The Center for Africana Studies is proud to support scholars whose expertise and research focus on the study of Africans and African-descended people in the Diaspora. On this page, you will find periodically updated information with internal and external calls for applications.
Internal Funding (2025-26)
Center for Africana Studies (CAS) Call for 2025-26 Graduate Student Fellowships
Deadline: October 31, 2025
The Center for Africana Studies (CAS) in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) at UC Merced invites applications for Graduate Student Fellowships for the 2025-26 academic year. The mission of CAS is to serve as an interdisciplinary research and creative hub that advances innovative and interdisciplinary research on Africa and the Diaspora, centering the historical and contemporary experiences of Africans and African-descended people around the world. This award is open to UC Merced graduate students conducting research and/or creative work on topics that align with the mission of CAS. CAS fellows will receive a research stipend of $3,000 (pending funding approval) for the 2025-26 academic year. This stipend will be distributed in two $1,500 installments during the academic year (one disbursement in Fall of 2025 and one disbursement in Spring of 2026).
Eligibility: This award is open to UC Merced graduate students engaging in research and/or creative work related to the mission of CAS, with preference given to doctoral students in SSHA. If you previously received funding from CAS, please provide an explanation of how this fellowship will build on that research.
Application Procedure and Requirements:
Applicants must email items 1-3 below in a single .pdf attachment by the deadline to cas-ucmerced@ucmerced.edu. Make “CAS Grad Student Fellowship Application” the email subject line when submitting application materials. Item #4 must be received from the applicant’s advisor. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
1. Cover Letter (double-spaced, 12-point font, one page limit). Please indicate the following: (A) which degree program you are currently enrolled in and where you are in your program requirements (e.g. first year, second year, etc.), (B) whether you have advanced to candidacy, (C) whether you are currently receiving any grants or fellowships from your grad program or any other unit in SSHA (such as the Center for Humanities), including the specific source and amount of current funding, (D) whether you previously received funding from CAS during the last academic year (2024-25), (E) how this fellowship would make a significant difference for your research or creative work during the time of the award period (i.e. the 2025-26 academic year).
2. Proposal (double-spaced, 12-point font, 2-page limit, or 3-page limit if you are adding artistic images to support your proposal). This CAS Graduate Student Fellowship is meant to support the development of your research or creative work. Provide details regarding your research or creative project and explain what you hope to accomplish over the 2025-26 academic year that will aid you in ultimately completing your doctoral dissertation. Please explain clearly and specifically how this funding will support the development of your research this academic year (e.g. conference attendance/presentation/travel, research-related travel, data collection, research-related supplies/software, etc.), but please do not include an itemized budget.
3. One-page CV. Please include the graduate program in which you are enrolled, your primary advisor, and the semester that you advanced to candidacy or when you are expected to advance.
4. One letter of recommendation from the applicant’s advisor, must be emailed to cas-ucmerced@ucmerced.edu by the application deadline.
Expectations of CAS Fellowship Recipients:
1. Actively engage with the CAS community by attending a minimum of two CAS-sponsored events during the 2025-26 academic year.
2. Choose between one of the following two options: (A) Present research/creative work during a symposium hosted by CAS during the 2025-26 academic year (on a date to be determined), or (B) By the end of Spring 2026 (May 15, 2026), email a one-page report, to cas-ucmerced@ucmerced.edu explaining the short and long-term significance of this opportunity on advancing the recipient’s research agenda.
3. Acknowledge the Center for Africana Studies (CAS) on any published materials for projects funded by CAS. Please use this language for credit: “This project was supported, in part, by a grant from the Center for Africana Studies at the University of California, Merced.”
Questions? Please email cas-ucmerced@ucmerced.edu
External Funding (2025-26)
African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS): C.L.R. James Research Fellowship
Application Deadline: November 1, 2025
The African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS) is pleased to announce the 2026 C.L.R. James Research Fellowship to support research towards the completion of a dissertation or publication of a book. Named after Afro-Trinidadian theorist C.L.R. James, the research fellowships are intended to promote research in Black intellectual history by graduate students, independent scholars, and faculty members at any rank.
Please Click Here for application details.
