2026-27 Mellon Foundation Predoctoral Awards in Women’s History

Description

The two recipients of the Mellon Foundation Predoctoral Awards in Women’s History should have a strong interest in women’s and public history and the applications of these fields outside the academy. Functioning as research associates and providing programmatic support for The New York Historical’s Center for Women’s History, pre-doctoral awardees will assist in the development of content for the Women's History exhibitions, associated educational curriculum, and on-site experiences for students, scholars, and visitors. They must be currently enrolled students in good standing in a relevant Ph.D. program in the humanities.

All Center fellows receive practical instruction and cross-disciplinary guidance from New York Historical staff. Fellows learn to harness academic skills—such as research, scholarship, and writing—to serve a broad public, while gaining hands-on experience in exhibition creation and design, blog writing, public program development, and the collecting of both museum and library materials.

The Predoctoral Awardees, whose work during the fellowship may not necessarily directly correspond with their dissertation research, will be in residence part-time at The New York Historical for one academic year, between September 9, 2026, and August 27, 2027, and will receive a stipend of $25,000 per year. This position is not full time and will not receive full benefits.

Qualifications

Applicants for the Mellon Foundation Predoctoral Awards must be currently enrolled students in good standing in a relevant Ph.D. program. Applicants should have a strong interest in the fields of women's and public history. 

Application Instructions

Application requirements:

• A two- to three-page statement that outlines the applicant’s scholarly goals and proposes a potential public history project focused around the field of women’s history

• A curriculum vitae

• An unofficial graduate school transcript

• A short writing sample of no more than 3,000 words or ten pages

• Three letters of recommendation

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

N-YHS is an equal employment opportunity employer. Employment decisions are based on merit and organizational needs, and not on race, color, alienage or citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion or creed, physical or mental disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, reproductive health choices, marital status, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, height, weight, or any other factor protected by law.

These policies apply to all areas of employment, including recruitment, hiring, training and development, promotion, discipline, termination, layoff, compensation, benefits and all other conditions and privileges of employment in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

Management is primarily responsible for seeing that N-YHS’s equal employment opportunity policies are implemented, but all members of the staff share in the responsibility for assuring that the policies are effective and apply uniformly to everyone.