The Center for Arts and Humanities aims to foster innovative initiatives that strengthen the environment for humanistic inquiry and the arts at the University and in the region. An intellectual base for interdisciplinary scholarly and creative production, innovative curricular development and teaching, and public events, the Center will host postdoctoral fellows and internal faculty fellows as well as writers and artists in residence, high-profile public arts events, regional collaboration with scholars and universities, and other focused workshops and exchanges. The Center will highlight the relevance and importance of the arts and humanities across the University and to the broader local, regional, and international community. In addition to providing support for the arts and humanities the Center will serve as an alternative, Middle Eastern site for the study and production of humanistic knowledge.

An overview of the Center’s program and activities can be found on the Center’s website. The Center is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and builds upon AUB’s successful Arts and Humanities Initiative.

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships
Post-doctoral fellowships are designed to support new PhDs as they transition into the professoriate and establish their own paths as educators and researchers. The dynamic integration of the fellowships with the Center’s programmatic activities will sustain a transformational and independent forum for collaborative and interdisciplinary curricular experimentation, research, intellectual dialogue, and production.

Responsibilities
During the academic year, each fellow will pursue his or her pre-defined research agendas as well as design and teach one course each semester which experiments with innovative approaches in course delivery or explores new lines of inquiry.

Fellows will be active as organizers and participants in the Center’s regular programmatic activities which give equal emphasis to research, teaching, and curricular renewal (including structured discussions, “crash courses”, workshops, annual conference, etc.).

Appointees will be based in the Center for the Arts and Humanities, which will provide office space, and also be affiliated with a relevant academic department. Fellows will be expected to remain in residence for the duration of the academic year on campus in order to participate fully in the Center’s programmatic activities and teach two courses during the academic year. Each fellow will submit a written report on their fellowship and feedback on the effectiveness of the program at the conclusion of the academic year.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applicants’ research and teaching interests must involve one or more of the following disciplines: Anthropology, Arabic Language, Arabic Literature, Archaeology, Art History; English Language, Fine Arts (visual arts, theatre, and music), History, Islamic Studies, Literature, Philosophy, Sociology, and other closely related disciplines.
• Applicants must have received their doctoral degrees within five years prior to the appointment start date.
• Individuals who have held other postdoctoral fellowships are not barred from applying.