Below are external scholarship and fellowship post-doctorate programs available to graduates. Please be aware that most of the funding opportunities are highly competitive, and that application deadlines vary throughout the year. Most of the listings include hyperlinks for more information. These are not exhaustive lists.
Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Fellowships in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (October Deadlines)
The Albright annually provides up to $330,000 in fellowships and awards to 32 recipients. In addition, 32 Associate Fellows including Senior, Post-Doctoral, and Research Fellows receive funding from other sources. Fellowships are open to students and scholars in Near Eastern studies from prehistory through the Islamic periods, including the fields of archaeology, anthropology, art history, Bible, epigraphy, historical geography, history, language, literature, philology and religion and related disciplines. The research period should be continuous, without frequent trips outside the country. Residence at the Albright is required. The option to accommodate dependents is subject to space available at the Albright. For more information: http://www.aiar.org/fellowships/
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) (October Deadline)
List of fellowships through the AAS. Fellowships are available for doctoral candidates and post-docs working on American history and culture before 1876. For more information: http://www.americanantiquarian.org/fellowships.htm
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), Public Fellows Program
Recent PhDs from the humanities and humanistic social sciences will be placed in two-year staff positions at partnering organizations in government and the non-profit sector. Stipends of $50,000 to $65,000 per year is provided, depending on position. For more information: https://www.acls.org/fellowship-grant-programs/
Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies (October Deadline)
The Program offers up to one year of doctoral and postdoctoral research support at the Freie Universität Berlin and is open to scholars in all social science and humanities disciplines, including historians working on the period since the mid-18th century. For more information: http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/bprogram/
Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS), Fellowships in Hellenic Studies (February Deadline)
The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) offers postdoctoral fellowships to scholars working on the ancient Greek world in all its varieties, for example, in the fields of archaeology, art history, epigraphy, history, literary criticism, philology, philosophy, and interdisciplinary studies. Fellowships terms differ depending on a particular fellow’s circumstances and needs. For more information: https://chs.harvard.edu/fellowships/
The D. Kim Foundation, Post-Doctoral fellowship (December Deadline)
The D. Kim Foundation provides fellowships and grants to support graduate students and young scholars who are working in the history of science and technology in modern East Asia. Comparative studies of East Asia and the West as well as studies in related fields (mathematics, medicine and public health) are also welcome. Three fellowships ($55,000 each) will be awarded annually to a distinguished young scholar who has received his/her doctoral degree within the previous five years. For more information: http://dkimfoundation.org/wp5/fellowships/
Emory University, James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race & Difference-Visiting Fellows Program (January Deadline)
The James Weldon Johnson Institute of Emory University invites applications for its Visiting Fellows Program. Supported by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Johnson Institute offers five fellowships per year (3 post-doctoral and 2 pre-doctoral). Applications from scholars in the humanities are welcome. Research projects should concern issues across the spectrum of the humanities that examine the origins, evolution, impact and legacy of race, difference, and the modern quest for civil and human rights. Research projects that examine race and ethnicity and its points of intersection with other identities and movements addressing differences along gender, class, religious, or sexual lines are supported. For more information: http://jamesweldonjohnson.emory.edu/home/fellowship/apply.html
The Getty Foundation, Postdoctoral Fellowships (October Deadline)
List of postdoctoral fellowships intended for emerging scholars to complete work on projects related to the Getty Research Institute’s annual theme. For more information: http://www.getty.edu/foundation/initiatives/residential/getty_pre_postdoctoral_fellowships.html
Hagley Museum and Library, Grants and Fellowships (Rolling Applications)
Administered by the Center for the History of Business, Technology and Society, Hagley invites serious researchers to apply for one of our grants to defray the costs of an extended stay intended to use our collections. All grants require applicants to explain how their project will contribute new information to previous scholarship and how Hagley’s research materials are pertinent to their project. For more information: https://www.hagley.org/research/grants-fellowships
Harvard University, W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research- Fellows Program (January Deadline)
Started in 1975 as the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, the Institute has annually appointed scholars who conduct individual research for a period of one to two semesters in a wide variety of fields related to African and African American Studies. Fellows work in a range of fields and interests, including art and art history, Afro-Latin American research, design and the history of design, education, hiphop, African studies, the African diaspora, African American studies, literature and creative writing. For more information: https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/fellowship-program
The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship (October/January Deadline)
The program invites college and graduate school alumni to apply for full-time, six-to-nine month fellowships in Washington, D.C. Outstanding individuals will be selected to work with nonprofit, public-interest organizations addressing peace and security issues. For more information: http://scoville.org/apply/application-information/
MacDowell, Artist Residencies (April Deadline)
Operating on the property of the late Edward MacDowell, arguably America’s first great composer, MacDowell in Peterborough, New Hampshire, offers creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination.
MacDowell welcomes applications from emerging and established artists for its fall fellowship program in the following disciplines: architecture, film/video arts, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theater, and visual arts. The fellowship includes exclusive use of a private studio, accommodations, and three prepared meals a day for a period of two weeks to two months. Doctoral candidates who have finished all coursework may apply. For more information: https://www.macdowell.org/apply/application-guidelines.
Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows
The Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows program places recent PhDs from the humanities and humanistic social sciences in two-year staff positions at partnering organizations in government and non-profit sector. The fellowship provides a stipend of $65,000 per year as well as individual health insurance. For more information: https://www.acls.org/programs/mellon-acls-dissertation-innovation-fellowships/
The National Gallery of Art, Postdoctoral Fellowships (October Deadline)
Postdoctoral Fellowships are supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. One fellowship is awarded each year for two academic years to a postdoctoral fellow studying the history, theory, or criticism of the visual arts of any period or culture. For more information: https://www.nga.gov/research/center/fellowships/postdoctoral-fellowships
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellowship (November Deadline)
The fellowship at The Met provides curatorial training and an opportunity for the fellow to engage with a community of scholars from around the world. The fellow is fully integrated into one of the Museum’s curatorial departments, while devoting his or her time to a specific Met project. The individual works directly with one or more curators, who serve as supervisors and mentors throughout the term of the fellowship. For more information: https://www.metmuseum.org/opportunities/fellowships/andrew-w-mellon-postdoctoral-curatorial-fellowship
Open Society Foundations, Open Society Fellowship (February Deadline)
Each year, the Open Society Fellowship invites applicants to address specific propositions. Applicants for the year 2019 are to address the following proposition: new and radical forms of ownership, governance, entrepreneurship, and financialization are needed to fight pervasive economic inequality. Applicants are invited to dispute, substantiate, or otherwise engage with the proposition in their submissions. Though the proposition deals with economic issued, those without an economics or business background are welcome to apply, provided they have a relevant project in mind. For more information: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/open-society-fellowship?utm_source=Open+Society+Foundations&utm_campaign=fa30beb568-Grants_RSS_email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d16374add2-fa30beb568-49168874
Rutgers University, J. Robert Beyster Fellowship (March Deadline) This fellowship will support pre-tenure scholars and recent PhD graduates. The stipend is $25,000 for one year and can be used for research, travel, and living expenses. For more information: https://smlr.rutgers.edu/content/fellowships-professorships
Tel Aviv University, Dan David Prize (March Deadline)
The Dan David Prize awards scholarships to doctoral and post-doctoral researchers, carrying out research in one of the selected fields for the current year. Registered doctoral and post-doctoral researchers who study at recognized universities throughout the world are eligible to apply. The Dan David Prize laureates annually donate twenty scholarships of $15,000 each to outstanding doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers of exceptional promise. For more information: https://en-humanities.tau.ac.il/dan-david-fellows-form2
University of Rochester, Frederick Douglass Institute Fellowship (December Deadlines)
The Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African American Studies at the University of Rochester brings together scholars working in the humanities and social sciences in the area of Africa and the African diasporas. The Postdoctoral Fellowships are awarded to scholars who hold a Ph.D. degree in a field that contributes to African and African-American Studies. It carries an annual stipend of $40,000 and a $3,000 fund for research-related activities. For more information: https://www.sas.rochester.edu/aas/fellowships/postdoctoral.html
University of Virginia, Lillian Gary Taylor Fellowship in American Literature (March & October Deadlines)
The Lillian Gary Taylor Fellowship in American Literature supports research in the literary works of authors resident in what is now the United States. Proposals may encompass any time period or genre, and may be bibliographical, biographical, critical, historical, or textual in focus. In a typical year, 20 months of fellowship support are awarded. For more information: https://harrison.library.virginia.edu/fellowships/
University of Virginia, William A. Elwood Fellowship in Civil Rights and African-American Studies (March & October Deadlines)
This fellowship supports research in the history of African-Americans, in particular their struggle for equal rights. Its relevant civil rights manuscript collections include those of activists Julian Bond and Sarah Patton Boyle, organizations such as the Social Movements Collection, the Southern Student Organizing Committee, the Virginia Council on Human Relations, and many others. In a typical year, 4 months of fellowship support are awarded. For more information: https://harrison.library.virginia.edu/fellowships/
University of Washington, Hazel D. Cole Fellowship
The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington welcome applications for the Hazel D. Cole Fellowship in Jewish Studies. The Fellowship may be used as a dissertation completion fellowship or for post-doctoral work in any field of Jewish Studies. The Fellow must agree to be in residence at the University of Washington for the tenure of their fellowship. The Fellowship includes a stipend of $50,000 plus benefits for the academic year. For more information: https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/hazel-d-cole-fellowship/
Williams College, Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation Fellowship (November Deadline)
The Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowships at Williams College are designed to promote diversity on college faculties. The Bolin Fellowships are two-year residencies at Williams, and two scholars or artists are appointed each year. Fellows devote the bulk of the first year to the completion of dissertation work, while also teaching one course as a faculty member in one of the College’s academic departments or programs. The Bolin fellowships are awarded to applicants from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, those who are first-generation college graduates, women in predominantly male fields, or male students. Ph.D. candidates must have completed all doctoral work except the dissertation by the end of the current academic year. For more information: https://faculty.williams.edu/hiring/graduate-fellowships/mellon-fellowships/
The Yale Institute of Sacred Music, ISM Fellows (November Deadline)
Scholars, religious leaders, or artists whose work is in or is turning toward the fields of sacred music, liturgical/ritual studies, or religion and the arts are invited to apply. For more information: http://ism.yale.edu/ism-fellows