2021-22 Mahindra Humanities Center Postdoctoral Fellowship (EXPIRED)

The Mahindra Humanities Center invites applications for one-year postdoctoral fellowships in connection with the Center’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation seminar on the topic of migration and the humanities.

Migration plays as critical a role in the moral imagination of the humanities as it does in shaping the activist vision of humanitarianism and human rights. Too often, the humanities are summoned merely as witnesses whose primary aesthetic and moral values lie in their illustrative powers of empathy and evocation. Yet the intellectual formation of the humanities—their very conception of the nature of meaning, knowledge, and morals—is deeply resonant with the displacement of values and the revision of norms that shape narratives of migrant lives.

We welcome applications from scholars in all fields whose work innovatively engages with migration and the humanities. In addition to pursuing their own research projects, fellows will be core participants in the bi-weekly seminar meetings for both academic terms of the fellowship. Other participants will include faculty and graduate students from Harvard and other universities in the region, and occasional visiting speakers.

Fellows will receive stipends of $65,000, medical insurance, additional research support of $2,500, and (for those not already in residence in Greater Boston) $1,500 in moving expenses. Fellows are expected to be in residence at Harvard for the term of the fellowship.

Applicants for 2021-22 fellowships must have received a doctorate or terminal degree in or after May 2018. Applicants without a doctorate or terminal degree must demonstrate that they have completed all requirements for a terminal degree (i.e. dissertation defense) by August 1, 2021. International scholars outside the United States are appointed under either the J-1 visa (Research Scholar status) or F-1 OPT (Optional Practical Training), depending on their circumstances. If awarded a fellowship, the term of appointment is September 1, 2021-August 31, 2022. The Mahindra Center reserves the right to cancel awards if the recipient is unable to meet these conditions of completion and visa status. 

The application deadline for applicants to submit their materials is November 6, 2020. The deadline for receipt of letters of recommendation is November 20, 2020.

In addition to biographical and professional information, applicants are asked to submit:


1. A curriculum vitae.

2. A statement of the research project (1,000-3,000 words) that provides a detailed description of what the applicant proposes to do during the fellowship year.

3. One chapter- or article-length writing sample (no longer than 40 pages).

4. Names and contact information of three referees, who will be asked by a system-generated email to upload a letter of recommendation once the candidate’s application has been submitted. Three letters of recommendation are required, and the application is considered complete only when three letters have been received. Recommendations may be those included in the applicant’s placement dossier, but they must specifically address the proposed research project. Letters should be uploaded to the electronic application. The deadline for receipt of letters is November 20, 2020.