Applicants must be nationals and residents of a country in sub-Saharan Africa, with a current affiliation at an institution in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda.

Funding is available for dissertation completion and for postdoctoral research and writing.

Applicants for Dissertation Completion Fellowships should be in the final year of writing the dissertation at a university in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, or Uganda. Dissertation-Completion Fellowships are not available in South Africa.

Applicants for Early Career Postdoctoral Fellowships must be working in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda and must have completed the Ph.D. no more than five years ago.

Projects must be in the humanities and must be carried out in sub-Saharan Africa. AHP fellowships may not be used for travel outside the continent.

Completed applications must be submitted by December 1, 2010. ACLS encourages the submission of applications by email to ahp@acls.org; alternatively, applications may be mailed to the AHP/ACLS offices in New York.

Applicants will be notified of competition results in the spring of 2011.

African Humanities Program in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda 2010-2011

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), with financial support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, announces competitions for:

• Early career postdoctoral fellowships in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and South Africa
• Dissertation completion fellowships in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda (no dissertation fellowships in South Africa)

Fellowships:

Stipends are $9,000 for Dissertation Completion Fellows and $16,000 for Postdoctoral Fellows. The fellowships are intended to release recipients from teaching and other duties for an academic year to permit full-time research and writing. Fellows may request additional support for several months residence at one of four institutes for advanced study in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. The 2010-11 competition cycle will award approximately 40 fellowships to scholars in all five countries combined. Applications will be evaluated by experts at African universities. Final decisions will be made by an independent, international committee of distinguished scholars.

Eligibility: Applicants

All applicants must be citizens of a sub-Saharan African country residing in, and with an institutional affiliation in, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda. Dissertation fellowships are not available in South Africa.

Dissertation applicants must be in the final year of writing the dissertation, with at least one chapter completed.

Postdoctoral applicants must have obtained the Ph.D. no more than five years prior to applying.

Eligibility: Projects

Proposed projects must be in the humanities, defined as studies of history, language, or culture that employ qualitative research approaches. The humanities disciplines include, but are not limited to, archaeology, anthropology, classics, studies of the fine and performing arts, history, linguistics, literature studies, philosophy, and studies of religion. Not eligible: projects in social sciences such as economics, sociology, political science, and projects in development studies, law, and international relations, unless they are clearly humanistic in content and in focus. Proposed projects must aim to produce a substantial written scholarly product, such as a dissertation or a book manuscript.

Selection Criteria

• the intrinsic interest and substantive merit of the work proposed
• the clarity with which the intellectual agenda is presented
• the record of achievement of postdoctoral scholars and the potential of Ph.D. candidates
• the contribution the work is likely to make to scholarship in the region as well as internationally
• the feasibility of the workplan

The African Humanities Program seeks to promote diversity—in disciplines, institutions, regions, gender, and historical disadvantage—for the sake of excellence in humanities scholarship. Applications are welcome from all eligible scholars in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Application Deadline: December 1, 2010