*To no one’s surprise, the list is currently pretty scarce, despite the fact that I included one grant for Canadian students to round out the resources. However, if there are any funding sources that I missed, please let me know and I will add to the list!*
My relationship with funding throughout my academic career is not entirely straightforward.
In undergrad, I was awarded scholarships to dig in Greece at the Athenian Agora for two consecutive summers.
However, it wasn’t until I got accepted to grad school that I started looking elsewhere for funding opportunities. But little did I know that that was just the beginning of my search.
Grad school is hard enough for anyone who’s looking for funding for anything. However, it is particularly difficult for students of color. We constantly compete with those who are traditionally favored in Classical Studies and archaeology.
In undergrad, I had no idea that grants for BIPOC students existed. In fact, many of these funding opportunities did not exist in 2016.
I received a Frank M. Snowden Undergraduate Scholarship that year and used it to improve my Latin for grad school. I recently applied for the new William Sanders Scarborough Fellowship, but have not yet received my results.
In sum, these are rare and precious opportunities that have emerged for students of color in Classical Studies. As such, I collected them in a place where students of color can access them easily.
In my experience these sorts of grants were not (and still aren’t) widely advertised by individual departments. Go figure.
Updated: Nov. 17, 2021.
Microgrants:
The Sportula: Microgrants for Classics Students. A group of Classics Graduate Students and Junior Faculty committed to supporting students from working-class and historically looted communities who tend to fall through the cracks left by traditional scholarship programs. Deadline: Rolling.
Black Trowel Collective Microgrants. A collective of archaeologists committed to the active support of archaeology students from working-class and historically looted communities who are both regularly excluded by traditional scholarship and academic programs, or who require more economic support than those resources cover. Deadline: Rolling.
Anna Marguerite McCann Diversity Student Travel Grants. Diversity Student Travel Grants intend to assist undergraduate or graduate students who qualify under the category of “underrepresented minority” with their travel expenses to attend the AIA Annual Meeting. Deadline: Mid-September.
Rudolph Masciantonio CAMWS Diversity Award. Awardees will be those whom the profession or life circumstances or societal structures have limited in their access to the study of our field. Awarded each year to one undergraduate and one graduate student. Deadline: January 31, 2022.
Scholarships:
Frank M. Snowden Jr. Undergraduate Scholarships. The scholarship intends to support undergraduate students from historically underrepresented groups across North America. The purpose of the scholarships is to further students’ study of classics or classical archaeology with opportunities not available during the school year. Deadline: December 20, 2021
Historically Underrepresented Groups Scholarship. The Historically Underrepresented Groups Scholarship (HUGS) intends to increase recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities obtaining degrees in archaeology. Graduate and undergraduate students. Deadline: January 31, 2022.
William Sanders Scarborough Fellowship. This fellowship provides support for graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars in North America whose diverse experiences and backgrounds are underrepresented at the American School, and whose studies, research, or teaching would benefit from residency at the School. Deadline: January 15, 2022.
Native American Scholarships Fund (NASF). An endowment established to foster a sense of shared purpose and positive interaction between archaeologists and Native Americans. It supports the Arthur C. Parker Scholarship for Archaeological Training for Native Americans and the SAA Native American Undergraduate and Graduate Archaeology Scholarships. Undergraduate and graduate student funding. Deadline: January 31, 2022
The Helen Maria Chesnutt Scholarship for Equity in Classical Study. This scholarship is intended to support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups to further their study of the Classics and Ancient Mediterranean world and not excluding reception studies. Deadline: January 15, 2022
UCSB Bridge Fellowship. A fellowship to support talented scholars who come from groups historically underrepresented in Classics and who would benefit from an additional year of graduate study. The successful applicant will receive, along with regular admission to the PhD program, a seven-year funding package that includes an initial “bridge” fellowship year and six additional years of support from a combination of fellowships and TAships. Prospective fellows must be citizens or permanent residents of the United State at the time of application. Applicants who wish to be considered for this fellowship should submit a regular application to our PhD program and should indicate their interest in the bridge fellowship in their Statement of Purpose. Deadline: Jan. 1, 2022
Scholarships (Canada):
Mosaic Scholarship in Classics. This scholarship supports students from historically underrepresented groups in Canada in the discipline of Classics. Applicants must identify as an underrepresented group, be Canadian students (citizens or permanent residents) and currently enrolled in an undergraduate program in Classics or similar program at a Canadian University. Deadline: April 1, 2022.
Scholarships for LGBTQ individuals:
Point Scholarship. Point Foundation (Point) is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit. Point Foundation considers many factors when assessing scholarship applicants, including academic performance, leadership skills, financial need, personal goals and the applicant’s involvement in the LGBTQ community. Deadline: January 26, 2022.
Post-baccalaureate Fellowships:
The Elsie Phare Fellowship and the Masciantonio Fellowship. Each fellowship supports a student from an underrepresented minority group in the University of Pennsylvania Classical Studies post-baccalaureate program in providing tuition and fees for one academic year at a rate of two courses per semester, as well as $20,000 toward living expenses. Deadline: April 15, 2022.
Yale Post-Bac Research Education Programs. Supports students (US citizens or permanent residents) from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds who are highly motivated to pursue research careers and who intend to apply for PhD or MA and PhD programs following successful completion of the program. Deadline: February 28, 2022.
Princeton Pre-doctoral Fellowship. The Department of Classics at Princeton University invites applications for a one-year, fully funded pre-doctoral Fellowship that includes an offer of regular admission to the Classics doctoral program for the following year. Members of historically underrepresented groups and those who have made active contributions to enhancing access, diversity, and inclusion in the field of Classics are especially encouraged to apply. Deadline: November 15, 2021.
Columbia Post-baccalaureate Fellowship. Two fellowships, offered by the Department of Classics and the Classical Studies Graduate Program, are available for the post-baccalaureate certificate. The fellowships are available to any students from backgrounds underrepresented in our field. Deadline: March 1, 2022.
Pre- and Post-Doctoral Fellowships:
Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs. The Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. Pre- and post-doctoral.
Ford Foundation Predoctoral Application Deadline: December 9, 2021.
Ford Foundation Dissertation and Postdoctoral Application Deadline: December 16, 2021.
Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation and Post-MFA Fellowships. The fellowships are designed to promote diversity on college faculties by encouraging students from underrepresented groups to complete a terminal graduate degree and to pursue careers in college teaching. The Bolin Fellowships are two-year residencies at Williams, and two scholars or artists are appointed each year. Pre- and post-doctoral. Deadline: November 15, 2021.
Post-Doctoral Fellowships:
Ann Plato Fellowship. A one-year pre- or post-doctoral fellowship to promote diversity at our nationally recognized liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Consideration of applicants begins November 15, 2021 and continues until position is filled.
Brown University Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship. The program identifies promising Ph.D. graduates from underrepresented groups and/or those who have demonstrated support for underrepresented groups through their teaching and research to spend up to 2 years at Brown University. The program continues to be a priority for Brown in bringing diverse scholars to the university with the ultimate goal of changing the professoriate here and beyond. Application for 2021-2023 cohort now closed.
CU Boulder Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship for Diversity Program. The University seeks applicants whose creative work/research, teaching and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in higher education. The program is particularly interested in scholars with the potential to bring to their academic careers the critical perspective that comes from their non-traditional educational background or understanding of the experiences of groups historically underrepresented in higher education. Graduate students. Deadline: November 1, 2021.
Consortium for Faculty Diversity. The Consortium invites applications for dissertation fellowships and post-doctoral fellowships from those who will contribute to increasing the diversity of member colleges by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximizing the educational benefits of diversity and/or increasing the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of students. Appointments to the fellowships are made by the member institutions according to local needs and local program guidelines under the general framework for dissertation fellowships and post-doctoral fellowships described by the Consortium.
Dartmouth Two-year Academic Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowship. Applicants must be specialists in the literature, material culture, or history of ancient Greece or Rome. Promising candidates will be (1) scholars from one of the populations historically underrepresented in the American university system or (2) scholars whose experience, teaching, or research will enhance the diversity and cultural competency of the Dartmouth community.