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The UCLA Department of Classics is delighted to announce the award of a $700,000 grant by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Division of the Humanities to support the preparation and training of young scholars in post-classical Latin for graduate programs in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. The program has been funded for three years and will have a post-baccalaureate and graduate fellowship component. The administrative Director of the UCLA Mellon Program in Post-Classical Latin will be Professor Robert Gurval.

The post-baccalaureate program in post-classical Latin is intended for students who have completed B.A. degrees and who seek to pursue Ph.D. programs requiring study and proficiency in late Latin texts and documents. A cohort of up to four students will be chosen each year by a faculty subcommittee. All university fees and a stipend of $18,000 will be provided to allow the admitted students to spend a year at UCLA participating in the post-classical Latin curriculum as well as taking existing courses in Classical Latin and, more broadly, in undergraduate and graduate courses in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Participating departments include English, History, Art History, Italian, Philosophy, French and Francophone Studies, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. The program offers a pro-seminar in the Fall Quarter to introduce students to UCLA faculty and to prepare them for successful applications to top-ranked Ph.D. programs.

The Mellon grant will also provide up to two graduate fellowships each year to assist in the recruitment of students entering UCLA who intend to pursue Ph.D. programs in areas whose research involves the study of post-classical Latin texts. The department packages will provide six years of support by combining fellowships and teaching employment. The first year is provided by the Mellon grant, and includes the payment of all university fees and a stipend of $27,000. Individual departments or programs will nominate candidates for these fellowships during the admissions process.

Students interested in the post-baccalaureate program should submit the following:

  1. application form (to be posted on UCLA Department of Classics website, http://www.classics.ucla.edu/index.php/mellon-program-in-post-classical-latin)
  2. official transcripts of undergraduate institutions (including non-degree or M.A. programs where you have taken relevant courses, especially in Latin);
  3. two letters of recommendation;
  4. personal statement.

The committee has already begun to review applications but encourages students to continue to submit dossiers until May 15. Materials should be sent electronically to tkim@humnet.ucla.edu, or mailed to the UCLA Department of Classics, ATTN: Tanya Kim, Mellon Program in Post-Classical Latin, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Dodd 100, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1417. Academic inquiries should be addressed directly to Professor Robert Gurval, Director of the Mellon Program in Post- Classical Latin (gurval@humnet.ucla.edu).