The Columbia Global Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program provides opportunities for early-career scholars — who hold refugee status or have been forcibly displaced — to enhance their research capabilities, broaden professional networks, and support their reintegration into academia in the humanities and/or humanistic social sciences. Following a successful 4-year pilot program in Amman from 2020 to 2023, the Mellon Foundation expanded the program to our Global Centers in Amman, Nairobi and Santiago in 2024, with a generous grant for 10 fellowships annually for the next three years.
Scholars selected will receive the following:
- Hosting and work space at one of the Columbia Global Centers (Amman, Nairobi or Santiago).
- A stipend.
- Dedicated mentorship from esteemed Columbia faculty.
- A small research/travel fund to support their scholarly endeavors.
- Training that meets their academic needs in areas such as academic writing.
- Access to a broad selection of online courses.
- Full integration into the vibrant life of one of the Columbia Global Centers.
- Inclusion in an alumni network.
Learn about past Mellon Fellows below.
Unique Value of the Fellowship
This fellowship distinguishes itself by enabling scholars to stay within their host regions, fostering continuity and strengthening local academic, professional, and personal networks. While remaining in their host regions, scholars are supported by Columbia University through its Global Centers.
Who is eligible?
Eligible candidates are scholars in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who have been forcibly uprooted from their home countries and respective academic institutions. They could be graduate students who have had their education disrupted or post-doctoral scholars in the early stages of their careers. Creative writers, artists and curators may also apply.
Requirements
- Must be displaced
- Must have a Ph.D. in the humanities (with rare exceptions, candidates with an M.A. who were on track to get a Ph.D. may be considered)
- Must be based in the country of the Global Center to which they wish to apply (with the exception of applicants to the Amman Center)
- Must demonstrate at least an intermediate level of English language proficiency
- Researchers working on interdisciplinary research projects are welcome to apply
Candidates will apply to one of the three eligible Centers. In the case of Santiago and Nairobi, candidates must already be living in the country at the time of application. In the case of Amman, they may be living in Jordan or a neighboring country.
Fellows are expected to participate in scholarly presentations, workshops and roundtable discussions. Through the Global Center, they will be connected to a global network of academics and scholars from Columbia University and beyond.
Our Ongoing Commitment to Displacement Issues
The Columbia Global Emerging Scholars Fellowship Program represents one component of Columbia Global’s and the University’s efforts to support those who are displaced and seeking to further their academic journey. Columbia Global also offers the Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students. For faculty working on displacement issues, Columbia Global offers the Committee on Forced Migration.
Meet our 2023 Fellows at the Amman Global Center
(Russia)
Stepan's research interests are focused on the intersection of society, politics, and art. His research project through the Mellon Fellowship is dedicated to the role of visual culture in the construction of social attitudes toward sexuality in Russia of the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
(Yemen)
Basheer's research project through the Mellon Fellowship focuses on the socio-cultural dimensions of the interplay between language and the representation of power relations in texts. More specifically, he is examining the (re)presentation of Yemen in the global press and investigating how the humanitarian issues are addressed and how social gender and inequality are ideologically instructed in the Yemeni context.
(Turkey)
Tijen is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research focuses on contemporary aesthetics, political practices and relations in art activism and radical social praxis. Tijen is the founder of the international conference series "Art and the City: Urban Space, Art and Social Change," which will next take place in Amman in June 2023.
(Syria)
Adnan’s current work focuses on documenting the looting and destruction of archaeological sites in northern Syria and the relationships of local communities in Syria with their cultural heritage before and during the war. His research project through the Mellon Fellowship examines the direct impact of displacement on archaeological sites in northwest Syria.
(Yemen)
Mansour’s research through the Mellon Fellowship examines the social progress, cultural regeneration, and the re-making of human dignity in Arab Gulf societies via their contemporary literature. His research covers contemporary transitions in a comprehensive critical analysis of the novels The Bamboo Stalk and The Jasmine's Shadow.
(Syria)
Wadeea's research project through the Mellon Fellowship is focused on interpreting the late Bronze Age urban structure of Tall Munbāqa on the left bank of the Euphrates in Northern Syria and examining the dynamic relations between the social and urban structures of the town implementing an archaeological and epigraphical interdisciplinary approach.
(Turkey)
Özgür is a political sociologist. His research project through the Mellon Fellowship focuses on the relationships between authoritarian regimes, troll politics, and fascistization, studying political activism (e.g. trolls) in digital platforms, such as Twitter. The research aims to understand and explain how authoritarian regimes have reproduced themselves by leaning on the digital world.