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Now Accepting Nominations for the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship!

We are now accepting faculty nominations for Swarthmore’s next cohort of Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows until February 1, 2018.

WHAT IS THE MELLON MAYS PROGRAM?

Swarthmore’s Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) program was among the first in the country when the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation established this program in 1988 to address the underrepresentation of African Americans, Latinx, and Native American faculty in the arts and social sciences. The goal of the program is to prepare undergraduates to successfully pursue the PhD in select fields with a combination of guided independent research, faculty mentoring, workshops and other programming, and generous funding. Each spring, we select up to five new MMUFs for the program from sophomores and juniors nominated by the faculty.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

Each spring, we select up to five new MMUFs for the program from sophomores and juniors nominated by the faculty. The program accepts applications from:

  • Underrepresented students of color with an interest in pursuing a PhD in one of the Mellon-approved fields of study and with clear promise as a professor and researcher.
  • Any student, regardless of race or ethnicity, who has a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities in higher education and who wishes to pursue an academic career in one of the designated fields of study.

More specifically, applicants must be sophomores or juniors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents majoring (or intending to major) in one of the following fields of study in the humanities and social sciences:

  • Anthropology & Archaeology
  • Area / Cultural / Ethnic / Gender Studies
  • Art History
  • Classics
  • Comparative Literature
  • English Literature
  • Film & Media Studies (theoretical focus)
  • Musicology & Ethnomusicology
  • Foreign Languages & Literatures
  • History
  • Linguistics
  • Performance Studies (theoretical focus)
  • Philosophy
  • Religion
  • Sociology
  • Theater (non-performance focus)

Interdisciplinary fields not listed above may also be eligible if they involve one or more Mellon-approved fields at their core.

HOW DO I NOMINATE STUDENTS?

Historically, Swarthmore faculty have played a crucial role in identifying promising students for the MMUF program. Faculty can nominate promising sophomores and juniors through Faculty Services. You will find a button (‘Nominate for Mellon-Mays’) on a student's information page; click on the button and confirm your nomination. Done!

Once the nomination period ends, we will provide all eligible nominees with information about the program and invite them to apply. The application deadline for students typically falls on the first Friday of every March.

If you have any additional questions about the MMUF, please contact us at mmuf@swarthmore.edu