Program Summary听

The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program has a focus on听political polarization in the United States. The program asks scholars to help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what we can do to strengthen the forces of cohesion in our society. Political polarization is characterized by threats to free speech, the decline of civil discourse, disagreement over basic facts, and a lack of mutual understanding and collaboration.

Fellowships of $200,000 are awarded annually to 30 exceptional scholars, authors, journalists, and public intellectuals. The funding is for a period of one or two years with the anticipated result of a book or major study. The criteria prioritize the originality and promise of the research, its potential impact on the field, and the scholar鈥檚 plans for communicating the findings to a broad audience.

The Corporation anticipates that the work of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program will explore the many ways political polarization in the United States manifests itself in society and suggest ways that it may be mitigated. Studies of polarization in other countries will be welcomed providing they offer lessons that can be applied to the United States. Projects based in disciplines across the humanities and social sciences are welcomed.

Deadlines

CU Internal Deadline: 11:59pm MST October 7, 2024

Sponsor Application Deadline: 3:00pm MST November 8, 2024

Internal Application Requirements (all in PDF format)

  • Nomination Type: Junior or Senior Scholar
  • Prospectus (3 pages maximum, minimum 12-point font size, double-spaced): Prepared by the nominee, the prospectus should describe the project, including a projected work plan and approximate time frame.
  • Dean, Director, Chair Nomination Letter: For the purposes of the internal competition, the letter should be from a dean, director or chair and include a brief description of the candidate鈥檚 accomplishments and the research proposal鈥檚 potential to address political polarization in the United States. Self-nominations are not allowed.
  • Nominee鈥檚 CV (1 page maximum): The CV should be in bulleted list form; no narrative.
  • Budget Overview (1 page maximum): A basic budget outlining project costs is sufficient; detailed OCG budgets are not required.

To access the online application, visit:

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must be a U.S. citizen or have permanent U.S. residency status and be nominated. Nominees must have a Ph.D., hold a terminal degree, or be a high-level professional working outside of academia. Nominators include heads of independent research institutes and learned societies, university presidents, leaders of some of the nation鈥檚 preeminent think tanks, and directors of major publishers, as well as editors of leading newspapers and magazines.

The following are eligible for consideration for a fellowship: senior and junior scholars, authors, journalists, and public intellectuals. The foundation welcomes candidates holding a terminal degree other than a PhD. The foundation also welcomes candidates with exceptional experience that qualifies them as a senior professional or intellectual.

The university may nominate one junior and one senior scholar, where a senior scholar is defined as any holder of a tenured post.

Candidates nominated for the 2024 Fellows Program, following the shift in focus to polarization, cannot be nominated again during the current three-year period.

Self-nominations will not be accepted.

Nominations must be approved by the president.

Limited Submission Guidelines

The university is limited to nominating one junior and one senior scholar. A senior scholar is defined as any holder of a tenured post.

Award Information

Award Amount: $200,000

The award may be over a one- or two-year period. During the selected period, you may opt to go on sabbatical for the entirety or for a portion of the fellowship. You may also choose to teach classes part-time and/or to work on the project over the summer.

Review Criteria

Nominations are evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Originality and promise of the idea
  • Quality of the proposal
  • Record of the nominee
  • Plans to communicate findings to a broad audience
  • Promise to offer solutions to harmful polarization or to enhance social cohesion