Deadline: February 16, 2026
Applications are open for the CRASSH Visiting Fellowships for Scholars from the Global South 2026-2027. The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge is inviting applications for funded Visiting Fellowships for scholars from the Global South.
The purpose of these Fellowships is to provide opportunities for scholars working at higher education institutions in the Global South to exchange ideas with other researchers based at CRASSH and elsewhere in the University of Cambridge and to draw benefit from access to the University’s collections and resources. It is hoped that these visits will lead on to future collaborations and exchanges.
Fellowship Details
For 2027, CRASSH will partner with the University of Cambridge’s Legacies of Enslavement Initiative. Enslavement and other forms of coerced labour have shaped lives and spaces across the globe for millennia, and particularly in the modern era. The violence of enslavement upon people, communities and landscapes has also invited resistance and responses from those who suffered from it. These struggles echo across time; long after the formal abolition of slavery, they continue to shape experiences of inequality in the present day.
They invite applications that explore these topics in interdisciplinary ways – whether the focus is historical, contemporary or some combination of the two. This may include the following areas of research:
- slavery and resistance, including its social, material and cultural manifestations
- the environmental impacts and legacies of the plantation system and the transportation of millions of humans
- questions of memory transmission and heritage
- the practices of knowledge and power that sustained and reproduce inequalities
- practices of repair and restoration to heal the wounds of enslavement.
They invite applications from any discipline, including anthropology, archaeology, art history, digital humanities, ecology and environmental studies, geography, history, philosophy, medical humanities, museum studies, science and technology studies, and sociology. Whatever their approach, projects should be based on original interdisciplinary research and aim to speak to a wide audience.
Benefits
- Visiting Fellows will receive return (economy fare) travel from the scholar’s home institution, in accordance with the University’s travel policy. CRASSH will also cover the cost of a visa, if required.
- CRASSH will also book and cover the cost of single ensuite accommodation will be provided at Wolfson College. Wolfson College will waive its usual membership fee and provide free access to the college library, gym, and social spaces, as well as participation in activities open to college members. Fellows may take meals in the college Dining Hall at their own expense.
- As this scheme is open to scholars already employed at a higher education institution, it is assumed that most everyday expenses will be met through their salary; however, a subsistence allowance of £175 per week is provided to help with the costs of food and local travel, which may be higher in the UK than in the applicant’s country of residence.
- Each Visiting Fellow will have desk space and computer access at CRASSH, along with full access to the University’s libraries, collections, and academic events hosted by CRASSH and other University institutions.
- The in-person Fellowship must be held for a minimum of nine weeks, and may be extended to twelve weeks if the Fellow wishes. It will be followed by a nine-month digital Fellowship, providing continued access to the University’s online events and resources.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be currently employed at a higher education institution or a research institute located in the Global South, on at least a 50% contract, and working primarily within the arts, humanities, or social sciences. For the purposes of this Fellowship scheme, ‘Global South’ is defined as those countries that are included in the OECD’s list of countries receiving Official Development Assistance.
- Applicants should have been awarded a PhD at least five years before the date of application.
- Applicants must have a level of spoken English that will allow them to engage actively in discussion on topics of academic interest.
Application
The following documents are required:
- A curriculum vitae – see the attached guidance document
- A letter of support from your Head of Department (or equivalent), confirming that leave of absence will be granted by your institution for the full period of the Fellowship
- Answers to the following three application questions:
- Why do you wish to apply for this Visiting Fellowship? What benefits would spending a term at CRASSH and the University of Cambridge bring you? (max. 500 words)
- What research will you be conducting while in Cambridge? Please give an outline of your current project and explain which part(s) of it you intend to carry out during the term of your Visiting Fellowship. (max. 1000 words)
- The Visiting Fellows appointed under this scheme will be asked to work together to design an event, to take place during the term you are in Cambridge, which will provide an opportunity for you to present your own research, alongside others. What ideas would you suggest for the theme and format or such an event? (max. 400 words)
For more information, visit CRASSH.