Max Kade Fellowships

Max Kade Fellowships

The Institute of German Studies awards a number of attractive fellowships for graduate students in German literary or cultural studies on an annual basis. Max Kade Fellows are drawn from the very top ranks of the national applicant pool in German studies. The financial basis for the fellowships is a grant by the Max Kade Foundation and supported by The University Graduate School and the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University.

Most Max Kade Fellows pursue their studies in the Department of Germanic Studies. Students in other departments working on issues central to German culture or history are eligible, too. For students joining the Department of Germanic Studies, the funding usually extends over five to seven years, consisting of a mix of fellowships and instructorships. In some cases, summer funding is also made available.

The institute also awards dissertation fellowships and exchange fellowships for research and study at German universities (in Berlin and elsewhere) on a competitive basis. The Institute also assists students in applying for outside grants (Fulbright, DAAD, etc.)

Application deadlines & procedure

December 1: International students
December 15: Domestic students

Applicants to the Ph.D. programs in the Department of Germanic Studies are automatically considered for a Max Kade Fellowship. (Students who apply only to the M.A. program are not eligible for a fellowship. Therefore, students who intend to continue to the Ph.D. should apply directly to the Ph.D., rather than the M.A.)

If you are applying to a different department at Indiana University Bloomington, and wish to be considered for a Max Kade Fellowship, please contact Germanic Studies graduate services.

Learn how to apply

Max Kade Fellows 2022-2023

Lily Myers is a PhD student in our Literature and Culture track. She comes from Alaska with a B.A. in German Language and a minor in Dance Studies. She has prior experience teaching elementary school students at a German immersion school in Alaska and teaching English to high school students in Austria. While at IU, Lily plans to further her research in the intersection between German culture and history and dance studies. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors and listening to music.

I earned a BA in Media Studies and English from the University of Basel, Switzerland, with a strong focus on film. My academic studies have been enriched by hands-on experience in the US-American film industry through several internships, where I gained practical insights into film production and storytelling. I also have a background in acting, which has deepened my passion for the performative arts.

My research interests center on the intersection of film history, culture, and the performing arts. Additionally, with ten years of experience teaching German as a foreign language, I maintain a strong interest in language education and its impact on cultural exchange.

Henrique Carvalho Pereira obtained a BA at the Universitdade de Sao Paolo, Brazil, in 2017 and an MA from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2020. During his studies, Henrique has taught German as well as English at a private high school. Enrique has studied in Munich, Germany in the academic year 2020-21, and has obtained a Goethe Certificate C1, before taking courses in Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University. Henrique’s interest is primarily in German and English Romanticism, and he plans to obtain a PhD in German with a minor in English. His MA paper was on literary theory, in particular in Paul de Man, and he has published an article entitled "Critica e Leitura na Obra de Paul de Man” that resulted from a presentation he gave at the 7th International Meeting For Language Studies at the Universidade do Vale do Sapucai in 2019.

Claire Richters obtained a BA in philosophy at the University of Utah in 2020 and will complete an MA in the history and philosophy of science at Indiana University in Spring 2022. Her main interest lies in the limitations of scientific knowledge and our existential and civic orientations towards these limits, which she has studied through the Vienna Circle, the Southwest Neo-Kantians and the Ignorabimusstreit. Claire participated in this year’s Austrian Studies Association conference with a presentation entitled, “Anti-Metaphysical Vienna Circle, Apolitical America” and has translated letters between Martin Heidegger and his habilitation thesis advisor Heinrich Rickert. She applied to our program with a paper entitled “Deflationary Accounts of Ancient Greek Science in Light of Herophilus and Galen” as well as with a paper on “theory-neutral observation” and the epistemic authority of the sciences.