The Wolf Humanities Center offers fellowships each year to standing faculty at Penn in the humanities and allied departments for research that relates to the Center's theme for the year in which the award is granted. Applications are now being accepted for 2026–2027 Penn Faculty Fellowships on the topic of Practice.

Fellows are required to attend the Wolf Humanities Center's weekly Mellon Resarch Seminars (Tuesdays, noon–2:00pm, September 2026–April 2027). Fellows present their research at one session and respond to a colleague's paper at another session. In addition to Penn Faculty Fellows, seminar members include Mellon Postdoctoral Fellows, Regional Faculty Fellows, Doctoral Fellows, and the Center's Director, Ayako Kano (East Asian Languages and Civilizations), and "Practice" Topic Director, Glenda Goodman (Music). 

Tenure-track assistant professors may apply for one of the following options:

• $5000 research fund
• $3000 research fund and one course relief, subject to departmental approval

Tenured professors may apply for one of the following options:

• $5000 research fund
• $3000 research fund and one course relief, subject to departmental approval
• Two course reliefs, subject to departmental approval

Approval of any course relief is required from the applicant’s department chair by the application deadline. Interested applicants are advised to check well ahead with their department/s to avoid conflicts in scheduling classes and other obligations. Requests for replacement funds from the Wolf Humanities Center must be made by the fellow's department chair. 

Penn Faculty Fellows must be in-service for the entirety of the fellowship, September–May.

Wolf's fellowship program does not support lecturers or professors of practice at this time. Non-tenure-stream faculty are welcome to apply for the Center's professional development and funding opportunities (e.g., Manuscript Workshops, Humanities Against Discrimination, Event Cosponsorship.)

Call for Applications, 2026–2027 

Research Topic: Practice
Application deadline: October 1, 2025

Applications are now being accepted for research on the topic of Practice, the Center's topic for 2026–27. Please apply via the Interfolio application portal.

Applicants are required to submit an up-to-date CV and a single PDF including the following:

• Project Title
• Project Abstract (approx. 200 words)
• Project Proposal (approx. 1000 words)

If you are applying for course relief, please ask your department chair to email Sara Varney by October 1, 2025 with their written approval of your application and course relief request.

Decisions will be announced in November 2025.