Grant and Fellowship Information

MEIS can admit only a very limited number of graduate students each year, but all of those admitted are awarded MacCracken Fellowships, which usually provide five years of tuition and stipend. Students will be required to serve as teaching assistants in departmental or other undergraduate courses for half of their MacCracken Fellowship period. The department sees teaching as a very important part of graduate training, and having teaching experience will also serve you well when you pursue academic positions or other employment.

Limited GSAS and departmental funds may be applied for in order to support participation in conferences, summer language study, and research-related travel. Support for language training during the academic year (at approved programs in the Middle East only) and during the summer (at approved programs in the Middle East or the United States) may also be applied for – by U.S. citizens and permanent residents only – through the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship program; for details contact the Director, Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York University, 50 Washington Square South, New York, N.Y. 10012. The deadline for summer and academic-year FLAS fellowships is usually the end of the preceding January.

As you go through our graduate program you will need to plan ahead, especially with regard to applying for fellowships for predissertation and doctoral dissertation research in the Middle East. Keep in mind that most fellowships have application deadlines about a year in advance of your expected date of departure; that is, you will need to apply in September-November of one year for fellowships that begin in September of the following year. That means that you must begin developing your doctoral dissertation research plans quite early in your graduate career.