The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program is a key component of the Mellon Foundation’s initiatives to bolster the faculty ranks of institutions of higher learning and more fully incorporate contributions that have been historically marginalized in humanistic scholarship. Carleton was one of eight MMUF founding institutions in 1988. We are deeply committed to supporting talented students who are interested in pursuing a Ph.D. and becoming a professor in the humanities, arts, or humanistic social sciences and who will contribute to building a more diverse academy which portrays a more complete and accurate representation of the human experience.

The grant provides fellows with the following forms of support:

  • Intensive faculty mentoring on a research project designed by the student;
  • Peer mentoring and intellectual community, both internal to Carleton and throughout the larger MMUF community;
  • Funding to engage in a sustained research project during the summer, winter, and spring breaks;
  • Support for research-related travel and materials;
  • Intensive guidance with developing presentations for conferences, articles for publication, and other professional development activities;
  • Exposure to humanities disciplines through both on-campus and off-campus events;
  • Participation in discipline-specific events, such as professional conferences;
  • Assistance with graduate school preparation;
  • Repayment of undergraduate loans of up to $10,000 if they pursue doctoral study in a Mellon-designated field.
  • Support and extended intellectual community beyond undergraduate participation through gap-year programming, assistance with graduate school applications, and a host of opportunities once enrolled in a qualifying Ph.D. program.