Funding
All students entering the graduate program in French Studies receive guaranteed support (four years for students entering with an MA or six years for students entering with a BA). This guarantee includes full tuition, academic year stipends (either as graduate instructorships or fellowships), and student health insurance coverage. We also offer summer support, as well as travel money and grants for research projects and conference travel. In addition, a variety of University, national and international fellowships, exchanges, and research opportunities are available to students.
Students are advised that successful graduate fellowship applications increase their competitiveness when applying for jobs by demonstrating that they stand out among their peers. There is nothing to lose from applying, and everything to gain!
Moreover, while the Department of French & Italian does its utmost to support its students, they should also seek resources beyond the department. This is one way for students to show their willingness to engage with the larger intellectual community.
Teaching Assistantships
As a graduate instructor, your training will prepare you to excel in the teaching of language, literature, and culture. As a new graduate instructor, you will teach one section per semester of a first or second-year French course. You will receive extensive training, pedagogical support, and guidance from the director of language instruction and program coordinators. Our pedagogical training emphasizes both theory and practical training in second language pedagogy. Furthermore, while graduate students in many French departments teach only language courses, we offer our students a wide range of teaching opportunities, including courses at the intermediate level and literature classes.
Departmental Fellowships
As a graduate student, funds are available to you for travel to present a paper at a conference, fulfill a library or archive fellowship, or attend other competitive programs (such as Cornell School of Criticism and Theory or Dartmouth Cultural Studies Institute).
Summer fellowships are also awarded to outstanding students who are making timely progress on their degrees.
Exchange Fellowships
The Department participates in exchanges with two French university partners, the Université Paris Diderot (Paris 7) and the Université Paul-Valéry (Montpellier). The purpose of these exchange programs is to provide graduate students the opportunity to teach and study for a year in France at a stage in their graduate career when this opportunity will be of maximum benefit, allowing them to pursue their research and to gain enhanced linguistic and cultural fluency.
TAPIF Scholarship Award
The FRIT Department offers up to two TAPIF Fellowships, in the form of two summer fellowships of $5,000, to each of the two most academically promising former TAPIF participants who are accepted to, and enroll in, the graduate program. In addition, the application fee will be refunded to each awardee. In order to receive this fellowship, awardees must be enrolled full-time and continuously in the program and must meet program criteria for satisfactory progress toward the degree.
Applicants may also receive additional merit and need-based scholarships depending on the strength of their application or financial situation.
To apply and receive the TAPIF scholarship:
When submitting their application, applicants should indicate that they are affiliated with TAPIF, and should include their experience on their resume or curriculum vitae.
University Fellowships
All graduate students have a variety of fellowships and grants available to fund their studies. See the Graduate School Funding and Tuition page for more information.
- Summer Fellowship Support
The College of Liberal Arts provides funds for students engaged in an active mentoring relationship that substantial advances their educational progress by supporting their professional, scholarly, and creative development while collaborating with a CLA faculty project adviser on scholarly research and creative activity. - Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
The Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship funds the final year of dissertation writing for outstanding graduate students. It allows students to devote all of their time to research and writing, without any teaching responsibilities. - Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships
These fellowships are awarded to outstanding Graduate School students whose current or proposed dissertation topic is interdisciplinary and who would benefit from interaction with faculty at one of the University-wide, interdisciplinary research centers or institutes. Our students apply for affiliation with the Institute for Advanced Study.
National & International Fellowships
There are multiple opportunities for research funding, including year-long or shorter period funding. These include the Fulbright Fellowship (for a year of research in any country) and the Bourse Chateaubriand en sciences sociales et littérature (for a year of research in France). Students should consult their advisors for more information.