The STRC Graduate Research Fellowship is open to students by faculty nomination. Students interested in the fellowship should contact the faculty mentor in your Program who has close familiarity with your academic interests and/or research to discuss the opportunity and seek a nomination.
About the Fellowship Program
The STRC is working to demonstrate how the humanities deepen our understanding of ourselves and our society, and empower us to act, ethically and responsibly, to counter racism, dismantle violence, and build a more just and equitable society. The STRC Graduate Research Fellowship is designed to support graduate students as they conduct independent research in the humanities; it also seeks to support their intellectual and professional development through close faculty mentorship and opportunities to present their work in professional settings.
In 2024, the STRC will award multiple Graduate Research Fellowships to MA students in the College of LAS who wish to propose a humanities conference paper related to the histories, legacies and cultures of people of color, to be presented at the Annual STRC Symposium in October. The conference paper can be part of larger ongoing research for an MA thesis, but this is not required.
Fellowships will begin June 15, 2024, and continue through December 15, 2024. Fellows will receive two tranches of funding: $4000 evenly distributed in June, July and August to support initial research planning and active research and writing; and, contingent upon demonstrating adequate progress in the summer, $2000 evenly distributed over the Autumn Quarter as they draft and revise their conference papers.
Eligibility
Academically outstanding MA students in the College of LAS whose primary scholarly or creative field lies within the humanities, and who are working on research and/or creative topics addressing the histories, legacies and/or cultures of people of color in the United States or in diaspora, are eligible.
Guidelines for Faculty Wishing to Nominate a Student
Nominations may only be made by full-time faculty in the College of LAS.
The Graduate Fellowship is designed for academically outstanding MA students who are working closely with a faculty mentor on a significant writing project as part of their graduate studies.
As such, when a faculty member nominates a student, that faculty member commits to mentoring the student throughout the course of the fellowship, for which time and effort mentors will receive a stipend of $1500.
Please speak directly with students whom you wish to nominate to ensure they are ready to undertake this independent work, and to review together the application requirements for the Fellowship,
here, and the FAQ,
here.
Students chosen for the fellowship will be members of the Social Transformation Research Collaborative. Over the first part of their fellowship summer, Fellows will work closely with their Faculty Mentor to develop their topic into a research prospectus by the end of July. In the second half of the summer, students will complete their research activities and begin drafting their conference paper outlines (due at the end of August). In October, students will present their conference papers at the STRC Symposium. In December, students will submit final, revised conference papers that incorporate feedback from mentors and conference participants. Throughout the fellowship period, Fellows and their mentors will meet on a regular basis with the STRC co-Directors about their projects.
Faculty in LAS may nominate their student for the fellowship by submitting a letter that addresses the following prompts:
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Please describe, as specifically as possible, what you know about the student’s academic work, enthusiasm for research, and promise as a scholar.
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Please describe the project on which the nominee will work during the fellowship and that will be the subject of their conference presentation.
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Please describe how this student will contribute to diversifying the academy.
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Please explain how you will support the nominee’s research and writing during their fellowship. Be precise about deadlines for work-in-progress and schedule of check-ins with the student, your availability and willingness to meet with the student and read and offer feedback on work-in-progress during the summer, and your commitment to seeing the project through to a successful conclusion.
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Please end your letter with your full contact information, including your name, rank and academic unit at DePaul, email address, and phone number.
Faculty may submit their letters of nominations between February 12 and March 4 to the STRC at
strc@depaul.edu.
Once nominations have been received, the STRC will contact nominees individually and ask them to submit an application describing the research project that will form the basis of their conference paper. Full details of the student application can be found
here.
Application Timeline
The application timeline is outlined below. Interested students should review the FAQ and attend the general information session on
March 11, 2024 at 4:30 PM (registration is here). Please direct questions to the directors of the STRC, Julie Moody-Freeman (jmoodyfr@depaul.edu) and Bill Johnson González (bjohns58@depaul.edu).
| Stage |
Date |
Call for Proposal & Application Guidelines posted
|
January 16, 2024
|
Faculty Nomination Period opens
|
February 12, 2024
|
Faculty Nomination Period closes
|
March 4, 2024
|
Information Session
|
March 11, 2024
|
Online Student Application opens
|
March 11, 2024
|
Online Student Application closes
|
April 2, 2024
|
Award notifications
|
April 19, 2024
|
Application Preparation
Applicants for the Graduate Research Fellowship should review the Application Guidelines packet, which provides complete details of all materials that must be submitted through the online application.
Guidelines & Preparation
Download the Application Guidelines for easy offline review.
Download Packet