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SAH Career Center Opportunities SAH Fellowships and Grants Graduate Student Resources Digital Resources Professional Resources

To apply for a fellowship or grant:

  1. Review the fellowship descriptions below.
  2. Unless otherwise stated, you must submit your application online. Please note that only currently open fellowships will be listed once you access the portal.
  3. Recommenders must submit an online recommendation form.
Questions? Email us at fellowships@sah.org.

Purpose
The Society of Architectural Historians recognizes the work it must undertake to make reparations for past harms and redress foundational structural inequities and has charged the SAH IDEAS Committee with acting to care for its diverse community by reckoning with past injustices and accounting for future sustainability. As a small but concrete step forward, the SAH IDEAS Research Fellowships have been established to support a cohort of emerging scholars who self-identify as members of groups historically marginalized by SAH and the academy at large. These fellowships are intended to nurture research that challenges existing paradigms, as defined by applicants, and represents previously under-recognized and/or unsupported directions for architectural history as researched, thought, or applied. In addition to providing research support, the fellowships are intended to create mentored cohorts to support the work of emerging scholars.

The Awards
Each fellowship includes a one-time award of $1,000 and a commitment of close mentorship from a senior colleague from the SAH community to be paired with the fellow for the duration of one year. The fellowship also involves guided lateral interaction across the cohort, in order to encourage peer support. Awardees and mentors will commit to regular meetings throughout the year. SAH offers one year of digital membership to awardees.

2026 Cohort Criteria for Application
Emerging scholars anywhere in the world who have received a terminal master’s degree or Ph.D. on or after June 1, 2020, and who are not currently enrolled in a program of study or applying for further studies for the duration of the fellowship are eligible to apply. SAH aims to support research impacted by foundational structural inequities related to scholars’ backgrounds or areas of research that are not yet well supported in the field of architectural history.

Reporting Requirements
Recipients are required to submit a 500-word report with images, written by the fellow and approved by their mentor. Report and images will be presented to cohorts and form a contribution to the SAH Blog, SAH Archipedia, SAHARA image archive or another SAH publishing platform.

Application Details
To apply, please send a statement of interest that frames your research aims in relation to your goals and need for mentorship and peer support (500 words maximum), along with a C.V. (2 pages maximum). The application for the 2026 cohort will open July 1, 2025. 

Purpose
This award provides support for travel related to research on Spanish, Portuguese, or Ibero-American architecture. 

The Awards
The awards consist of a $2,000 fellowship for an advanced graduate student and a $6,000 fellowship for a senior or emerging scholar. The awardees will be notified in December and will be recognized onscreen at the SAH Annual International Conference in April and in the SAH Newsletter.

Criteria for Application

These annual fellowships are intended to support the research of graduate students who have completed their coursework and are engaged in doctoral dissertation research, and senior or emerging scholars who have completed their PhD or equivalent terminal degree. The research to be supported must focus on Spanish, Portuguese, or Ibero-American architecture, including colonial architecture produced by the Spaniards in the Philippines and what is today the United States. The applicant must be a current member of SAH. 

Reporting Requirements
Following completion of travel and research supported by the fellowship, each de Montêquin Fellowship awardee must submit a written report summarizing their research and explaining what travel was undertaken and how funds were spent. The report will be submitted to the SAH office no later than three months following the completion of work related to the fellowship. Awardees are required to upload images to SAHARA (a minimum of 50  for junior scholars and a minimum of 150 for senior scholars). 

Application Details
You will need:

  • Two recommendations to apply for this fellowship (must be submitted using the online recommendation form)
  • Description of the research project on Iberian or Ibero-American architecture to be funded (500 words maximum). The description should:
    • speak to the originality of the project
    • contextualize the project within current scholarship
    • explain how the project might further scholarship in the field
  • Current curriculum vitae (5 pages max)
  • Statement of purpose (500 words maximum) that explains:
    • why you are the ideal candidate for this fellowship
    • how the fellowship will impact your career goals
Applications for the 2026 cohort will open on August 1, 2025.

 

Purpose
The Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship, a joint program of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) and the National Park Service’s Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), permits a graduate student in architectural history or a related field the opportunity to work on a 12-week HABS history project during the summer of 2025. The Fellow will prepare a written history that focuses on a significant U.S. building or site for the permanent HABS collection at the Library of Congress. The Fellow’s research interests and goals will inform the building or site selected for documentation by HABS staff. The Fellow is usually stationed in the HABS Washington, D.C., office. The Fellow will be selected by a jury of two SAH members and one HABS representative.

The Award
The award consists of a $12,000 stipend and travel, hotel accommodation, and registration for the annual conference up to $1,000. The successful applicant will be notified in late January and will be recognized onscreen at the SAH 78th Annual International Conference in Atlanta in April 2025. The award will be announced in the SAH Newsletter.

Reporting Requirements
In addition to the final project/written history, recipients are required to upload a minimum of 50 images documenting their summer HABS project to the SAHARA image archive prior to completion of the fellowship.

Criteria for Application
Applicants should be pursuing graduate studies in architectural history or other related fields. You do not have to be a member of SAH to apply for this fellowship, but membership is strongly encouraged. 

Application Details
Applications for the 2025 HABS-SAH Sally Kress Tompkins Fellowship open on October 1, 2024, and must be emailed to Chad Randl by December 31, 2024. For application instructions, visit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/heritagedocumentation/tompkins-fellowship.htm or contact Chad Randl at chad_randl@nps.gov.

Purpose
In a joint program with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the Society of Architectural Historians is pleased to offer an annual fellowship that will support the participation of a graduate student in the research and writing of content for SAH Archipedia, the Society’s online architectural resource. This is a unique publication opportunity for graduate students. Proposed content must be related to some aspect of American architecture and/or urbanism prior to 1860, which may include Indigenous, Spanish Colonial, and/or African American topics. This fellowship was established in 2008 in honor of Charles E. Peterson, FAIA, founder of the Historic American Buildings Survey. The prize will be presented at the Society's annual conference in April and will be announced in the SAH Newsletter following the conference

The Award
The committee will award the fellowship by February 28, 2025. The fellowship grant of $2,500 will be contingent upon the recipient's completion of the project, which is expected to require approximately 150 hours of work. A portion of the award ($500) will be paid in early June to cover the recipient's immediate expenses. The balance of the award ($2,000) will be payable upon completion of the project. The completed project must be submitted to SAH by August 31, 2025. 

Criteria for Application
The fellowship is intended for students currently enrolled in graduate programs in art or architectural history, architectural design, urban planning, historic preservation, landscape architecture, American studies, or related disciplines. Preference will be given to SAH members. The successful applicant does not need to reside in Philadelphia, although the Athenaeum will be glad to have the fellowship recipient use its collections. Applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of BUS/SAH Archipedia editors and authors. You do not have to be a member of SAH to apply for this fellowship, but membership is encouraged. 

Application Details
Applicants must submit the following through the online portal:

  • Cover letter discussing their research interests and professional goals
  • CV or resumé
  • Proposed content (1 page). This must be related to some aspect of American architecture and/or urbanism prior to 1860, although you should bring the building/site history up to the present. Please be sure to consult SAH Archipedia to ensure the proposed content is not already published. Proposals may include one or more of the following: 
    • Updating and/or expanding existing building entries. For example, expanding plantation entries to include analysis of slave quarters and the plantation landscape. 
    • New building entries (approximately 250-750 words), with a brief statement about the significance of each. 
    • A thematic essay (1,000-2,000 words) that contextualizes a set of existing and/or new entries.
  • Brief writing sample (5–10 pages)
  • Recommendation from an advisor or principal professor submitted using the online recommendation form

For examples of work by past Peterson fellows, please see the following: Buildings of Connecticut; Gulf Coast Tribes; Schools for the Deaf, 1817–1865.

Applications are now open for the 2025 award. Submit your application online on or before December 31, 2024. If you have any questions, please contact Ann Gilkerson, Managing Editor of SAH Archipedia at AGilkerson@sah.org.