The American Council of Learned Societies Awards 45 Emerging Voices Fellowships

ACLS launched the Emerging Voices Fellowship program in May 2020 in response to the economic downturn and uncertainty in academe in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is designed to assist a vanguard of scholars whose voices, perspectives, and broad visions will strengthen institutions of higher education and humanistic disciplines in the years to come. 

Emerging Voices Fellows are placed in one-year remote posts starting in September 2020 with ACLS Research University Consortium partners across the country. The inaugural cohort of this rapid response program will advance their research agendas while undertaking a variety of roles including teaching, collaborative research, program development, and public engagement, based on the needs of each institution. Each fellow receives a stipend of $60,000, health insurance, and a $5,000 discretionary fund.

“At a time when institutions of higher education are making tough fiscal decisions that will impact the future of scholarship, ACLS recognizes the urgent need to support those newest to the academy and, in turn, helping ensure its best future,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “This exciting new partnership with our Research University Consortium members will help ensure the advancement of important humanistic study during these challenging times on campuses across the nation.”
 
The 2020 Emerging Voices Fellows bring fascinating research agendas and impressive accomplishments to their new roles. Selected from nearly 300 scholars nominated by nearly 100 universities, the 45 awardees distinguished themselves through outstanding scholarly achievement, strong track records of engagement with diverse audiences and curricular innovation, demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion in and beyond the classroom, and the potential to move the academic humanities and social sciences in exciting new directions. 
 
Fellows were selected through a multi-stage peer review process that brought experience and expertise from a diverse panel of scholars representing a variety of humanities and humanistic social science disciplines.

The Emerging Voices Fellowship is funded through the ACLS endowment, which has benefited from the generous support of esteemed institutions and individuals including The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Arcadia Charitable Trust, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the ACLS Research University Consortium and college and university Associates, past fellows, and friends of ACLS.

The next competition for ACLS Emerging Voices Fellowships will be launched in spring 2021.

Learn more about ACLS fellowship and grant programs for the 2020-21 competition round.