Mellon-RESI Faculty Fellowship Overview

Due Monday, May 15, 2026, by 5PM Central Time

Thanks to the generous support of the Mellon Foundation, we are offering a new faculty fellowship for current assistant and associate professors at Texas A&M University. This will be our second cohort of Mellon-RESI Fellows. The fellows will receive office space in their semester of residency (either Spring 2027 or Fall 2027) and one month of summer salary (not to exceed $11,500 plus fringe). A fellow’s department will receive $7,500 in unrestricted funds from the Mellon grant, to be used at the discretion of the receiving department, as partial compensation for the loss of teaching (as the faculty member should have no teaching in the semester of their residency). The purpose of this internal fellowship is to provide release time to pursue a major research project. Fellows will retain the title of “Mellon-RESI Faculty Fellow” from the time of award until December 31, 2027. Up to 2 Fellows will be selected. Applicants are normally notified of award decisions within one month following the application deadline.

ELIGIBILITY: The fellowship is open to assistant and associate professors at Texas A&M University. Awardees may not have been on leave in the year prior to their residency semester or during the same academic year as their residency. Applicants should be working on a humanistic research topic related to the themes of the Mellon grant.

With the support of the Mellon Foundation, environmental humanities research at the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute (RESI) studies pollution, climate change, energy transitions, land degradation, water and food insecurity, migration, and resource exclusion affecting all Texans, and produces outcomes responsive to the needs of all communities. We support a community of scholars engaged in interdisciplinary research on the social impacts of environmental crises and policies, and in creative activities that center new perspectives, voices, and imaginaries needed to advance transformative conversations toward more just and equitable responses to everyday environmental issues.

Fields of inquiry eligible for Mellon support include:

• American Studies
• Ancient Civilizations
• Anthropology (cultural)
• Architecture (historical or theoretical focus)
• Area Studies (humanistic focus)
• Art History
• Classics
• Communication (theoretical & humanistic focus)
• Comparative Literature
• Comparative Religion
• Cultural Studies
• English
• Environmental Studies: The study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life.
• Ethics
• Ethnic Studies
• Film, Cinema and Media Studies (theoretical focus)
• Fine Arts
• Foreign Languages and Literatures, both modern and classical
• Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Geography (excluding physical geography and GIS)
• History
• History of Science/Science Studies
• Interdisciplinary Studies: Interdisciplinary areas of study may be eligible if they have one or more eligible fields at their core.
• Linguistics
• Literature
• Medieval Studies
• Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Music Theory
• Performance Studies (theoretical focus)
• Philosophy and Political Theory
• Religious Studies
• Rhetoric
• Sociology (qualitative)
• Theater (theoretical focus)
• Urban Studies

The Mellon-RESI Faculty Fellowships are designed to provide tenure-stream faculty members with release time to pursue a major research project. Projects might include but are not limited to book manuscripts, book chapters, major exhibitions, articles, and other high-impact research projects. Projects may be at any stage of development.

EXPECTATIONS AND BENEFITS: Funded faculty members will be considered “Mellon-RESI Faculty Fellows” for the entire 2026-2027 academic year and the first half of the next one (through December 31, 2027), but the residential portion is for one semester. Candidates should specify whether they are applying for the Spring 2027 or Fall 2027 residency and should consult with their Department Head before applying. This fellowship may only be held once.

Mellon-RESI Faculty Fellowships provide a one-course teaching release during the semester of residence (provided to the recipient’s department at the current rate of the College of Arts & Sciences), one month of summer salary (RESI’s share will not exceed $11,500 plus fringe), and an office in the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute for the residential period. For recipients with more than a one-course teaching load, departments must agree to release the recipient from other teaching obligations.

Fellowship holders are expected to participate in the intellectual life of RESI by being in residence at Texas A&M University during the release semester and occupying an office provided in RESI. Although the travel of fellows to conferences and workshops is encouraged, fellows should not undertake fieldwork or archival research during the residency period that takes them away from the university for more than 2 weeks. Also, faculty members may not have any major administrative or major service obligations during the residency semester.

Recipients of the award are required to participate in the RESI Colloquium Series and at grant-supported events the year in which they hold the fellowship and will be invited to present their own work in the future. Projects will be chosen based on their intellectual rigor, scholarly creativity, connection to grant themes, and potential to make a significant impact in the candidate’s career and field. Preference will be given to faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences.

MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR APPLICATION:

To be considered for this fellowship, you must submit the following:

• Completed application form.
• A current C.V. (uploaded with the application)
• Department Head must sign the application's signature page agreeing to release the Fellow from teaching during the designated residential semester in exchange for RESI’s course buyout policy. (uploaded with the application)