The Fields of the Future program is on pause for the 2025–26 application cycle. Please check back here or sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on future cycles.
Bard Graduate Center (BGC) is pleased to continue its annual Fields of the Future Fellowship and mentorship program, which aims to help promote diversity and inclusion in the advanced study of the material world. These fellowships—for both scholars and artists—reflect our commitment to explore and expand the sources, techniques, voices, and questions of interdisciplinary humanities scholarship from different perspectives. At BGC, we study the past and present in their own terms in order to better understand where the future will have come from. We invite applicants to submit projects that they think map the fields of the future. In an effort to promote necessary diversity and inclusion in the fields of decorative arts, design history, and material culture, we particularly wish to encourage applicants from historically underrepresented groups and/or projects of related thematic focus. Please note that we prioritize applicants who have not yet held a BGC fellowship with us before.
Scholars should have university, museum, or independent backgrounds and possess a PhD or equivalent professional experience. Doctoral students of exceptional promise are also encouraged to apply. Artists should make clear how being a fellow at BGC would benefit their research practice. Artists at any career stage may apply, but applicants should not be enrolled in full-time undergraduate or graduate programs.
The fellowships are intended to fund collections-based research at Bard Graduate Center or elsewhere in New York City, as well as writing, reading, and creative projects for which being part of our dynamic research environment is intellectually valuable. Fellows will be paired with BGC faculty and research librarians to connect with human and material resources. Learn more about our
research collections here.
To Apply
Scholars: Fill out the
BGC Fields of the Future Fellowship application form*, and upload your supplementary materials directly into the form. All supplementary materials should be saved as a single PDF file, with the filename following this format: “Your Last Name_FotF Scholar_Application.” The single PDF file of supplementary materials should include: (1) a cover letter explaining why Bard Graduate Center is an appropriate research affiliation; (2) a 150-word abstract of the project; (3) a 1,000-word detailed project description; (4) your CV; (5) a publication or academic writing sample of approximately twenty to thirty pages; (6) the names and contact information for two references. Letters of recommendation are not required.
Artists: Fill out the
BGC Fields of the Future Fellowship application form*, and upload your supplementary materials directly into the form. All supplementary materials should be saved as a single PDF file, with the filename following this format: “Your Last Name_Fotf Artist_Application.” The single PDF file of supplementary materials should include: (1) an artist statement about your creative and intellectual interests explaining why Bard Graduate Center is a good fit for your practice; (2) a project description (1,000 words maximum); (3) a CV that includes your website; (4) a portfolio that includes up to five samples of work completed within the past five years. This can include images (embedded in the PDF) and links to video or audio (we suggest using a hosting platform like YouTube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, etc.). Each time-based work sample should be no longer than five minutes in length. For writers of any discipline please submit no more than 12,000 words total (approximately twenty-five pages), inclusive of up to five different samples or one continuous; (5) the names and contact information for two references. Letters of recommendation are not required.
*A Google account is required to submit your application through the linked form. If you do not have a Google account, please email fellowships@bgc.bard.edu to submit your application.
The Fields of the Future program is on pause for the 2025–26 application cycle. Please check back here or sign up for our newsletter to receive updates on future cycles.
Details
The stipend rate is $3,500 per month. Fellowships will be awarded for one semester (four months in the fall or spring). Fellows will be given a workspace in our Research Center at 38 West 86th Street in New York City and accommodation at Bard Hall, our residential facility located at 410 West 58th Street.
We do not reimburse fellows for travel, relocation, housing outside of what is provided at Bard Hall, or visa-related costs in connection with this fellowship award. Please note that the fellowship stipend and the value of the provided housing may be subject to taxes for both US citizens and non-US citizens in accordance with US tax code.
