Welcome to the WashU Center for the Humanities! Keep scrolling for the latest info on what’s going on in the center right now. And for more resources, follow these links for details on center fellowships, center grants, graduate student programming, undergraduate student offerings, events and news and feature stories on our blog. Or, sign up for our mailing list to stay on top of all our news!

Themed fellowships for undergraduates

Applications for the fall 2026 cohorts are being accepted now through Friday, August 21.

Applications are now being accepted for undergraduates interested in the Banned Books Undergraduate Research Fellowship, Tyson Environmental Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellowship and WashU Black Studies Undergraduate Research Fellowship! These fellowships offer a mentored, extracurricular opportunity for students to explore big humanistic questions. 

• Open to all undergraduate majors
• One-term commitment (with stipend!)
• Collaborate with a small, interdisciplinary cohort
• Develop independent research and writing projects
• Engage with community partners beyond campus
• Build skills in critical thinking, communication and public-facing scholarship

Click on the linked webpages above for application instructions.

Announcements

External Review for ACLS Proposals

Faculty who are planning to submit a proposal for the 2026 ACLS Fellowship competition are invited to participate in an external review process coordinated by the Center for the Humanities.

External review timeline
August 17: Abstract due to the Center (to help us identify suitable external reviewers). Upload at this Box link.
August 28: ACLS fellowship proposal draft due to center (reviewers will read narrative proposals, no more than 3 pages). Upload at this Box link.
September 13: Center shares reviewer comments
September 17, 4 pm CT: Application due to ACLS 

DETAILS

Sawyer Seminar: Black Studies and the Future of the American University

Convened by the WashU Department of African and African American Studies and the Center for the Humanities, this Sawyer Seminar explores how Black studies can sustain academic freedom and help reimagine democratic higher education. Through a yearlong series of conversations featuring leading scholars and public intellectuals, the seminar brings together faculty, students and community partners to examine how Black studies offers vital perspectives on power, inequality and democracy while shaping the future of higher education. Free, public monthly lectures (September 2026-May 2027) kick off with Angela Davis on Sept. 10. Davarian Baldwin follows on Sept. 17.

dates & details

Humanities graduate student fall workshop series

Offered in partnership with the Office of Graduate Studies and the Center for Career Engagement, the Center for the Humanities' fall workshop series equips humanities graduate students with practical skills for academic and professional success, covering topics such as writing academic cover letters, building effective mentoring relationships, securing funding and long-range career planning. Join us at noon on Sept. 24, Oct. 20, Nov. 19 and Dec. 3 — lunch provided!

DATES & DETAILS

The Engaged City Community Fellowship

The Engaged City is now accepting applications for three Community Fellows in Residence for 2026–27. Fellows will contribute to a cultural asset mapping project of St. Louis, aiming to bridge divides by creating publicly accessible, co-created cultural maps. Fellows will have access to Washington University resources and will collaborate with the Engaged City team to develop their creative contributions.

New this year: Applicants can propose their own project or apply to one of three priority project areas, including the “I Am St. Louis” Missouri Historical Society Fellow. Through a new partnership with the Missouri Historical Society (MHS), one Fellow will work with MHS and the Engaged City to develop a project connecting archival and museum collections with community knowledge, research, storytelling, and public engagement. The Fellow will have the opportunity to draw from collections in the MHS Library and Research Center and other associated archives.

Fellowship details

• Term: October 1, 2026 – September 20, 2027
• Time Commitment: 10–15 hours/week, at minimum one day a week (M-F) at WashU on campus
• Stipend: $20,000/term (paid on a monthly basis in equal increments)
• Eligibility: Open to anyone 18+ at any career stage residing in the greater St. Louis region
• Affiliation: Fellows will be partnered with the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity, the Center for the Humanities, and the Office for Socially Engaged Practice.

Applications are due by September 9, 2026 at 11:59pm.

Behind the scenes

In July 2026, undergraduate summer research fellows in the Humans at Tyson program photographed possible chert hand tools they discovered on the Tyson Research Center grounds. They later used these implements to teach high school students in the Shaw Institute for Field Training (SIFT) program about archaeology before taking them into the field to identify and geolocate artifacts. Meredith Kelling, assistant director for student research and engagement, is co-investigator on the Humans at Tyson project, which aims to document the social history of the site. Undergrads can participate as research fellows during the academic year — see the themed fellowships section above!