(MIDDLETOWN, CONN.) – Wesleyan University has been awarded a $1.5 million matching grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to endow a postdoctoral fellowship program. The grant is contingent upon Wesleyan raising $1.5 million for the same purpose within three years.
The Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is housed at Wesleyan's Center for the Americas, which brings together faculty in American Studies and Latin American Studies in a comparative, hemispheric approach to the study of the Americas. Since 1998, the Mellon Foundation has supported postdoctoral fellows at the Center with two grants. This new grant will enable Wesleyan to create an endowment to make the program a permanent part of the University's undergraduate curriculum. Faculty in the Center for the Americas will search for its next cohort of Mellon Fellows in fields such as Native American Studies.
Mellon Fellows at the Center for the Americas are appointed in cohorts of two; the initial appointment is for one year, renewable for a second. Mellon Fellows teach one course per semester (half the normal university teaching load) and have the opportunity to teach courses that are diverse both in content and in format. During the first year, each Fellow teaches a small, research-related seminar and a larger lecture course that offers students a broader understanding of the field. In the second year, each Fellow offers a course in his/her area of expertise; together they will design and team-teach a course with a comparative perspective. Key features of the program – research support, classroom experience, professional guidance and mentoring by Wesleyan faculty – have enabled the Mellon Fellows to flourish as scholars and teachers. Former Wesleyan Mellon Fellows have gone on to faculty appointments at other distinguished colleges and universities.
Established in 1831, Wesleyan University is a coeducational, private university of the liberal arts and sciences. It serves approximately 2,700 undergraduates and 150 graduate students and offers a challenging academic environment promoting independent thought and action.
For more information, please contact Laura Perillo at 860-685-3813 or lperillo@wesleyan.edu
