Applications for our next cohort are due on Monday, Feb 23, 2026 by 11:59 p.m. We will accept applications from students in the Class of 2028 who have been in communication with the faculty coordinator about their research projects and for whom faculty mentors have been secured.
Established in the 1988/89 academic year, the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is committed to broadening the range of scholarly perspectives in the US academy, with a focus on the humanities and the humanistic social sciences. Its name honors Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, the noted African American educator, statesman, minister, former president of Morehouse College, and mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
To date, the program has produced more than 1,200 PhDs, more than 800 of whom are currently college professors. Numerous others have taken their valuable humanities training into venues ranging from museums and nonprofit organizations to publishing houses and government positions. At any given time, about 800 MMUF fellows are enrolled in PhD programs, while the fellowship supports approximately 500 undergraduate students each year.
Carleton was one of eight MMUF founding institutions. We are deeply committed to supporting talented students who are interested in pursuing a PhD in the humanities, arts, or humanistic social sciences. Our current fellows are on track to pursue graduate study in disciplines such as Classics, English, History, Performance Studies, Philosophy, Religion, Sociology, and Anthropology.
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 and assistance with graduate school applications, and a host of other opportunities once enrolled in a qualifying Ph.D. program.