Application Deadline
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 1988/1989 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.
Fellows are expected to engage in independent research (with the support of the MMUF community at Carleton, which includes the coordinators, mentors, and other fellows and faculty) and to participate in a set of core activities that will help them develop into strong candidates for admission to PhD programs. Fellows are also connected to a national network of current and former MMUF participants, as well as the Mellon Foundation, which provides ongoing opportunities and funding through and beyond graduate school.
Students interested in applying to be a Mellon Fellow should identify a research topic in their field of study to work on over the course of two years. Each applicant should reflect on courses taken that are related to the proposed area of exploration and research, and should consult with the MMUF coordinators and a potential faculty mentor as the application is being developed. We expect that all research proposals will be grounded in scholarship and will clearly articulate an area of inquiry to which the applicant can make an intellectual contribution.