Ailsa Mellon Bruce Predoctoral Fellowships for Historians of American Art to Travel Abroad

2022–2023

The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts offers up to four fellowships to doctoral students in art history who are studying aspects of art and architecture of the United States, including Native and pre-Revolutionary America. This fellowship is for a period of four to six weeks of continuous travel abroad in areas such as Africa, Asia, or South America, as well as Europe, to sites of historical and cultural interest, including museums, exhibitions, collections, and monuments. The travel fellowship is intended to encourage a breadth of art-historical experience beyond the candidate’s major field, not for the advancement of a dissertation. Preference will be accorded to those who have had little opportunity for research travel abroad. The amount of the award is dependent on the travel plan, with a maximum of $6,000. A narrative report at the conclusion of the travel period is required. Individuals currently affiliated with the National Gallery of Art are not eligible for this fellowship. Individuals may not apply for other fellowships at the Center while an application is pending or once a fellowship has been awarded. Candidates must be either United States citizens or enrolled in a university in the United States.

Application for a travel fellowship may be made only through nomination by the chair of a graduate department of art history or other appropriate department. Each department may support two candidates. Department chairs must submit one letter of nomination listing all candidates nominated by the department; students may be nominated to only one Center program in any given year. The nomination letter may be sent by e-mail as a PDF to [email protected]. Nominees must submit an online application that includes a 500-word proposal outlining the objectives and feasibility of the travel plan; a separate, detailed itinerary, including a budget; and a curriculum vitae. The curriculum vitae should list any previous scholarly or professional travel. Two letters of support are required from professors who can evaluate the importance of this travel for the student’s professional and intellectual development. Online applications will be reviewed by a selection committee of scholars in American art. These fellowships may not be postponed or renewed.

Award Period: June 2022–May 2023

The deadline for this fellowship cycle was November 15, 2021. Information for the 2023–2024 predoctoral fellowships will be available in summer 2022.

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