Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies

With the encouragement and guidance of the Henry Luce Foundation, ACLS conducted a series of strategic planning activities to reassess and reconfigure the Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies.  After surveying and convening scholars at all ranks, higher education leaders, journalists, librarians, curators, and other readers of research and writing on China, we re-imagined our program to meet the needs of China studies in the 21st century.

Program Goals

The redesigned Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies has three goals:

1. To shift the standard for China studies as a field to be more capacious and inclusive, both in terms of research funded (from multidisciplinary and multimethod approaches to Sinophone/graph studies and Global China) and support for a wider diversity of scholars and institutions.
2. To foster and sustain publicly engaged, creative, and responsive scholarship that will inform public understanding of cultures, histories, and societies in China and their influence and impact on communities, countries, and cultures around the world.
3. To initiate effective strategies for long-term change, through collaborative working groups and network- and community-building activities.

Fellowships and Grants

In 2024-25, ACLS is offering fellowships and grants to support research, writing, and publicly engaged and creative scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences. There are no restrictions regarding methodological approach or time period.

• Grant competitions:
  • Travel grants for graduate students and contingent faculty or non-tenured faculty at any career stage. Grants are $5,000 for travel at any time during a 12-month period.
  • One collaborative grant of up to $150,000 for groups to implement pilot programs or develop resources in response to pressing challenges in the field.
• Fellowship competitions:
  • Flexible, short-term fellowships for early career scholars (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) with no leave requirements. The stipend is $15,000.
  • Long-term research fellowships for early career scholars that will enable recent PhDs (without tenure and within eight years of the PhD) to take leaves from university responsibilities for four to nine months to carry out research and writing towards a scholarly text. The minimum stipend is $20,000 and the maximum is $45,000.

Awards are financially supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, with long-term fellowships made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Resources

Luce/ACLS Digital Archives Mapping Project

The Luce/ACLS Digital Archives Mapping Project is an ongoing initiative that aims to enhance and expand access to primary materials and source collections that are vital to the advancement of the China studies field. The project and website, which is currently under development, will eventually comprise three main elements: a survey of significant Sinophone source collections available outside mainland China; a common access plan to enable scholars to utilize databases and collections at key institutions regardless of current rank or affiliation; and a knowledge base of best practices for organizations seeking to digitize and preserve print collections.

Publicly Engaged Scholarship

ACLS holds the core belief that knowledge is a public good. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider the broader impact of their research, especially its potential to increase public engagement with humanistic knowledge and scholarship – from media and outreach to engaged research, teaching, and public programming.

Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in a public writing workshop in 2025 and 2026. Learn more about publicly engaged humanities at Humanities for All.

The Luce/ACLS Program in China Studies promotes inclusion, equity, and diversity as integral components of merit that enhance the scholarly enterprise. It is a priority that every cohort of fellows and grantees is broadly inclusive of different backgrounds, cultures, and any aspects that make one unique. In China studies we seek balance in regard to national origin, educational background, and current university affiliation, as well as in disciplinary approaches, topics, and historical periods studied.