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Colleges With the Highest Numbers of National Humanities Center Fellows, 1978-79 to 2019-20

By Chronicle Staff June 2, 2019

The National Humanities Center has awarded 1,566 fellowships since 1978-79 to academics and independent scholars studying research topics in the humanities. The greatest number of fellowships over those years went to scholars at two research institutions near the center, in North Carolina. The organization offers financial support, private studies, and library materials for fellows, generally for an academic year. Two foreign universities were among the 55 institutions that had at least seven fellows named since 1978-79. The institutions that produced the most fellows awarded up to an estimated 22 percent of their bachelor’s and master’s degrees and research doctorates in the humanities in 2016-17. See a listing of the 37 fellows named for 2019-20 and their projects in Transitions.

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The National Humanities Center has awarded 1,566 fellowships since 1978-79 to academics and independent scholars studying research topics in the humanities. The greatest number of fellowships over those years went to scholars at two research institutions near the center, in North Carolina. The organization offers financial support, private studies, and library materials for fellows, generally for an academic year. Two foreign universities were among the 55 institutions that had at least seven fellows named since 1978-79. The institutions that produced the most fellows awarded up to an estimated 22 percent of their bachelor’s and master’s degrees and research doctorates in the humanities in 2016-17. See a listing of the 37 fellows named for 2019-20 and their projects in Transitions.

RankInstitutionAwards since 1978-79Most-recent fellowsMost-recent award year Estimated number of bachelor’s and master’s degrees and research doctorates awarded in the humanities, 2016-17 Humanities’ share of all bachelor’s and master’s degrees and research doctorates awarded
1. Duke U. 113 Mohsen Kadivar, religion 2019-20 285 5.4%
2. U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 106 Pamela Lothspeich, Asian studies; Chérie Ndaliko, African studies; Angela Stuesse, ethnic studies 2019-20 1,210 16.6%
3. Columbia U. 37 Giuseppe Gerbino, music history and musicology 2019-20 912 8.7%
4. North Carolina State U. 29 Katherine Mellen Charron, history; Marsha Gordon, film and media studies 2019-20 576 6.5%
5. U. of California at Berkeley 28 Marianne Constable, rhetoric 2019-20 1,307 11.5%
5. U. of Chicago 28 Maud Ellmann, English language and literature 2017-18 507 11.0%
7. Harvard U. 27 Richard K. Wolf, ethnomusicology 2018-19 586 8.3%
7. Northwestern U. 27 Harris Feinsod, comparative literature 2019-20 421 5.9%
9. Princeton U. 26 Tera Hunter, history; Sara Poor, medieval studies 2017-18 440 19.4%
10. U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor 24 Christian de Pee, history; Martha S. Jones, history 2013-14 1,037 8.4%
11. Indiana U. at Bloomington 23 Edith Sarra, East Asian languages and literatures; Jakobi Williams, African American and African diaspora studies and history 2016-17 702 6.6%
11. Yale U. 23 Tamara Sears, art history 2016-17 656 16.7%
13. Cornell U. 19 Sandra E. Greene, history 2014-15 399 5.8%
13. U. of Texas at Austin 19 Gretchen Murphy, English language and literature 2018-19 1,285 9.2%
15. U. of Maryland at College Park 16 Michele Lamprakos, history of art and architecture 2019-20 899 8.4%
16. U. of Virginia 15 Michael James Puri, musicology 2013-14 605 9.8%
17. Brown U. 14 Cynthia J. Brokaw, history 2012-13 363 15.1%
17. Emory U. 14 Sharon Strocchia, history 2015-16 307 8.3%
17. New York U. 14 Martha Rust, English language and literature 2019-20 854 5.7%
17. U. of Notre Dame 14 Thérèse Cory, philosophy 2017-18 229 6.6%
17. U. of Pennsylvania 14 Nancy J. Hirschmann, philosophy 2017-18 645 8.8%
22. Stony Brook U. 13 April Masten, history 2015-16 336 5.0%
22. U. of North Carolina at Greensboro 13 Jill C. Bender, history 2019-20 408 10.0%
24. College of William & Mary 12 Simon Middleton, history 2019-20 262 11.3%
24. Johns Hopkins U. 12 Hollis Robbins, African-American studies 2017-18 406 5.3%
24. Washington U. in St. Louis 12 Elizabeth Sara Schechter, philosophy 2014-15 239 6.0%
27. Ohio State U. 11 Andreá Williams, English language and literature 2017-18 1,316 9.1%
27. U. of Iowa 11 Claire Sponsler, English 2013-14 770 11.8%
29. U. of California at Los Angeles 10 Brenda Stevenson, history 2015-16 1,777 14.1%
29. U. of Florida 10 Luise S. White, history 2016-17 395 3.0%
29. U. of Kansas 10 Ann Wierda Rowland, English language and literature 2019-20 598 9.9%
32. Hebrew U. of Jerusalem 9 Esther Cohen, history 2003-4 — —
32. Pennsylvania State U. at University Park 9 Shuang Shen, East Asian languages and literature; Christina Snyder, history 2019-20 687 5.2%
32. Rutgers U. at New Brunswick 9 Lynn Festa, English; Jane Ashton Sharp, art history; Holly M. Smith, philosophy 2013-14 1,041 8.7%
32. U. at Buffalo 9 Elizabeth Otto, art history 2017-18 716 9.6%
32. U. of Cambridge 9 Stefan Collini, English 2012-13 — —
32. U. of Rochester 9 Deborah J. Lyons, classics 1997-98 231 6.9%
38. Boston U. 8 Russell A. Powell, philosophy 2013-14 691 7.4%
38. Davidson College 8 Meghan E. Griffith, philosophy 2007-8 100 22.0%
38. Purdue U. at West Lafayette 8 Patricia Kenig Curd, philosophy 2009-10 681 6.8%
38. Rice U. 8 Martin J. Wiener, history 2011-12 141 6.8%
38. U. of Arizona 8 Connie Sue Rosati, philosophy 2006-7 948 10.3%
38. U. of Minnesota-Twin Cities 8 Bernard M. Levinson, Judaic studies 2010-11 786 6.6%
38. U. of Southern California 8 Kate Flint, history of art 2015-16 1,005 7.2%
38. U. of Wisconsin at Madison 8 Victor Goldgel-Carballo, Latin American studies 2019-20 1,009 10.1%
46. Arizona State U. 7 Agnes Kefeli, history 2019-20 962 7.5%
46. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 7 Caroline A. Jones, art history 2017-18 37 1.0%
46. Michigan State U. 7 Daina R. Berry, history 2008-9 996 8.2%
46. Stanford U. 7 Joshua Landy, French 2011-12 438 9.1%
46. U. of California at Davis 7 Catherine Marie Chin, religion 2007-8 1,004 10.6%
46. U. of California at Irvine 7 Alka Patel, history of art and architecture 2018-19 543 6.0%
46. U. of California at San Diego 7 Jann C. Pasler, musicology 2006-7 593 6.4%
46. U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 7 Ted Underwood, English language and literature 2018-19 839 6.8%
46. U. of Massachusetts at Amherst 7 Sonja Drimmer, history of art and architecture; Melissa Mueller, classics 2019-20 700 9.0%
46. U. of Richmond 7 Peter G. Lurie, English 2009-10 62 6.4%

Note: For fellowship rankings, separate campuses of university systems were counted separately. The institutions with which the fellows were affiliated at the time their fellowships were awarded were counted as their institutions. Estimates for the number of bachelor’s, master’s, and research-doctorate degrees awarded in the humanities in 2016-17 were determined by matching as closely as possible the degree-completion data reported in the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System with the categories used by Humanities Indicators, a project of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, to define the scope of the humanities. Generally those degrees include American studies and area studies; archaeology; communication and media studies; English language and literature; ethnic, gender, and cultural studies; foreign languages and literatures; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; religion; and some arts and interdisciplinary studies. General degrees in humanities/humanistic studies were also counted as humanities degrees in this analysis. Only first majors were counted. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

Source: Chronicle analysis of fellowship data from the National Humanities Center and degree-completion data from the U.S. Department of Education

A version of this article appeared in the June 7, 2019, issue.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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