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Grants and Fellowships

Funding and Travel Grants for Graduate Students in History

There is a wide range of funding available to graduate students through the History Department and other offices on and off campus.

Grants and Fellowships Administered by the History Department

Get application materials.

Provost's Summer Grants for Graduate Research

All graduate students who have passed comprehensive doctoral examinations may apply for these funds, but those who are still on stipend will be given preference.

Amount: Students may apply for awards up to $1,500 each, but final awards may be prorated according to the availability of funds.

Deadline: April 1 of each year; if April 1 falls on a weekend, then the deadline will be the following Monday.

Students who wish to apply should submit in triplicate to the graduate director:

  1. the completed cover sheet (pdf)
  2. a short letter of application with the title and brief description of your research project, your full name, middle initial, Banner I.D. Number, home address if different from your local address, summer addresses if different from either of the foregoing. The letter should also indicate whether you will be on the College payroll during the summer.
  3. a lengthier discussion of your larger project, its historiographical significance, your methodological approach, and what portion of the larger project you hope to complete this summer. This statement should not exceed 750 words.
  4. a cv, which should indicate dates of degrees, MA thesis title and advisor, your tentative dissertation title and advisor, your teaching and research fields, prizes, awards, publications, talks given, teaching experience, etc.
  5. a budget, including hard estimates of anticipated expenses for travel, housing, and research aids such as microfilm. Meals will not be covered.

Note:  Successful applicants will be required to submit a brief report of their summer research to the DGS by September15 for summer projects or by December 1 for fall projects.  Any publications that stem from this research should acknowledge the Provost's Summer Research Fund.

Sixth-year Fellowships

By the first Monday of the spring semester, students in their fifth year of study should submit their preferences for sixth-year assignments, listed below.  In addition to a cover letter in which they rank their preferences, students should submit:

  1. an approximately 750-word summary of their dissertation, including a plan detailing when and how they will finish it
  2. a brief letter from their dissertation advisor, which addresses their qualifications for the various award as well as the practicality of their dissertation completion plan
  3. a writing sample (preferably a chapter from their dissertation)
  4. a cv, which indicates dates of degrees, MA thesis title and advisor, their tentative dissertation title and advisor, their teaching and research fields, prizes, awards, publications, talks given, teaching experience, etc.
Glucksman Fellowship

This fellowship goes to a sixth-year graduate student who is an exceptional scholar and teacher.   The Glucksman Fellow will serve in both semesters of the fellowship year as a Writing Center Preceptor in the HRWC, a TA for the Global History Survey course, or in another teaching or research assignment determined by departmental needs.

The George Washington Fellowship of the General Society for Colonial Wars

This fellowship goes to a sixth year graduate student who is writing a dissertation on colonial history.  The recipient will serve in both semesters of the fellowship year as a Writing Center Preceptor in the HRWC, a TA for the Global History survey course, or in another teaching or research assignment as determined by departmental needs.

Writing Center Preceptorships

The department will usually award three of these positions to sixth-year students.  Consultants work fifteen hours per week at the Center for the entire academic year and devote the rest of their time to finishing their dissertations.

Global History TA Fellowships

Global History T.A's serve as graders and discussion leaders for four sections (of 12 students) of Hist. 192-Global History. Usually T.A.s teach all four sections in one semester and have the other semester free to work on their dissertations.

Research and Conference Travel Funds

There are several sources of travel funds on campus.  The Graduate Student Association awards conference travel funds once a year.   The Grants Office administers the competition for Minor Research Grants (up to $500).  Graduate students can apply to the Dean of Research and Graduate Studies for travel funds as well.

Graduate students who have passed their comprehensive exams may receive Provost Summer Grants of up to $1,500 which fund dissertation research.  For international travel, graduate students can apply to the Reves Center whether they are presenting a paper or merely want to attend a conference in their field. The Charles Center oversees students' applications for various national fellowships, some of which are open to graduate students, such as the Fulbright Fellowship, Luce, and Mellon fellowships programs.

External Sources of Funding

Internal sources of funding are just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of external sources of funding as well. The Office of Grants and Research Administration has on-line information about many off-campus grants as well as guides to help you prepare your applications. Off campus, the various historical associations are excellent sources of information on grants and prizes of interest to graduate students. The American Historical Association, for example, has several awards aimed specifically at graduate students in particular fields. The AHA's guide to Grants, Fellowships and Prizes of Interest to Historians is an excellent source of information. You can buy a hardcopy or find it online if you are a member of th AHA.  The Organizaton of American Historians has information about fellowships and prizes in a wide range of fields on its website. APSA, the American Political Science Association, maintains a long on-line list of graduate fellowships and prizes, many of which are relevant to historians. There are grants for people studying Thomas Jefferson, grants for dissertations on sexuality, grants for graduate students who want to travel to conferences or learn another language, you name it. Many libraries and historical societies have unpublished grants for historians who need to use their collections.   Small grants will help you get big ones, so don't ignore them because they seem like to much trouble.

A Small Sample of Fellowship Links of Interest to Graduate Students: