The application period for the 2024-25 academic year is now open.
Click here to apply. Deadline: May 6, 2024.
The Sexualities Project at Northwestern (SPAN) will open its application period for 2024-25 SPAN Dissertation Fellowships in April 2024. The deadline to apply is Monday, May 6, 2024. Northwestern University doctoral students who either have advanced to candidacy or will advance in the current academic year, and whose dissertation relates to sexuality studies from a social science perspective are invited to apply.
This application has three components:
- An online application.
- Within the application, you will be asked to upload a summary of your dissertation (no more than 3 pages, double-spaced, with standard fonts and margins). Your summary should be explicit about your research questions, research methods, and the connections to sexuality studies. Please also indicate succinctly your current stage in the project (e.g., completing dissertation proposal, collecting data, completing write-up, etc.).
- In addition, please ask the Chair of your dissertation committee to send an email to sexualities@northwestern.edu that reports on your status in the doctoral program and indicates when you will advance to candidacy, if you haven’t already done so. This need not be a formal letter of recommendation.
Your application will not be complete until we have received all three components: the online application, the summary, and the email from your dissertation chair.
Additional information
To be eligible, applicants (a) must currently be in their 3rd, 4th, or 5th year of graduate study and (b) must have already attained ABD status before their fellowship term begins. If you receive a SPAN Dissertation Fellowship, you may petition your Department to bank previously awarded support equivalent to the length of the SPAN dissertation fellowship for use in your sixth year.
Applications will be judged both on the merits of the project and in relation to the degree of closeness to sexuality studies. A total of eight quarters of funding is available to award, including tuition and the standard monthly stipend. The Selection Committee will select how to award these eight quarters between chosen applicants (ex: awarding four quarters of funding to two students or awarding one – three quarters of funding to several students). Faculty advisers of awardees will be asked to verify eligibility. Unless they are out of the area, awardees will be expected to present, during their award period, in the Gender & Sexuality Studies Graduate Colloquium. Awardees will be required to submit a short progress report at the completion of the fellowship term.
Please note: Students are encouraged to apply for a SPAN Dissertation Fellowship or a SPAN Summer Research Grant or both. Students who apply for but do not receive a dissertation fellowship are welcome to reapply in a subsequent year. Students who have received a SPAN dissertation fellowship in the past may reapply the following year, but their applications will be assigned lower priority.
Substantive questions about the fellowship program can be directed to SPAN Co-Directors Héctor Carrillo (hector@northwestern.edu) and Gregory Ward (gw@northwestern.edu). Questions concerning the application process should be directed to sexualities@northwestern.edu.
For information on dissertation fellowships that have been awarded in the past, click here.