ACLS 2021 African Humanities Program for African Researchers

Researchers from Sub-Saharan African nations who are within eight years of completing their PhD degree, nationals of Sub-Saharan African countries, and currently employed at institutions in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda are encouraged to apply for postdoctoral fellowships. Women are urged to apply in particular.

The fellowship program, which began in 2008-09 and was set to finish in 2020-21, will be extended for one year as a result of this outstanding competition. Due to the cancellation of in-person programs during the COVID epidemic, funds for the extension became available.

In practically every way, the African Humanities Fellowship Program 2022/2023 will be a carbon copy of past ones. The qualifying conditions remain the same – scholarships will be given to African academics living and working on the continent who are undertaking fundamental humanities research and are willing to take two semesters off from all other activity to devote full focus to the proposed project. 

As in prior years, applications will be accepted using the ACLS Online Fellowship and Grant (OFA) Administration system. ACLS will provide monetary stipends. There will be no more AHP fellowship contests.

Application deadline: December 3, 2021

Benefits of ACLS 2021 African Humanities Program for African Researchers

Fellowship stipends provide participants with one academic year free of teaching and other responsibilities to revise their dissertations for publication or to begin their first major research endeavor after receiving their PhD. Fellows are also eligible for extra advantages such as writing retreats, manuscript preparation seminars, and publishing assistance.

Each fellow is eligible to apply for a residential stay at an African institute for further study. Residencies have proven to be highly popular and fruitful, providing fellows with time and space to focus on writing. 

Because residencies must be completed at an establishment located outside of one’s own country, they promote international dialogue. AHP Fellows can currently hold residencies at six institutes ranging from South Africa to Senegal, Ghana to Tanzania.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be nationals and residents of a country in sub-Saharan Africa and must be currently working at universities in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda.
• Women are especially encouraged to apply.
• Dissertation-Completion Fellowships are not available in South Africa.
• Projects must be in the humanities and must be carried out in sub-Saharan Africa. AHP fellowships may not be used for travel outside the continent.

Selection Criteria

• The intrinsic interest and substantive merit of the work proposed
• The clarity of the intellectual agenda
• The feasibility of the work plan
• The record of achievement of a postdoctoral scholar and the promise of a PhD candidate
• The contribution the work is likely to make to scholarship on the continent and worldwide

The African Humanities Program seeks to strengthen humanities scholarship in Africa:

• By promoting diversity in terms of gender and historical disadvantage, along with diversity in disciplines, institutions, and regions. Women are especially encouraged to apply.
• By making research opportunities available to staff at African universities.

How To Apply

For more information on the application process, interested applicants may go to The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) on ofa.acls.org to apply.

For more details, visit ACLS website.

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