Apply

Graduate students, faculty members, and independent scholars of literature, the arts, the humanities, and the related social sciences or professional studies are invited to apply. There are openings for approximately 100 participants for the 2024 session.

Faculty applicants (including postdocs) can attend only half of the program if their research schedule doesn't allow them to attend the entire month-long session. Faculty participants who cannot attend the entire month-long session can choose on the application form between attending only the first part of the program or the second part. Please note that all other applicants (graduate students) MUST attend the entire month of the session. 

The majority of our participants come from our institutional affiliates, but applications are welcome from individuals from non-affiliate institutions as well, and from independent scholars. If you are coming from an institutional affiliate, you should check with your department(s) or program to see how they are handling the process. Institutional affiliates make the decision locally, and forward on to the Institute the name or names of the one or two people they are sending, sometimes with some names of alternates. When an institutional affiliate sends us a rank list containing more than two names of qualified applicants, the Institute will attempt to take more than two from that institution if space is available; if not, people ranked third or fourth by the institution will be given priority for any spaces not taken up by the first two candidates. We do not normally accept undergraduates as participants, except in rare instances on the basis of a special recommendation from an institutional affiliate.

Application Instructions

 

Applicants should submit all applications online. Before filling out the application form, please prepare the additional application materials you’ll be submitting: writing sample, a current CV, and a graduate transcript. PhD holders should upload a copy of their PhD diploma instead of a graduate transcript. If you're coming from a department or program NOT affiliated with IWL, please note that you will also need a letter of reference. Please note that affiliate participants DO NOT need to submit a letter of recommendation, but they do need a graduate transcript. If you're not sure whether your department or program is or not an affiliate of IWL, please check out our Institutional Affiliates Map here.

The Institute has limited funds available to assist with tuition in cases of special need; if you are applying for financial aid, submit a PDF or Word document (or .zip file, not .rar) containing your statement of need and any other helpful documents to make your case stronger. the file(s) can be uploaded on the last field of the application form. With the exception of letters of reference, which should be sent directly from the referee to the Institute, please upload all other files onto the application form. You'll also see a field on the application form where you need to fill in the name and email address of your recommender. S/He will be notified automatically by our system that you requested a letter of recommendation. The automatic email sent to the recommender gives clear instructions about the email address where the letter should be sent and the deadline for submitting it.

For any questions related to the application process for the Institute of World Literature summer session (except for applying for the Balzan Colloquium), please contact Finlay at finlaybell@g.harvard.edu

To apply for the full scholarship of the Balzan Colloquium, fill out the full regular IWL application, and choose the Balzan Colloquium as your top preference by dragging and dropping the listed topics on the form in the desired order. You should also be sure in your personal statement to indicate the basis of your interest in the year’s Colloquium topic, and the ways in which you’d expect the colloquium to be useful to you in further developing your interests.

For questions related to the Balzan Scholarship, please email Maria Dabija, IWL Assistant: mariadabija@g.harvard.edu
 

The application period is November 1, 2023 - February 1, 2024. Applicants will be notified of admission decisions and financial aid by February 25, 2024.

Required Application Materials

 

Application materials must all be in English. These must be uploaded onto the online application forma and they include:

  • an up-to-date curriculum vitae
  • sample of recent writing, in English (no more than 15 pages)
  • a current transcript of graduate studies or a copy of the PhD diploma for PhD holders
  • additional document for non-affiliate applicants ONLY (i.e. applicants from institutions NOT affiliated with IWL): a letter of recommendation. Graduate student applicants must submit a transcript (pdf format) of their graduate studies which can be uploaded onto the application form. Graduate students coming from departments or programs not affiliated with IWL must also submit a letter of recommendation emailed to the Institute directly by their referee or supervisor. Emails containing recommendations should clearly state in their subject line “IWL Recommendation Letter.” Please do NOT upload the letter of recommendation onto the application form.

Please note that affiliate applicants who have been selected by their own home department or program do NOT need a letter of recommendation.

  • a statement of financial aid is obligatory for participants who wish to be considered for reduced or waived tuition. Please upload a PDF or Word document or a zip file which outlines your financial situation, including any information that may help us to make decisions regarding aid, i.e. family situation, stipend/salary, country of residence, etc. If you use a .zip file (not .rar!), please put everything into a single file.

The application form contains a field called “Statement of Academic Interests and Plans.” This should be a statement of no more than 300 words describing current scholarly interests and plans, as well as specific indications of how attendance at the Institute for World Literature might further those interests and plans. The statement should include information about courses taken and/or taught in comparative and world literature and theory.

There is NO application fee for the 2024 session.