Greetings from Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA)!
The Spring Academy on American History, Culture & Politics is an annual, one-week interdisciplinary conference for PhD candidates at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA). It welcomes early-stage researchers in American Studies for an exciting cross-disciplinary and intercultural dialogue. Every year the HCA invites twenty outstanding doctoral candidates from diverse academic disciplines to Heidelberg to present their dissertation projects in the field of American Studies. Participants prepare a twenty-minute presentation of their research projects, which is followed by a forty-minute discussion session.
We are pleased to inform you that the application for Spring Academy 2026, Ph.D. Conference on American Studies Program is now open for Universitas Gadjah Mada students.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
- The Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) invites applications for its annual Spring Academy on American Culture, Economics, Geography, History, Literature, Politics, and Religion to be held from March 23-27, 2026.
- The conference venue is the HCA’s Curt and Heidemarie Engelhorn Palais, located in the center of Heidelberg’s old town, within short walking distance to restaurants, bars, and Heidelberg’s main tourist attractions.
- During the conference week twenty participants present their PhD projects, thematically arranged into ten panels according to the field of study and academic discipline. Presentations are scheduled for each day.
- Participants are requested to prepare a 20-minute presentation, which will be followed by 40 minutes of discussion. In addition, there will be several workshops held by experts from different fields of American Studies as well as a panel discussion at the end of the conference.
- A detailed program will be sent to the participants in early March.
ELIGIBILITY
- PhD candidates from around the world with a project in one of the fields of American Studies (history, literature, cultural studies, law, political science, religious studies, economics, musicology, sociology, and geography) may apply to the HCA Spring Academy.
- Participants have presented projects on gender, identity, immigration, international relations, the Cold War, slavery, literature, and the history of sports, among other topics.
- Though PhD students in all stages of progress can benefit from the Spring Academy, we especially recommend it to applicants who have already done their research and are at the beginning of their writing phase, as they can profit the most from the conference.
TRAVEL FUND
- There is a small travel fund available to cover travel expenses for participants registered and residing in developing and soft-currency countries. HCA does not accept applications for the travel fund that do not meet these requirements!
- Scholarship applicants will need to document the necessity for financial aid and explain how they plan to cover any potentially remaining expenses.
- If you are applying for our travel fund, please find the application form and send it in together with your application form. Additionally, there is a recommendation form which needs to be filled out by your doctoral advisor. The completed recommendation form needs to be submitted within the application deadline by your doctoral advisor to our coordinators.
REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
- Apply directly to Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA). Kindly refer to Application Information Website
- The deadline is 15 November 2025.
- The FINAL decision is from Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA).
IMPORTANT NOTES
- In the meantime, the students are required to keep the hard file of all documents until further notice by the Office of International Affairs.
- In case the faculty could not provide the letter of enrollment and nomination during this period, the official nomination through email from the faculty is acceptable. The official nomination could be delivered to head-oia@ugm.ac.id (cc to scholarship@ugm.ac.id)
CONSULTATION INFO
If you have any questions regarding this program, you can contact us in OIA’s office hour:
- Instagram: @oiaugm
- Email: scholarship@ugm.ac.id
Virtual consultation: https://ugm.id/AppointmentOIAUGM
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