Graduate Fellowships and Grants

CMES Grants

The Al-Falah Program in Islamic Studies

Established in 1998 through a generous endowment from Xenel Industries Ltd. and the families of Sheikh Salahuddin Yusuf Hamza Abduljawad and Khalid Alireza, alumni and friends of UC Berkeley, the Al-Falah Program in Islamic Studies seeks to promote understanding of Islam and to encourage the reciprocal transfer of knowledge and technology between the United States and the Muslim World, particularly Saudi Arabia.

The Al-Falah Program awarded its first grants in 1998. In this cycle, the Al-Falah Program will support (I) a Research and Scholarship Program and (II) an Outreach Program....

NOTE: FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND AREA STUDIES (FLAS) AWARDS

As of Summer 2023, CMES no longer offers Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships. FLAS awards at UC Berkeley for Turkish are available through the Institute of European Studies, and for Persian/Tajik through the Institute for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies.

The Afaf Kanafani Prize

The Afaf Kanafani Prize is a $500 award given for the best paper by a UC Berkeley student dealing with any topic related to the subject of women in the Arab world, with priority given to those dealing with MENA women’s struggles for rights and freedoms in the Arab world. The paper must have been produced in a UC Berkeley class during the current academic year. Chapters of dissertations are also accepted.

The Kanafani Prize is made possible through a generous donation by the late Fay Afaf Kanafani from the proceeds of her autobiography, Nadia, Captive of Hope: Memoir of an Arab...

Andrew Mellon Foundation Conference & Research Grants

Program Components and Eligibility

UC Berkeley faculty, lecturers, academic staff, and graduate students may apply for funding in the following categories:

1. Research Grants

Up to $2,000 to cover the cost of travel for modern Middle Eastern language study, dissertation research, or faculty projects.

2. Conference Grants

Up to $600 to cover the cost of travel to attend conferences in the U.S. and up to $1,500 for conferences abroad. Please note that this funding applies to airfare only.

Application Deadline...

The Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens Memorial Fund for Middle Eastern Studies

On September 11, 2013, the family and friends of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens announced the creation of The Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens Memorial Fund for Middle Eastern Studies to honor the memory of Ambassador Stevens, who died in Libya on Sept. 11, 2012. The fund is dedicated to deepening and extending knowledge of the Middle East and North Africa, particularly in the areas of culture, language,...

The Sultan Program in Arab Studies

The Sultan Program in Arab Studies is made possible through a generous endowment from the Sultan bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud Charity Foundation. The Sultan Program supports teaching, research, and public outreach on topics related to the Arab and Arab-Islamic world, with the overarching goal of promoting a deeper understanding of this important region at UC Berkeley and beyond. The program encompasses the social sciences, humanities, and professional fields, with a special emphasis on anthropology, sociology, architecture, history, literature, political science, and urban studies.

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External Grants

American Institute for Maghrib Studies Grants Program

The American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) announces its annual Grants Program. The Grants Program offers short- and long-term grants to U.S. scholars to conduct research on North African topics in Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, or Tunisia. AIMS Overseas Research Centers in Oran, Tunis, and Tangier facilitate AIMS grants and support AIMS scholars. AIMS funds only primary research conducted in the Maghrib.

For more information, click here.

Application deadline: January 31, 2025.

American Institute for Yemeni Studies U.S. Scholars Research Fellowship

The American Institute for Yemeni Studies (AIYS) holds an annual fellowship competition supporting research on Yemen and Yemeni Studies for U.S. citizens funded by grants from the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The U.S. Scholars Fellowship supports advanced research on Yemeni Studies for U.S. citizens to conduct research outside of the U.S. and Yemen.

Proposals are invited from graduate and post-graduate scholars in all disciplines. Collaborative or group projects, including collaborations with Yemeni researchers, are also invited. Although there is currently a travel ban for using AIYS fellowships for funds within Yemen, a project related to Yemen involving research outside of Yemen or the United States can be funded.

Projects are not normally funded above $5,000.

American Research Institute in Turkey

For 2024-25, the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) will offer fellowships for humanities research in Turkey. Deadline for applications: November 1, 2024.

ARIT will also offer fellowships for intensive advanced Turkish language at Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. Deadline: February 2025.

For information, click here.

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Fellowships

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) at the University of Arizona annouces three programs for students and faculty to conduct research or coursework in Arabic abroad

The application deadline is January 31, 2025. For full details and application information, click here.

Critical Language Scholarships (CLS) Program

The application for the U. S. Department of State’s 2025 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program and CLS Spark virtual initiative will open in early October! We welcome students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents to apply this year to learn a critical language on a funded overseas or virtual summer program.

Through the CLS Program, undergraduate and graduate students spend eight to ten weeks over the summer studying one of adozen critical languages: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu. The program is designed to promote rapid language gains through intensive language instruction, host community engagement, and structured cultural activities in a cohort-based setting.

Additionally, the CLS Spark virtual initiative provides beginner-level virtual instruction in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian, as well as advanced beginner-level Japanese. Applicants for CLS Spark must be undergraduate students and preference will be given to applicants from institutions where these languages aren’t offered.

To learn more about the eligibility for the CLS Program and CLS Spark, please visit: https://clscholarship.org/applicants/eligibilityThe application deadline is 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 19, 2024.

The CJS team will be hosting webinars and alumni panels over the coming weeks to provide more detail and answer questions. You can find the full event schedule and registration links here: https://clscholarship.org/events