Description:
The Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowships at Williams College are designed to strengthen and expand the professoriate by supporting scholars and artists whose research, teaching, and engagement contribute to inclusive and intellectually vibrant academic communities. Through sustained mentorship, professional development, and full participation in the intellectual life of the College, fellows are supported as they prepare for faculty careers. Established in 1985, the program supports advanced graduate students and post-MFA artists. Gaius Charles Bolin was the first Black graduate of Williams in 1889. He was an active and influential member of his class who went on to a successful career as a lawyer in Poughkeepsie, New York. Bolin also was a founding member of the local branch of the NAACP and was the first African American president of the Dutchess County Bar Association. In 1969, eighty years after Gaius Bolin graduated, Joseph E. Harris, the first Black tenure-line faculty member, was hired at Williams. In honoring this legacy, the fellowship supports scholars and artists whose research, teaching, and creative work expand the range of questions, perspectives, and communities represented in academic scholarship, and who are prepared to contribute to inclusive, rigorous, and collaborative academic environments. The Bolin Fellowship is structured as a two-year residency at Williams. Two scholars or artists are appointed each year. Fellows devote the bulk of the first year to the completion of dissertation work-or in the case of post-MFA applicants, building their professional portfolios-while also teaching one course as a faculty member in one of the college's academic departments or programs. The second year of residency, preferably with a terminal degree in hand, is spent on academic career development while again teaching just one course. Through this structure, fellows gain experience as teacher-scholars while advancing significant scholarly or creative work.
Qualifications:
The Bolin Fellowships are awarded to applicants who show exceptional promise as scholars, who have an interest in and capacity for teaching students in a community that is broadly diverse across multiple dimensions, including race, gender, citizenship, ethnicity, religion, and lived experience, and who are pursuing a career in higher education in the United States. Competitive applicants will demonstrate the ability to engage diverse perspectives through their research, teaching, or creative work, and to contribute to an inclusive academic environment. Ph.D. candidates must have completed all doctoral work except the dissertation by the end of the current academic year. Post-MFA candidates must be recent recipients of the degree; only those with degrees granted in 2026, or to be granted in 2027, are eligible to apply. The annual stipend for the position is $60,000. The College will also provide health and dental benefits, relocation and housing assistance, academic support including office space and a computer, and an annual allowance of $4,000 for research-related expenses. During the period of residence at Williams, the Bolin Fellows will be affiliated with an appropriate department or program and will be expected to teach one one-semester course each year, normally in the fall semester of year one and the spring semester of year two. Fellows are also encouraged to participate in the broader intellectual and community life of the College. Forms of participation include programming within a fellow's affiliated unit, attendance at First3 luncheons focused on scholars in their first three years at the college, and events hosted by the Rice Center for Teaching.
Application Instructions:
Candidates should apply via Interfolio by 11:59pm on November 15, 2026, with:a cover letter with a description of your research and teaching interests; this letter should also explain how you will effectively engage a broadly diverse student body and contribute to an academic environment that values diverse perspectives and experiencesa full curriculum vitaetwo confidential letters of recommendation, including one letter of recommendation that addresses the applicant's ability to contribute to inclusive academic environments and to advance understanding of diverse perspectives and experiences
PhD applicants: a copy of the dissertation prospectus, preferably limited to 10-15 pages, or a research statement of the same length; and a timetable for completion of the degree
Post MFA applicants: project description, preferably limited to 2-5 pages [250-1250 words], and additional material, as described below:
- Writers: 2-3 short stories, 10-15 poems, or novel passages not to exceed 50 pages
- Visual Artists: 20 images
- Theatre Artists: sample of design portfolio, links to performances
Eligible candidates for the fellowship include all U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and U.S. permanent residents (holders of a Permanent Resident Card); individuals granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program; Indigenous individuals exercising rights associated with the Jay Treaty of 1794; individuals granted Temporary Protected Status; asylees; and refugees. Eligible candidates may apply to more than one academic unit.
Units that will be participating in 2026-27 are:
Arabic Studies
Asian Studies
BiologyClassicsCognitive Science
EconomicsGermanJewish Studies
MathPhilosophyPhysics & Astronomy
Political Science
PsychologyStatistics(PLEASE NOTE: participating units change from year to year.)
