The Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College has announced that it is now accepting applications for the 2025-2026 Rooted + Relational Fellowship Program. This fellowship program convenes scholars, writers, and faculty in a cohort model that responds to an annual theme, this year’s being “Boricuas in Relation.” Fellows will spend their time at CENTRO working on a specific research project and will be required to attend weekly seminar meetings, as well as additional workshops, and public events.
The “Rooted + Relational” research initiative follows an annual thematic structure, unifying the work across CENTRO, and offering scholarly and cultural programming. The 2025-2026 theme, “Boricuas in Relation,” invites researchers to engage with the phenomenon of Boricua archipelagic and diasporic community formation with other racial and ethnic groups. Boricuas have long developed and sustained political, social, kinship, creative, labor, and spiritual practices with multiple communities across the United States and beyond. One example to consider is the multi-generational relationships Puerto Ricans in Hawaii have created with Kānaka Maoli, Filipino, Japanese, Black, and Portuguese communities after over 100 years of colonization and cohabitation. We are interested in works that examine the experience and impact of migration, language, assimilation, cultural and linguistic resilience, and the connections between Puerto Ricans and other racial and ethnic groups.
CENTRO invites applications from scholars in all fields of study and disciplines, including creative writing and visual arts. The Artist-In-Residence will be required to be in-residence at CENTRO during the tenure of the award, while Hybrid Fellows and Dissertation Fellows can be hybrid.
The positions are the following:
Hybrid Fellows:
We will select up to five hybrid fellows and will award each $25k
- Open to researchers and artists working on the annual theme who are unable to relocate to New York City for the duration of the fellowship year
- PhD is not required, but fellows must have an extensive background in Puerto Rican Studies.
Artist-In-Residence:
We will select up to one artist researcher-in-residence and will be awarded $75k
- Open to artists of all disciplines working on the annual theme
- PhD is not required, but fellows must have an extensive background in Puerto Rican Studies.
- Must be in residence at CENTRO in New York City for the duration of the 2025-2026 academic year
Dissertation Fellows:
We will select up to two dissertation fellows and will award each $25k
- Must be ABD (all but dissertation) in a related discipline by July 1, 2025
- Can be hybrid or in-person at CENTRO in New York City
- One of the 3 reference letters must come from the dissertation advisor
- May be hybrid or in-residence (in-residence requires a minimum of 3 on-site days per week)
Starting today, CENTRO is accepting applications, and they will begin work in August of 2025. To learn more about the fellowship program for the “Rooted + Relational” initiative, please click here and apply by May 4, 2025, at 11:59pm ET. Calls for applications for NYC-based Research Associates requiring a PhD and our microgrant program will be announced at a later date.