Call for Applications
2026 Research Fellowships for USC Students
Call for Applications
2026 Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship
2026 Charles E. Scheidt Undergraduate Research Fellowship
2026 Charles E. Scheidt Graduate Research Fellowship
Deadline: February 1, 2026
The USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research invites applications from USC students for three research fellowships for 2026: Beth and Arthur Lev Student Research Fellowship (for undergraduate or graduate students), the Charles E. Scheidt Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and the Charles E. Scheidt Graduate Research Fellowship.
These research fellowships will be awarded to outstanding USC students from any academic discipline to conduct original research drawing on the unique resources in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at USC, including the Holocaust and Genocide Studies book collection, the Special Collections at USC Libraries, and the Visual History Archive. (Read more about these resources below.)
Eligibility and Approaches
These fellowships are open to USC undergraduate and graduate students from any academic discipline. Whether your background is in political science, art, global studies, psychology, or a creative discipline, these fellowships offer a rare opportunity to work with extraordinary archival resources, engage deeply with history and human stories, and pursue questions rooted in your own academic or creative interests. Projects need not focus solely on genocide but should draw meaningfully on USC’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies resources, which you can read more about below.
Past fellows have used USC’s resources to explore topics such as identity, migration, gender, human rights, memory, media, trauma, justice, resistance, and social movements, among others. Others have created original creative work – including film, poetry, literature, visual art, and computer games – informed and inspired by the testimonies they encountered.
Interdisciplinarity is one of the Center’s greatest strengths. Students from a broad range of fields have served as fellows, including from American Studies and Ethnicity; Anthropology; Art; Cinematic Arts; Comparative Literature; Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture; Creative Writing; English; English Literature; Game Development and Interactive Design; Global Studies; History; International Relations; Jewish Studies; Journalism; Law, History, and Culture; Media Arts and Practice; Politics, Philosophy, and Law; Public Policy and Leadership; Narrative Studies; Psychology; and Sociology. Students from other fields not listed here are equally encouraged to apply.
Fellowship Expectations
Fellows will join the Center’s intellectual community, receive mentorship, and gain experience that will contribute to future graduate and professional opportunities. Fellows will be expected to play a role in the activities of the Center and to give a public presentation based on their work and findings during the 2026-2027 academic year.
Fellows will be expected to conduct 15 hours of research per week for 10 weeks during each semester of their residency. While the distribution of these hours is flexible and negotiable, fellows are expected to be in residence at the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research on a regular basis.
In Spring 2026, each residency will begin in mid-February 2026, no later than the week of February 17, 2025, with flexibility to start earlier if available.
Award decisions for the fellowships will be based on the originality of the research proposal.
Fellowship Awards
The Lev Student Research Fellowship provides $1,500 support for undergraduate students or $3,000 support for USC graduate students for a one-semester residency during Spring 2026.
The Scheidt Undergraduate Research Fellowship provides a total of $3,000 support for a two-semester residency during Spring 2026 and Fall 2026.
The Scheidt Graduate Research Fellowship provides a total of $6,000 support for a two-semester residency during Spring 2026 and Fall 2026.
These awards will be paid monthly during the fellows’ period(s) of residence.
USC Research Resources in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
Fellows will have access to internationally unique and continually growing research resources at USC, including the extensive Holocaust and Genocide Studies collection at USC Libraries, which contains 30,000 primary and secondary sources including the original transcripts of the Nuremberg trials and the materials of the New York Life Insurance settlement regarding the Armenian genocide. Unique primary sources in the Special Collections at USC include the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library, which also houses the private papers of dozens of emigrants from the Third Reich, as well as private collections from Jewish Holocaust survivors and liberators.
The Visual History Archive is a collection of over 59,000 audiovisual testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust and other genocides, including the Rwandan, Armenian, Guatemalan, Cambodian genocides, the Nanjing Massacre in China, anti-Rohingya mass violence, and war and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The majority of testimonies are life history interviews in which interviewees discuss their lives before, during, and after genocide and mass violence. With interviews conducted in 70 countries and in 44 languages, testimonies capture both the individual experience of mass violence and the social and cultural history of the 20th century on a global scale. Learn more about the Visual History Archive here.
USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research
Founded in 2014, the USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research distinguishes itself from other Holocaust and genocide research institutes by offering access to unique research resources and by focusing its research efforts on the interdisciplinary study of currently under-researched areas. For more information, visit our website here.
Past Fellows and Their Projects
The USC Dornsife Center for Advanced Genocide Research has a long record of advancing research by USC students.
Undergraduate student fellows: 2014, 2016, 2017, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2025, 2025, 2025
Graduate student fellows: 2016, 2016, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Application Instructions
Each submission will be considered for all fellowships so only one set of materials is required.
To submit an application:
Email the materials below to cagr@usc.edu or submit them electronically here.
- cover letter (if you wish to only be considered for a one-semester fellowship, please specify that in your cover letter)
- current CV/resume
- research proposal (1-3 pages), where you explain what you want to study. Please include the central question(s) you plan to explore and the methods you will use to conduct your research.
The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2026.
Intrigued but don’t know where to start? Have questions?
Drop by our office in Verna and Peter Dauterive Hall (VPD) 301 or contact us at cagr@usc.edu. We are eager to consult with you about the ways in which these unique resources connect to your interests and/or to support you with developing your application materials.