200 allocated from a total pool of $75,600 per year. Applicants should indicate their preference for the length and dates of tenure of the award to coincide with the American School’s academic year: 9 months, Sept. 2021-beginning of June 2022; 4 months, Sept. – Dec.; 5 months, January to the beginning of June. School fees are waived, and the award provides lunches at Loring Hall five days per week. The NEH Fellow will pay for travel costs, housing, residence permit, and other living expenses from the stipend. A final report is due at the end of the award period, and the ASCSA expects that copies of all publications that result from research conducted as a Fellow of the ASCSA will be contributed to the relevant library of the School. The NEH Fellow is also required to send one copy of all books and electronic copies of articles directly to the NEH.

NEH Fellows should use the American School of Classical Studies at Athens as their primary research base, but research may be carried out throughout Greece.

Application: Submit Senior “Associate Membership with Fellowship” Application online on the ASCSA web site by October 31. Link to application: https://ascsa.submittable.com/submit/115299/associate-membership-with-fellowship-application

The following items should be included in the application submitted online on the ASCSA web site:
1.   Short abstract of the project (up to 300 words).
2.   A statement of the project (up to five pages, single spaced), including desired number of months in Greece, a timetable, explicit goals, a selected bibliography, the importance of the work, the methodologies involved (where applicable), and the reasons it should occur at the ASCSA.
3.   Current curriculum vitae.  If not a US citizen, state US visa status /date of residence.
4.   Names of three recommenders who are individuals familiar with applicant’s work and field of interest. Include a list of names, positions, and addresses of the referees.  Instructions for recommenders to submit letters will be sent through the application portal. Please make sure your recommenders have submitted their letters by November 4. These letters should comment on the feasibility of the project and the applicant’s ability to carry it out successfully.

The following criteria will be used by the Selection Committee when considering applications.
1.  Are the objectives and approaches clearly stated and coherent?
2.  Will the project result in an important and original contribution?
3.  Are the research perspectives and methodologies appropriate?
4.  Is the projected timetable reasonable for the tenure of the fellowship?
5.  What resources are necessary? Does the ASCSA provide resources that are not available at the home institution?
6.  Will residence in Greece contribute substantially to the success of the project?

Web site: www.ascsa.edu.gr or https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/apply/fellowships-and-grants/postdoctoral-and-senior-scholars
E-mail: application@ascsa.org

The awards will be announced during February. Awardees will be expected to accept the award within two weeks of notification of funding, but no later than March 1.

The American School of Classical Studies at Athens does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, sexual orientation, color, religion, ethnic origin, or disability when considering admission to any form of membership or application for employment.