Awards & Scholarships
GWSS 50th Anniversary Design Challenge!
GWSS is celebrating its 50th Anniversary as a department! A $100 prize will be awarded to a new button design that commemorates our 50th year. To apply, fill out the Google form and submit a design for our anniversary button by April 20, 2025. Your design should include the words GWSS and 50 Years and fit on a ⌀2.5 button. The visual, colors, and the rest of the text are up to you. Be creative! Think memes, protest signs, and popular culture related to our work as frontline feminist workers in this era. The selected design will be distributed on buttons at GWSS’ 50-year celebration & undergraduate symposium on May 2nd, 2025. It will also be our new logo for our GWSS Insta. Any UMN undergraduate student is eligible to apply. Here is the link to the online application.
Spring Semester 2025 Awards!
We are excited to announce 5 awards for undergraduate GWSS majors, minors, and students enrolled in our courses! Please read the descriptions and requirements of each award below as some awards are for GWSS majors and/or minors only, whereas others are open to any student who has been enrolled in a GWSS course during the 2024-25 academic year. Submissions must be received by Sunday, April 13th, 2025 at midnight. Awardees will be honored at our Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 2nd, 2025. For instructions on how to apply and eligibility requirements, visit our online application.
Available Awards
Christina N. Grubba Memorial Scholarship
A $500 annual award made to one GWSS major who has completed an unpaid internship in the field of Feminist or GLBTQ Studies this current academic year. The award is intended for junior & senior majors who demonstrate academic achievement and financial need. Please provide a brief but well-written, well-edited essay (500 words maximum) describing the work that you did in your internship, how it aligns with the principles and priorities of GWSS as a field, and what insights and perspectives you have gained from this internship experience.
Community Engagement Grant
This $500 grant will be awarded to students who are applying feminist scholarship to community engaged projects on local, domestic, or international levels. Priority is given to GWSS majors, but GWSS minors, GLBT minors, and BIS/IDIM students with an emphasis in GWSS or GLBT studies will also be considered. Please provide a brief but well-written, well-edited essay (500 words maximum) describing your community engaged work, how it aligns with the principles and priorities of GWSS as a field, and what insights and perspectives you have gained from the experience. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Social Justice Award
$500 annual award made to a GWSS major or minor to continue an activist-oriented project or to award a paper already written that is related to a feminist social justice movement. Please submit the paper OR a well-written, well-edited essay (500 words maximum) that describes the activist oriented project that you are currently working on, how it aligns with the principles and priorities of GWSS as a field, and what insights and perspectives you have gained from the experience.
Helen Hawthorne Hartung Award
This $500 award will be granted to a student who has completed an outstanding feminist paper or creative project for a GWSS course during the current academic year. This award is not limited to GWSS majors/minors. All students who have completed a GWSS course this year are encouraged to apply.
Valata Dakota Fletcher Award
A $500 award granted for outstanding feminist writing by a returning woman undergraduate student. You must be a woman who has returned to the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, after being away from school 10 years or more. Please submit a paper or project that you have completed in a GWSS course during the current academic year. This award is not limited to GWSS majors/minors. All students who have completed a GWSS course this year are encouraged to apply.
CLA Scholarships
CLA offers several scholarships for students pursuing liberal arts majors such as GWSS. Check out their website for general scholarship information, as well as scholarships available for student internships. Have questions? Contact your CLA advisor or inquire with the GWSS advisor.
Federal Needs-Based Scholarships
Students who wish to be considered for need-based awards should file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). These applications are typically due April 1, but check the website for the latest information.