New York Public Library (NYPL) Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Fellowship

The New York Public Library is pleased to offer the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Fellowship to support advanced research on The New York Public Library’s holdings of materials from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, South Asia, Central Asia, and their diasporas in the United States.Projects requiring access to original materials including manuscripts, archives, books, photographs, prints, maps, newspapers, and journals will be given preference, but all worthy projects will be considered. Applicants studying the humanities as well as those working in the visual, auditory/performing, and literary arts are welcome to apply.

Eligibility

• Fellowships are open to Ph.D. candidates, post-doctoral scholars, and independent researchers with projects that would significantly benefit from research drawing on collections accessible at The New York Public Library.
• United States citizens, permanent residents, and international applicants with the legal right to work in the U.S. are welcome to apply.

Award

Established with the generous support of Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, the Fellowship Program will support one fellow annually for three months with a stipend of $25,000. Each fellow will have full access to the Library’s collections and staff, as well as a dedicated place to work in the Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities.

Collections

The New York Public Library offers extensive interdisciplinary collections on and from the Middle East, ranging from the Ancient Near East to the most recent current events across multiple countries and diverse cultures. During the early twentieth-century, the Library was one of a handful of research institutions collecting in these areas, making it one of the outstanding centers for the study of Arab, Persian, South Asian, Turkish, Armenian, and early Semitic history and culture. The Library continues to collect contemporary materials, from recently published works to artists’ books by artists in the Middle East and the diasporas. These collections are held in the Library’s Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division; the Wallach Division of Art, Print, and Photographs; the Spencer Collection; the General Research Division; the Music Division; the Billy Rose Theatre Division; the Jerome Robbins Dance Division; and the  Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.