Apply for a CPS Dissertation Workshop Fellowship

Applications for Summer 2024 Center for Premodern Studies Dissertation Fellowships are due by 11:59 pm on Thursday, February 15th, 2024. Application materials should be emailed in PDF format to premod@umn.edu.

Download the description of application materials and cover sheet.

In Summer 2024, the Center for Premodern Studies (CPS) will provide support for five to six graduate students at the early stages of dissertation research and writing to participate in the CPS Dissertation Fellowship Program. The goals of the workshop are to help doctoral students 1) think about their work in comparative, premodern, global, and cross-disciplinary ways; 2) engage collaboratively and generatively with peers about their own scholarship and that of others; 3) make progress on their research and writing through intensive collaboration and feedback.

The workshop will be led by Michelle Hamilton, Professor of Spanish at the University of Minnesota and Trustee for Medieval Studies with the Center for Premodern Studies. Professor Hamilton was a Regent for the Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World Mellon Grant from 2015-2022. She is a scholar of multi-confessional Iberian literature and culture and has also supported workshops, seminars, and a conference on Premodern Food Studies.

Schedule: Awardees will meet on May 13th-16th for an initial workshop and again at the end of the summer on August 19th- 23rd (August 19th and 20th may be asynchronous workshop days. This will be determined during the May workshop). The active workshop time is usually between 9 or 10 am and 3 pm each day.  Virtual check-ins may occur periodically during June and July. Students who receive the award must commit to participating fully in both intensive workshops.

Award Details: Five to six applicants will be selected to receive fellowships to support their participation in the workshop. Fellowships will be at least $5,000. CPS will contribute $3,500 and students’ programs must commit to providing an additional $1,500 or more toward the student’s support. The application form asks DGS’s to document departmental commitment to providing such support. CPS will pay out their portion of the support at the end of Spring semester 2024. Departments are responsible for making their own plans and timeline for their portion of the fellowship payment. Note: The CPS Dissertation workshop is supported by CLA fellowship funding, which includes the condition that the Center seek matching funds from departments.

Eligibility: Prospective fellows must commit to participating in the May and August workshops. No other appointments (teaching or research assistantships) may be held during the fellowship term. Students may hold other fellowships in the summer to support their research.

This fellowship is designed to support students who work in the historical humanities and social sciences and who are at the early stages of dissertation research and writing. For this reason, preference will be given to students who have completed or plan to complete their preliminary PhD exams between September 2022 and May 15, 2024.

Dissertation topics need not be comparative or interdisciplinary in order to benefit from the CPS dissertation fellowship program. It is our view that any dissertation project, even one focused on a narrowly specific time, place, and  topic, can be enriched by multi-disciplinary and comparative discussions.