Humanities Research Center

Graduate Student Residential Fellowships

Applications are now open for 2026-27.

The Humanities Research Center will award at least one fellowship each year to a Ph.D. student (candidate preferred) working on an interdisciplinary humanities project. Fellows will receive a stipend, mentoring, professional development opportunities and will be expected to make significant progress on their dissertations during the fellowship year. All HRC fellows are expected to attend weekly fellows seminars, as well as other events at the HRC during their fellowship year. Publications and public presentations resulting from this fellowship program must acknowledge the center’s support. The fellows will also submit a report of their activities during the fellowship year by May 1.

Apply

Residency: 2026-27
Annual theme: Repair
Deadline: Oct. 17th, 2025

The HRC invites applications for the Residential Fellowship Program for the 2026-2027 academic year, centered around the theme of Repair. The concept of repair encompasses both material and immaterial forms of restoration: from the conservation of cultural artifacts and the rebuilding of communities after trauma, to the healing of historical wounds and the restoration of damaged relationships between peoples, nations and the natural world. Recent scholarship in the humanities suggests that repair is not simply about returning to a previous state, but rather about creating new possibilities for flourishing in the aftermath of damage.

We seek fellows whose research interrogates how societies, cultures and individuals engage in acts of repair—and how these processes shape our understanding of justice, memory, identity and futurity. We are interested in supporting the work of scholars in the humanities, arts and humanistic social sciences who engage one of the following concepts:

Historical and cultural repair

  • Post-conflict reconciliation and transitional justice
  • Truth and reconciliation processes
  • Cultural heritage preservation and restoration
  • Repatriation of cultural objects and human remains
  • Oral history and community memory projects

Social and political repair

  • Reparations movements and restorative justice
  • Healing from historical trauma and collective memory
  • Community organizing and grassroots restoration efforts
  • Environmental justice and ecological restoration
  • Immigration, displacement and community rebuilding

Literary and artistic repair

  • Narratives of healing and recovery in literature and the arts
  • The role of creative expression in trauma recovery
  • Restoration of lost or suppressed cultural traditions
  • Digital humanities and the recovery of marginalized voices
  • Performance, ritual and ceremonial practices of repair

Philosophical and ethical repair

  • Theories of forgiveness, justice and reconciliation
  • Ethics of care and responsibility across difference
  • Decolonial approaches to healing and restoration
  • Indigenous knowledge systems and healing practices
  • Interfaith dialogue and religious reconciliation

Material and technological repair

  • Conservation science and cultural preservation
  • The politics of restoration in museums and archives
  • Digital preservation and the recovery of lost media
  • Traditional crafts and artisanal knowledge and preservation
  • Sustainable practices and environmental restoration

Selected faculty and graduate students will have the opportunity to participate in the Global Justice and Humanities Practices Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in June 2026.

How to apply

The selected graduate student residential fellow(s) will be awarded a stipend of at least $2,000, and will join a cohort of HRC faculty fellows. Projects will be chosen based on the quality of the proposals and the needs of the applicants. Advanced graduate students will receive priority consideration.

A complete application will consist of the following, submitted as a single PDF document:

  • Cover page (applicant’s name, contact information)
  • 200-word abstract
  • 1,000-word project proposal
  • 1-page work plan for the year
  • Short bibliography (up to 2 pages)
  • Curriculum vitae (up to 4 pages)
  • A letter of support from the program director or dissertation supervisor

Submit full applications (one PDF document) to cstanciu@vcu.edu by Oct. 17, 2025.

Review

Applications will be reviewed by a committee of faculty, including the previous year’s fellows, appointed by the center director. The applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Scholarly/creative excellence and promise of the project
  • Applicant’s readiness to pursue proposed research
  • Quality of the proposal
  • Demonstrated need for support
  • Explanation of how the experience of an HRC fellowship will benefit the applicant and the project