Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation and Post-MFA Fellowship: Classics

Williams College:
Bolin Fellowship

Location:

Williamstown, Ma

Open Date:
Sep 01, 2026

at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

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 in1889. He was an active and influential member of his class who wenton to a successful career as a lawyer in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Bolin also was a founding member of the local branch of the NAACPand 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, washired at Williams.

In honoring this legacy, the fellowship supports scholars and artists whose research, teaching, and creative work expand therange 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, buildingtheirprofessional 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 inhand, is spent on academic career development while again teaching just one course. Through this structure, fellows gain experience asteacher-scholars while advancing significant scholarly or creative work.

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 toapply.

The annual stipend for the position is $60,000.

• health and dental benefits
• relocation and housing assistance
• academic support including office space and a computer
• 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 inthe 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.

Williams College is a liberal arts institution located in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. The college has built its reputation on outstanding teaching and scholarship and on the academic excellence of its approximately 2,000 students. Please visit the Williams College website (http://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below).). Williams promotes equal opportunity and makes all employment decisions on a non-discriminatory basis.

Williams College is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community where individuals of all identities and backgrounds can live, learn, and thrive.

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