Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funds the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) Program.

Program Overview

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) is a two-year program for juniors and seniors designed to increase diversity in the faculty ranks of higher education institutions.

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and established in 2000 at Smith College, MMUF Fellows come from communities historically underrepresented in higher education. They are selected based on academic promise and a stated interest in pursuing doctoral studies and a teaching career in higher education in a Mellon-designated field of study.

MMUF fellows receive two years of generous financial support, including an academic year stipend (junior and senior years), a summer stipend, a scholar development grant to support their research, and graduate school preparation funding. Further details are included in the fellowship agreement. The Fellowship is not intended to support students who plan to attend law, medical, or other professional schools.

To be eligible for selection as an MMUF Fellow, students must be majoring, or planning to major, in one or more of these Mellon-designated humanities and social science fields:

  • Anthropology and archaeology
  • Area, cultural, ethnic, and gender studies
  • Art history
  • Classics
  • English
  • Film studies
  • Foreign languages and literatures
  • Geography and population studies
  • History
  • Linguistics
  • Literature
  • Musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory
  • Performance studies (theoretical focus)
  • Philosophy and political theory
  • Religion and theology
  • Sociology
  • Theater (theoretical focus)

For Students

All Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows must work with a Smith College faculty mentor. Identifying your faculty mentor as part of your application process, especially someone who knows your academic work, can strengthen your application to the MMUF program. Visiting and adjunct faculty, while they can form part of your advising network, cannot serve as your designated MMUF faculty mentor. If you are selected for the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, you must have a designated faculty mentor in place by the end of the spring semester of your sophomore year.

For Faculty

Faculty mentors are essential to the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program and form the core of the MMUF experience. Faculty mentors support undergraduate fellows through two years of a close research relationship. They play a principal role in mentoring and advising fellows as they develop their research plans and prepare for graduate studies leading to a PhD. During the junior and senior years, fellows also participate in seminars and academic research conferences that support their projects. Additionally, they engage in workshops that address the nuts and bolts of pursuing a doctoral degree and explore aspects of a life in academia. Faculty mentors guide fellows to identify and select opportunities to best support their goals.

Selection Process

MMUF Fellows are selected in the early spring semester of their sophomore year. The Smith College MMUF program has established the following criteria to guide the selection process:

  • An original research question and well-thought-out preliminary research idea (expressed in Essay #1);
  • Strong letters of recommendation (2) that address the applicant’s academic promise and their capacity to pursue research in their stated area of interest;
  • Interest in pursuing doctoral studies in a Mellon-designated field of study and an academic career. (STEM fields are not eligible for Mellon support);
  • A 30-minute interview with the Advisory Board;
  • A demonstrated commitment to the MMUF goals of increasing opportunities for underrepresented communities, breaking down stereotypes, increasing cross-racial/ cross-ethnic understanding, and enabling greater knowledge and understanding among persons of different races and ethnicities (expressed in Essay #2);
  • An expressed interest in and commitment to participate fully in all aspects of the MMUF program, including attendance at conferences, meetings, workshops, and seminars.
  • Eligibility to participate in the MMUF program, defined as: 1.) students who hold U.S. citizenship status; or 2.) have permanent U.S. resident status; or 3.) view additional criteria established by the Mellon Foundation.

Can I study abroad while I am a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow?
Yes!

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows study abroad in the Spring semester of their Junior year.

Working with their academic advisor, MMUF faculty mentor, and the MMUF faculty coordinator, students applying to the MMUF can identify study abroad programs that offer a spring semester option. The MMUF scholar development grant can cover research-related expenses incurred while studying abroad. For example, the research stipend can cover costs related to attending academic or scholarly conferences abroad, traveling to archives and libraries relevant to their MMUF research, and/or visiting cultural venues (museums, cultural events) related to their MMUF research.

Important MMUF & Study Abroad Application Dates

  • All MMUF application materials are due February 10, 2025, by 4 p.m.
  • Applications to the Smith Florence, Geneva & Hamburg programs (full-year, fall only, or spring only) are due on the first Monday in February—February 3, 2025. The Smith Paris program does NOT offer a spring-only option.
  • The Smith Study Abroad Credit Application for study abroad on the Smith consortium and Smith-approved study abroad programs during the following academic year (fall, spring, or full-year) is due on the third Monday in February—February 17, 2025.

What kinds of financial support do MMUF fellows receive?
MMUF fellows receive a range of financial support, including academic year and summer stipends, a scholar development grant to support research, funds to cover fees for graduate school preparation (GRE preparation and exams), and additional funding for those who enroll in a graduate program within three years of graduation.

What summer research opportunities are available to MMUF fellows?
The MMUF program includes two summers of dedicated research and writing opportunities.

Summer 1: In the summer after sophomore year, the new MMUF cohort of rising juniors participates in a 4-week, on-site summer research program (June), during which they will research, draft, and finalize a project prospectus and preliminary bibliography.

Summer 2: In the summer after the junior year, rising senior MMUF fellows have various options for engaging in project-related research. Some examples of summer research work: participating in Summer Writing and Research Training Programs (UCLA, University of Chicago, University of New Mexico), the Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT) in New York and Massachusetts, and/or independent research with faculty-scholars working in your area of research.

What is the time commitment to MMUF?
The time commitment varies as your research projects progress. Typically, MMUF fellows should anticipate dedicating 8–10 hours/week to MMUF in the following ways: attending the IDP 192 or 193 Seminar (fall semester), participating in scheduled weekly workshops, and working on their independent projects. All MMUF fellows are expected to have regular mentoring meetings with their MMUF faculty mentor. It is expected that fellows make progress on their research between these scheduled meetings. Fellows present their research twice in the fall semester: at Smith and the MMUF Northeast Regional Conference (NERC) (previous locations: Yale University, Williams College, Brown University). In the spring, fellows typically share research at the annual Celebrating Collaborations event at Smith, and senior fellows present their projects at a final MMUF panel at Smith. Summer months are dedicated to research or other professional development (attending conferences, workshops, etc.) related to each fellow’s academic goals.

Does the MMUF require that I complete an independent project in addition to my honors thesis?
Not necessarily. We recognize that each MMUF fellow at Smith will be pursuing independent work through their honors thesis or other advanced independent work. We expect that the fellowship will allow you to dedicate even more of your time and energy to developing these projects so that they can best reflect your scholarly goals. However, some MMUF fellows choose to pursue a separate independent project that allows them to work outside their chosen thesis topic or discipline.

Applying

Application & Selection Process

The MMUF Advisory Board, composed of Smith faculty, deans, and administrators, reviews all applications. The Advisory Board then invites all eligible applicants to a 30-minute interview as part of the application process.

The MMUF application and all supporting documents are due by Monday, February 10, 2025, at 4 p.m. (this is a firm deadline).

Please email any questions to the MMUF Faculty Coordinator, Professor Michelle Joffroy, and/or the MMUF Program Director, Dean L’Tanya Richmond.

A complete application will include:

  • A completed MMUF application form;
  • Two essays:
    • Essay #1: A Research Statement on a research area of interest, guiding research questions, and methods. (500–750 words)
    • Essay #2: An Academic Goals Statement on intellectual and academic interests and how these align with the goals of MMUF. (400–500 words) See application for more information.
  • An unofficial academic transcript;
  • Two (2) letters of recommendation from Smith faculty with whom the applicant has taken a class or done other academic work (independent study, research assistance, etc.) and who might serve as a faculty mentor;
  • A completed Faculty Mentor Consultation form.

Forms

Application Form Faculty Mentor Consultation Form Faculty Recommendation Form