The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Global Academy is an interdisciplinary initiative that sustains essential research collaborations and knowledge production among scholars in the humanities and social sciences from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and their counterparts outside the region.

The Global Academy supports displaced scholars in the humanities and social sciences whose work falls within Middle East Studies, broadly defined. The Global Academy invites scholars to apply from comparative literature, history, and Islamic studies to political science, anthropology, economics, and beyond.

Fellowship application for 2026-2027 is closed. Please check back in the spring of 2027 for the next funding cycle. The Global Academy awards notable scholars in the field of Middle East Studies grants to further their research and collaboration with MENA-focused scholars in North America.

The MESA Global Academy Fellows Panel meets virtually in 2020.

Global Academy Scholar Issam Eido presents his research.

Competitive fellowships are available for displaced scholars from the MENA region, primarily those currently located in North America, whose work is broadly focused on Middle East Studies. Eligibility criteria are: 1) a PhD or equivalent in a field in the social sciences or humanities (graduate students will not be considered); 2) a primary institutional affiliation in the MENA region prior to displacement; and 3) a publication record indicating scholarly productivity (in English, French, a native MENA language, or principal research language of the field).