The Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah continues to support emerging scholarship in the field of Mormon Studies through its Graduate Research Fellowship in Mormon Studies. The fellowship was the first of its kind in the United States and provides a year of funding for a doctoral student whose research focuses on the history, beliefs, and culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints or other religious groups that trace their origins to Joseph Smith Jr.

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The fellowship is open to dissertation-level students from any university in the United States or abroad. Applicants may come from a wide range of academic disciplines, including theology, history, sociology, economics, literature, philosophy, and political science. The program’s aim is to encourage broad, research-driven inquiry into the Mormon Experience while maintaining high academic standards.

The Center emphasizes that the fellowship supports serious academic scholarship. The work is expected to inform and educate without disparaging any religion, organization, people, or group. Applicants must be affiliated with a university and actively enrolled in a Ph.D. program during the fellowship year.

Selection is carried out by a committee chaired by W. Paul Reeve, Simmons Professor of Mormon Studies. The committee includes scholars and community members who bring experience with the needs and expectations of the field. They review applications each year and select one fellow whose research shows strong potential for contribution to ongoing academic conversations.

The fellowship was originally established through a grant from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation. Continued donor support has enabled the creation of a $400,000 endowed fund that will sustain the fellowship in future years. The endowment ensures that promising doctoral students will have dedicated time and resources to pursue advanced research in Mormon Studies.

The Tanner Humanities Center notes that the fellowship represents a long-term investment in the field. By providing focused research support, the Center hopes to strengthen scholarly understanding of the traditions, communities, and historical developments connected to Joseph Smith and the movements that followed.