The African Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship provides support to the field of humanities in five African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, through fellowship competitions, regional workshops, and peer networking. The centerpiece of the program is the distribution of fellowships to African scholars in these countries for work on dissertations, research projects, and scholarly manuscripts.

The main motive of this program is to encourage and enable the production of new knowledge and new directions for research. Up to two such fellowships will be awarded annually.

African Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship

Course level: Postdoctoral fellowship

Fields of study: Any subject in the field of humanities

Institution and country: Any institute of higher learning in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

Sponsor: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and Carnegie Corporation

Scholarship inclusions:

The program will provide the award amount of $19,000 plus a book and media allowance of $1,000. Fellows are also eligible for additional benefits such as residential stays for writing, manuscript development workshops, and publication support.

Eligibility criteria for the African Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship:

  • Eligible countries. Citizens of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are eligible to apply: Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda.
  • Admissible criteria. To be eligible, the applicant must have a master’s degree before applying. Proposed projects must be in the humanities, defined by the study of history, language, and culture, and by qualitative approaches in research. The list of humanities disciplines includes anthropology, archaeology, studies of the fine and performing arts, history, linguistics, literature studies, studies of religion, and philosophy.
  • Language requirement. Applicants must have good English skills (writing, reading, and speaking).
  • Applicants must propose a written scholarly product such as a book manuscript.
  • AHP fellowships may not be used for travel outside the continent.
  • Applicants may propose either a combination of research and writing or writing only.
  • They must be able to devote full time to the AHP project throughout the fellowship period.

Application deadline: 4 December 2020

How to apply for the African Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship:

In order to apply for this grant, applicants need to take part in a postdoctoral degree at an SSA institute. Thereafter, they are required to complete the application form online through the ACLS application portal. Two letters of reference, an application essay (maximum two pages, single-spaced, 11 pt. type), and a Curriculum Vitae must be submitted together with the application.

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African Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship