Mandel Center for the Humanities

The Mandel Center for the Humanities is pleased to announce a new set of funding opportunities for Brandeis faculty and graduate students

Propose a Reading Group

Rolling Deadline

We welcome proposals for new reading groups from faculty and graduate students in the humanities, humanistic social sciences, and creative arts on a topic, theme, theoretical debate or author of shared interest. Reading groups generally meet at least four times a year and combine discussions of shared readings with visits by guest speakers, film screenings or other events.

Topics that are public facing or that consider the potential social impact of the humanities and humanistic social sciences beyond the academy are particularly encouraged. Funds up to $1,000 can be used for refreshments, speaker fees, books, or other expenses. An additional $500 is available for groups to offer stipends to graduate student organizers/participants. Contact Ulka Anjaria with any questions.

Apply here!

Apply for Funds to Support a Lecture or Event

Rolling Deadline

Brandeis faculty are invited to apply for up to $250 to co-sponsor an on-campus or virtual lecture, class visit or other event. Applications for events that engage a public humanities speaker or topic, center questions of race, anti-Blackness and equity, and/or reach a broader community beyond the organizer's own course or department are particularly encouraged. Contact Ulka Anjaria with any questions.

Apply here!

Public Humanities Grants + Course Releases for Faculty

Check back for this year's deadline

The Mandel Center for the Humanities is excited to launch a new funding program to support Brandeis faculty working on experimental and/or publicly engaged projects in the humanities, the arts and the humanistic social sciences. These include projects that have audiences beyond the academy, projects in the experimental or digital humanities, applied humanities work, and/or collaborative projects that create and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships with community organizations, museums, libraries or other cultural spaces or media.

For this initial year, two grants will be awarded, each of which includes one course reduction to be taken in Fall 2022 or Spring 2023, along with $10,000 to be used for expenses or as a one-time stipend payment (note stipend payments are taxed at the salary tax rate), or a combination of the above. Funds must be used by June 30, 2023 or an extension must be requested at that time. Grant winners will participate in a public scholarship symposium to be held at the Mandel Center for the Humanities in Fall 2022 or Spring 2023 where they will present on the work enabled by this grant. All full-time Brandeis faculty (tenure-line and OTS) are eligible.

To apply, please submit a description of the goals and approach of the project (no more than 750 words), description of any work already done on the project, implementation plans, names of potential or already existing collaborators, and a discussion of the target audiences and the desired impact of the project. Include a budget for any projected research expenses. Application deadline has passed. Contact Ulka Anjaria with any questions.

Faculty Research Grants + Course Releases

Check back for this year's deadline

The Mandel Center for the Humanities is pleased to be able to fund two additional course releases for Brandeis faculty, to support research projects in the humanities, the arts or the humanistic social sciences for the 2022-23 academic year. Along with the course release, the grantee will receive $2,500 to fund an event at the MCH in Fall 2022 or Spring 2023, as well as $2,500 in additional funds to be used for research expenses or as a one-time stipend payment (note stipend payments are taxed at the salary tax rate), or a combination of the above.

The event should be related to the research project and should be designed to generate excitement for the topic among a variety of campus audiences, for instance by bringing scholars, practitioners, artists, filmmakers, authors and/or activists to campus. Ideally, such an event would complement a course the faculty member is teaching at the same time.

All full-time Brandeis faculty (tenure-line and OTS) are eligible. To apply, please submit a brief project description (no more than 750 words), research/writing plans for the grant period, and a tentative plan and budget for the event, which notes the intended audience and whether it complements a class being offered the same semester. Application deadline has passed. Contact Ulka Anjaria with any questions.

Writing Accountability Group for Doctoral Students, Summer 2023

The Mandel Center for the Humanities and GSAS are excited to be able to fund a 10-week writing accountability group for Brandeis doctoral students in the humanities, humanistic social sciences and arts who are currently writing their dissertations, to take place in summer 2023. Each participant will receive a $2,000 lump sum stipend (no reimbursement submissions necessary) to help carve out time and space for their writing. To receive the payment, students must commit to biweekly accountability meetings on Zoom for peer support and mentorship and to discuss writing strategies, time management and other issues. This is an individual application and is due by April 18, 2023.

Apply here

Graduate Student Dissertation Innovation Grants, 2023-24

The Mandel Center for the Humanities is pleased to inaugurate Dissertation Innovation Grants of $2,000-$4,000 to support innovative dissertation work by current Brandeis PhD students at any stage in their degree program. The grant supports students interested in or currently pursuing non-traditional dissertation research, meaning work that is practical, collaborative, and/or community-engaged, as well as work that might be published in other forms besides the traditional, proto-monograph dissertation.

The grant will fund projects that have audiences beyond the academy, projects in the experimental or digital humanities, applied humanities work, work that experiments with different voices, and/or collaborative projects that create and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships with community organizations, museums, libraries or other cultural spaces or media. A supplemental award of $1,000, funded by COMPACT, is available to students who wish to explore opportunities for deepening the community engaged aspects of their research, including (but not limited to) developing a partnership with a community-based organization or adding a community-engaged component to their project design.

Students interested in this grant are encouraged to attend the MCH Public Scholarship Symposium at 2:20 p.m. Feb. 10, 2023, where we will be showcasing examples of successful public scholarship projects at Brandeis. We especially encourage applications from students early in their degree program who are considering applying for the Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowships and who can use this grant to develop a project that can be used to apply to the Mellon/ ACLS grant next year.

Grant winners will be asked to present their work at an event on new directions for the dissertation sometime in 2023-24. In order to apply, please submit a short project description (500 words) that describes the research topic and how the work engages with community organizations or is otherwise innovative. Also describe your plans for a non-traditional dissertation and if you’re planning on applying to the Mellon/ACLS Fellowship next year. You will also be asked to detail how you plan to use the funds and how this project is relevant to your post-graduation professional goals. Please also include a detailed budget, including dates for the usage of funds. All funds must be used by June 30, 2024, or an extension must be filed by that date. Deadline for applications was March 1, 2023.

Research Grants for Graduate Students

Check back for this year's deadline

The Mandel Center for the Humanities is now offering grants to current Brandeis graduate students to support research expenses of up to $2,000 for projects in the humanities, the arts, and the humanistic social sciences. Expenses could include travel, reasonable accommodation, supplies, interview and transcription expenses, library or museum fees, books, and other research expenses. These grants do not fund conference travel or equipment such as computers.

To apply, please submit a short project description (500 words) that 1) describes the research topic, 2) details how you plan to use the funds, 3) demonstrates how this project is relevant to your doctoral work and/or post-graduation professional goals, and 4) includes a detailed budget, including dates for the usage of funds. All funds must be used by June 30, 2023, or an extension must be filed by that date. Application deadline has passed. Contact Ulka Anjaria with any questions.

Dissertation Writing Retreats for Graduate Students

Check back for this year's deadline

The Mandel Center for the Humanities is pleased to offer funding for two graduate student writing retreats designed to give Brandeis graduate students in the humanities, arts and humanistic social sciences time and space to focus on dissertation or other writing projects as well as foster horizontal community.

The retreat should be three to five ays long and should include time (at least four hours) for daily focused writing as well as other optional activities such as draft workshopping, peer review, and/or discussion of writing practice, time management and developing a writing calendar. The retreat can take place at an external site or on campus in the form of a catered study hall that either meets for three to five days in a row or is spread out across a series. It should be attended by five to 10 participants.

To apply, please submit a list of participants, a budget for the retreat (maximum $4,000 which can include accommodation, reasonable travel expenses, food and supplies), and a tentative schedule for the retreat. Up to $750 can be included in the budget to pay a faculty mentor to attend. Funds must be spent by Dec. 31, 2022. After the retreat, the Mandel Center will conduct a short interview with the participants and request a group photo to be used on our website. Application deadline has passed. Contact Ulka Anjaria with any questions.

RaceB4Race Social Media Fellows

Deadline Passed

At RaceB4Race, we aim to create opportunities for public engagement with premodern critical race studies, bringing broader attention to more complete and accurate narratives about the past and its modern uses. To do so, we must equip public intellectuals undergoing this work with skills and knowledge to protect their personal safety in digital spaces.

Feminists and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have frequently been the targets of online harassment. As the political rhetoric and maneuvers have increased against critical race theory, doing antiracist work online in social media spaces may put RaceB4Race scholars in the crosshairs of online harassment. We believe that we need to equip our scholars with information, strategies, and structural support before they decide to do public antiracist work.

The RaceB4Race Social Media Fellows program, directed by Dorothy Kim at Brandeis University, invites Brandeis internal applications (faculty and graduate students) for the 2022 cohort. 4 Brandeis Fellows will participate in a series of digital safety workshops. Brandeis Fellows will receive a stipend of $1,000 at the completion of the workshop funded by the Mandel Humanities Center.

The application deadline has passed. Contact Dorothy Kim with any questions.