John Higham Research Fellowship

The deadline has passed. Information on the 2024 fellowships will be available summer 2023.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Graduate Students: Apply now for a 2023 John Higham Research Fellowship.

The Organization of American Historians (OAH) invites applications for its annual John Higham Research Fellowship. The Higham Fellowship offers two annual awards ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 each to successful applicants, the amounts to be determined by the John Higham Research Fellowship Committee.

This fellowship is open to all graduate students writing doctoral dissertations for a PhD in American history. Applicants pursuing research in those fields most congenial to the research and writing interests of John Higham will receive special consideration. These topics include U.S. social and intellectual history broadly considered, with preference given to research projects on American immigration and ethnic history as well as American historiography, and the cultural history of the nineteenth-century U.S.

Recipients will be notified after February 1, 2023. Fellowships will be announced at the 2023 OAH Conference on American History in Los Angeles, CA, March 30–April 2. By applying for this fellowship, you are agreeing to OAH’s use of your data however it is needed in the normal course of business if selected as winner or honorable mention. Read our privacy policy here.

The fellowships are given in memory of John Higham (1920-2003), past president of the OAH and an important figure in immigration, ethnic, and intellectual history. Thanks to the generosity of William L. and Carol B. Joyce in providing a leadership gift to initiate this fellowship, the OAH is pleased to offer this award while at the same time it pursues additional fund-raising efforts to further expand the program.

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Applications are due by midnight (PST) on November 1, 2022. Applications should include the following components:

1. Project proposal of no more than 1,000 words describing the applicant's research project and detailing how the funds will be used.

2. An updated curriculum vitae with a list of the names and addresses of references.

3. Two signed letters of recommendation on official letterhead submitted independently by referees. Letters in the form of a signed PDF should be e-mailed to the chair of the John Higham Research Fellowship Committee at the address listed below. We ask that recommenders use the subject line "Recommendation for [APPLICANT'S NAME]."

Complete all application components (including project proposal, names and addresses of recommenders, and curriculum vitae), in a recent version of Microsoft Word or PDF (preferable), and e-mail the entire electronic file to the committee chair at the address listed below. This application package and two supporting letters of recommendation must be received by midnight (PST) on November 1, 2022. We regret that we cannot consider late or incomplete applications. Applicants are advised to request recommendation letters well in advance and to direct referees to the OAH website: https://www.oah.org/awards/uncategorized-awards/john-higham-fellowship/

Fellowship recipients are expected to submit a project report to the OAH office within one year of receiving the fellowship.