Ruth Landes Summer Field Research Grants

The Ruth Landes Summer Field Research Grants

Application Deadline: Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

Please find a PDF of the fellowship announcement here.

The Department of Anthropology at Columbia University is pleased to announce the Ruth Landes Summer Field Research Grants for students in the MA Program for Sociocultural Anthropology. 

Columbia alumnus Ruth Landes (PhD 1935) pioneered anthropological study of race and gender.  The Ruth Landes Summer Field Research Grants program has been established with the generous support of the Reed Foundation and Columbia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, its purpose is to enhance original MA student projects.  Specifically, the Landes Summer Research Grants will support rigorous, in-depth ethnographic research that aligns with Landes’ commitment to anthropological scholarship that mobilizes anthropological research to address matters of public concern.  Grant recipients will undertake ethnographic fieldwork and data collection during the summer of 2026.  Applications are now open and must be submitted by April 15, 2026.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must submit the following materials:

  1. A research proposal that includes:
    1. A description of the topic, research question, and scholarly motivation of your MA thesis (up to 1000 words).
    2. A research plan, schedule and timeline that explains your choice of research site and describes your intended ethnographic sources, including the feasibility of your access (up to 750 words)
    3. An explanation of how this summer research will help you develop your MA thesis (up to 250 words).
    4. A bibliography of up to 15 anthropological articles and  books that orient and inspire your research project.
  2. Your curriculum vitae.
  3. Your transcript.

 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION

Please submit these materials as PDF documents to [email protected] by April 15, 2026.

Applications for the Landes Summer Field Research Grants will be evaluated by the MA Faculty Committee. Projects will be chosen according to their intellectual rigor and scholarly quality and consider the applicant's overall academic performance in the program. Only students registered in the MA Program in Sociocultural Anthropology are eligible for these grants. Recipients will be expected to write a five-page report of their activities upon completion of their research, due by September 15, 2026.

Please contact Dr. Nicholas Glastonbury at [email protected] if you have any questions.