The East Asian Language Study Grant is offered through the East Asia Program, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

As a major conduit of graduate support, EAP offers the following area studies fellowships to Cornell graduate students whose work has an East Asia focus:

• Lee Teng-hui Fellowships in World Affairs with East Asia Focus
• C. V. Starr Fellowships in East Asian Studies
• Hu Shih Fellowship in Chinese Studies
• Robert J. Smith Fellowships in Japanese and Korean Studies
• Diverse Knowledge East Asia

How to Apply

There is a single application for the five fellowships. You can apply for all that apply to your graduate work. Applicants should explain in their proposal which fellowship they would like to receive and for what reason. Fellowships are either in-residence at Cornell or in-absentia (fieldwork research) away from campus. In the application you will be able to select your preferred fellowship mode: 1) writing-focused in residence; 2) research-focused in-absentia; and: if not awarded your preferred mode, would you be open to be considered for another mode. If you plan to use a fellowship away from Cornell, please include a complete project budget. A budget form can be obtained by sending us a request.

The application for funding generally opens in November and closes at the beginning of February.

Typically, these fellowships provide a tuition arrangement with your field, stipend, and health insurance for one semester. These fellowships are considered external funding to your field, and students who receive an EAP fellowship should arrange for funding for the rest of the academic year with their department. 

There is no citizenship restriction on any of the above-listed fellowships.

Diverse Knowledge East Asia fellowship category

The East Asia Program seeks to support research that expands and redirects the scope of East Asian Studies, providing more diverse, more inclusive, and more just viewpoints on the histories, cultures, languages, and populations of East Asia in a global frame of reference.

For the Diverse Knowledge East Asia Fellowship category priority is given to

• applicants from groups historically underrepresented in East Asian Studies (both within the U.S. and globally). Eligible applicants might be from underrepresented minority groups, have experiences overcoming significant challenges and hardship in their path toward graduate school, be first-generation college graduates (this list is not meant to be exhaustive).

Consideration is also given to

• work on topics that further new, diverse knowledge about East Asia, especially projects that think critically about and seek to redress racial, ethnic, sexual, social (and other) inequities and injustices.

Applications to the Diverse Knowledge East Asia fellowship category are asked to include an additional, brief (<2 pages) statement of how their research in East Asian studies, their graduate study and career in East Asian studies, and/or their background are impacted by issues of difference, diversity, under-representation, or racial social justice.

Recommendation letter instructions email

Note: EAP Fellowships important information.

Recommendations from faculty for applications to the EAP Graduate Area Studies Fellowships in addition to evaluating the student's research and study should ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING POINTS regarding the graduate student’s career at Cornell.

1. Given that it is very unlikely that a student will receive more than one EAP fellowship over the course of their graduate career, is the next academic year the best time in the student’s Cornell graduate career to use a fellowship? Another way of thinking of this might be: do you wish to lodge with the EAP fellowship committee the request that a certain student be given priority (all other things being equal) the NEXT year?

2. Are there departmental or graduate field requirements, such as TAing, that would keep the student from making use of an EAP one-semester fellowship?

3. Will the student benefit more from doing research at Cornell, or from doing fieldwork elsewhere in-absentia from Cornell?

4. If the student has any current incompletes on their record, are there any circumstances that would explain why these incompletes should not count against their good standing (e.g. INC is because a non-essential language course was discontinued)?

The East Asia Program seeks to support students with its fellowships in the manner that most benefits the student’s progress. To this end, we seek to award fellowships in a manner that works in concert with the Graduate School aid package and the graduate fields’ work and timetables.

Diverse Knowledge East Asia Fellowship

If this student would like to be considered for the Diverse Knowledge East Asia Fellowship category please include in your recommendation how their research in East Asian studies, their graduate study and career in East Asian studies, and/or their background are impacted by issues of difference, diversity, under-representation, or racial social justice.