Frequently Asked Questions
Please carefully review our Eligibility and Application Materials pages, as well as all the information provided below, before reaching out with questions. Additional questions should be directed to societyoffellows@dornsife.usc.edu.
General
- Postdoctoral Fellows are appointed for two-year terms.
- Postdoctoral Fellows are expected to reside in the Los Angeles area during the academic year and participate in the scholarly activities of the Society, host department, and university.
- Participating departments and programs change from year to year. The following departments and programs will participate in the 2025–27 cycle: Department of American Studies and Ethnicity, Department of Anthropology, Department of Art History, Department of Classics, Department of Comparative Literature, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Department of English, Department of French and Italian, Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies, Department of History, Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Department of Philosophy, Department of Religion, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Department of Sociology, Annenberg School of Communication, Architectural History and Theory (School of Architecture), Division of Cinema and Media Studies (School of Cinematic Arts), and Musicology (Thornton School of Music). If a host department or program is not listed, that department or program is not considering applications for the current cycle.
- The salary for Postdoctoral Fellows is $70,000 per year plus fringe benefits, with an additional research and travel account of $6,000 per year.
Applying
- All application materials are due by the deadline and must be submitted online through the application portal. We are unable to accept application materials via email, fax, or mail.
- Application materials will not be accepted after the deadline.
- For questions about eligibility, please review our eligibility information here.
- For requested application materials, please review our materials information here.
- Please include your postal and electronic addresses. If either change after you first submit the application, please alert us by email.
- Once submitted, applications may not be updated to reflect new publications, awards, or any other information.
- There is no application fee.
- It is not necessary to send a transcript of graduate courses or grades.
- The submitted writing sample should be in English; if the work was originally written in a different language, please submit an English translation. Writing samples should be double-spaced and between 20–40 pages excluding notes, bibliography, and images. Please do not submit more than 40 pages.
- If you have completed the Ph.D., please submit a copy of your diploma or documentation of your degree. If you are currently ABD, please submit a letter signed by a department chair, dissertation advisor, director of graduate studies, or other appropriate university administrator certifying that you have made sufficient progress for the Ph.D. to be completed by August 15, 2025.
- Please keep in mind that all requirements for the Ph.D. must be completed prior to the start of the position; for international scholars requiring a visa, the Ph.D. must be conferred in order to apply for a visa.
- Applicants do not need to identify potential mentors at USC or contact their desired host program as part of the application. When postdoctoral fellows join the Society of Fellows, they will be matched with suitable mentors in the Society of Fellows faculty and host department or program.
- The primary goal of this fellowship is to support excellence in scholarly research and publication. The cover letter should address the applicant’s research in detail, explaining not only its topic but also its goals, contributions, stakes, and relevance to the cycle’s research topic. Given that the Society of Fellows is an interdisciplinary community with members from a wide range of fields in the humanities and humanistic social sciences, the capacity to articulate research questions, problems, methods, and contributions to scholars in other disciplines is important.
- The research topic for the 2025–27 cycle is Sites of Inquiry. Please see the application overview for a longer description, as relevance to the annual topic will be strongly considered during the review process.
- The teaching component is a secondary element of the fellowship, designed above all to contribute to the professional development of junior scholars and to help them prepare for successful careers (not to meet teaching needs). It is not necessary to discuss teaching at length in the cover letter.
- If you change your mind or accept an offer elsewhere after applying, please contact the Society of Fellows over email to withdraw your application as soon as possible.
References
- Only two recommendation letters are required and will be accepted.
- Applicants may generate reference letter request emails before submitting their complete application. Please carefully review the “References” section in the online application portal for specific instructions. We suggest that applicants notify each of their recommenders of the need for a letter and add their contact information to the application form well in advance of the deadline.
- The use of dossier services like Interfolio is allowed.
- Applicants may check the status of recommendation submissions and resend the automated notification to your recommenders by logging into their application account.
- Recommendation letters are due at the same time as the rest of the application.
Teaching
- The goal of the teaching component is to strengthen the Postdoctoral Fellow’s teaching portfolio and professional development. Teaching experience is not a requirement for this position, nor a consideration in the review process.
- Postdoctoral Fellows teach three courses over four semesters, distributed as one course per semester for three semesters and one semester for full-time research.
- Most Fellows do not teach their first semester, however, there is no formal requirement as to when the research semester is taken.
- Fellows typically teach courses at the undergraduate level.
- The choice of specific course topics and levels is made by the Postdoctoral Fellow in consultation with the chair of their host department, their faculty mentors, and the Society’s director. Postdoctoral Fellows have great liberty in selecting the topic of the courses they teach.
Evaluation and Notification of Applicants
- Applications are carefully reviewed in three stages. The first screening round is conducted by faculty committees in host departments/programs, who nominate applicants for consideration by the Society. This round is completed by early February. At that point, applicants will be notified whether they have moved to the next round or not. In the second screening round, departmental/program nominees are reviewed by faculty fellows in the Society, who select finalists by early March. At this time, applicants will be notified whether they have moved to the next round or not. In the third screening round, all finalists are reviewed by all faculty fellows in the Society. The first round of offers is normally made by mid-March, and applicants have two weeks to make a decision. If an offer is not accepted, the position is then offered to another finalist. Finalists who were not selected for a fellowship will be notified once all positions have been accepted, which is normally by late March.
- Interviews are not part of the evaluation process.
- Applicants will receive an automated confirmation email upon submission of a completed application.
- All dossier materials and the selection committee’s evaluations remain confidential. The committee is not able to provide feedback on individual applications.
- Selected applicants will have two weeks from the official offer to accept or decline.
- Fellowships, if offered, cannot be deferred.
Any additional questions should be directed to societyoffellows@dornsife.usc.edu.