Funding & Policies

All students admitted to the PhD in AMCM are guaranteed five years of financial support through fellowships, research and teaching assistantships, or graduate instructorships. Please see available opportunities below.

Continued financial support is contingent upon timely and satisfactory progress in the program. For more information on program progress, please see the AMCM Graduate Handbook or the MAAS Graduate Handbook.

Departmental Fellowships & Grants

• The Mary Griggs Burke Research Award (PDF)
• The Shohara and Mather Research Awards (PDF)
• AMES MA Program Fellowship (PDF)
• AMCM Summer Fellowship (PDF)
• The Lin Zhen Scholarship in Chinese Language and Taiwan Studies 
  • This scholarship is awarded to support students in the Integrated BA/MA and MA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies programs travel to Taiwan and/or study of the Chinese language. Two are awarded each year.
• Rose Travel Fellowship in the Arts and Humanities for Creative Research in Asia

University Fellowships & Grants

The Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures and Media (AMCM) program and the MA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (MAAMES) program nominates students to a variety of fellowships, including:

• College of Liberal Arts Graduate Fellowship Program (CLAGF)
• Thesis Research Travel Grants
• Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change Scholar fellowships (ICGC)
  • ICGC Scholar Fellowships support outstanding students who are clearly committed to the interdisciplinary study of the global south in the context of global change.
• Diversity of Views and Experiences (DOVE) Fellowship
• Fulbright Research fellowships
  • The purpose of the Fulbright program is to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Approximately 1,900 Grants are available to over 140 countries. Apply for grants through the Fullbright program.   
• Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships (US citizens only)
• Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP) (Summer research funding)
  • The College of Liberal Arts Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP) is a graduate student fellowship program that supports research partnerships between faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and students enrolled in graduate programs housed within the college.
• University of Minnesota - Twin Cities University Student Service Fees Child Care Assistance Grant (USSFCCAG)
  • The UMTC Student Services Fees Child Care Assistance Grant has been made available to Graduate and Professional Students. Application and Income Bracket.
• Norman Johnston DeWitt Fellowship
  • For advanced doctoral students in the humanities.
• William W. Stout/Thomas F. Wallace Fellowship
  • This award is open to graduate students in the humanities or social sciences who are in the intermediate years of the Ph.D. (i.e., normally students currently in their second or third year of graduate study).
• Harold Leonard Memorial Fellowship in Film Study
  • For doctoral students pursuing well-defined research or study in which film history, criticism, theory, or aesthetics is the major focus of the research. Students may propose a program of research, such as that which would lead to a dissertation, or course of study in which the major focus will be film.
• Gender Equity Grants
  • Women's Center Gender Equity Grants (formerly Institutional Change Grants) support initiatives by employees or campus groups which will lead to a University that reflects the values of inclusiveness, fairness, diversity, excellence, and opportunity for all—with a focus on impacting the campus climate for women faculty, staff, and students, including those of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, women with disabilities, women with diverse sexual orientations, and women from diverse economic backgrounds.
• Beinecke Scholarships
  • The Beinecke Scholarship Program supports graduate education in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
• Interdisciplinary Doctoral fellowships
  • The IDF awards will support outstanding Graduate School students whose current or proposed dissertation topic is interdisciplinary and who would benefit from interaction with faculty at an interdisciplinary research center or institute.
• CSPW: Dissertation Development and Incoming Graduate Student fellowships (Application and information sent by email)
  • Each spring, the Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World (CSPW) provides funding for five graduate students beginning their dissertation research to participate in the CSPW Dissertation Development Fellowship Program, a series of weekly workshop sessions led by Professor Juliette Cherbuliez. The goal of the workshop is to help doctoral students as they begin a dissertation project to think about their dissertation work in comparative, premodern, global, and interdisciplinary ways.
• Walter H. Judd International Graduate & Professional Fellowships
  • The Walter H. Judd International Graduate & Professional Fellowships are designed to support the continued internationalization of the University of Minnesota by providing critical assistance to students enrolled in master's and professional degree programs, and to increase opportunities for students to study, undertake internships, and conduct research projects abroad.
• Luce Scholars Program
  • The Luce Scholars Program provides young Americans with demonstrated leadership the opportunity to spend a year in Asia as professional apprentices under the guidance of leading Asian professionals.
• The China Center
  • The China Center provides a variety of funding opportunities that support University of Minnesota Graduate Students interested in China or its culture by providing financial support to help with their academic progress and to help meet the costs of obtaining a college education, including Academic and Study Abroad Scholarships.
• Bridging Funds Program
  • Bridging Funds can offer additional funding support for health insurance and/or tuition for recipient's of prestigious, external fellowships.

External Fellowships & Grants

AMCM students are also encouraged to pursue fellowships and grants from outside of the University, including:

• Big Ten Academic Alliance Smithsonian Fellowship
• Blakemore Freeman Fellowships for Advanced Asian Language Study
• Council of American Overseas Research Centers fellowships
• Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship Program
• Fulbright Critical Language Enhancement Award
• International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) Program
• Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion fellowships
• Newberry Long-Term Fellowship
• University of Chicago's Platzman Memorial fellowships

South Asia

• Boren Awards for International Studies - South Asian Languages Flagship Initiative
• Berkeley-AIPS Urdu Language Program in Pakistan
• Lanka Corps Heritage fellowships
• American Institute of Bangladesh Studies travel grants
• Sardar Patel awards
• Liverpool India fellowships
• American Institute of Indian Studies fellowships
• American Institute of Pakistan Studies fellowships and reseach/travel grants
• American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies fellowships and grants
• Wenner-Gren Foundation dissertation fieldwork grants
• ACOR Academic Fellowships - Jordan

Japan

• MEXT (Ministry of Education) research scholarships
• Japan Foundation fellowships

China

• Inter-University Program (IUP) for Chinese Language Studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing

Taiwan

• Taiwan Scholarship - Ministry of Education
• Huayu Enrichment Scholarship

Korea

• Academy of Korean Studies
• Korea Foundation graduate studies fellowship
• Korea Foundation Language Training fellowship
• Miscellaneous list of other funding sources