The Association for Jewish Studies invites applications for its second annual Dissertation Completion Fellowship competition. This program is generously supported through a grant from Legacy Heritage Fund. Launched in 2016, this fellowship program awards seven finishing-year fellowships annually ($20,000 each) to PhD students entering the final year of their programs and completing a dissertation in the field of Jewish Studies. The Fall 2016 competition will support fellowships in the 2017-2018 academic year.
The Dissertation Completion Fellowships will encourage the timely completion of doctorates by the most promising graduate students in the field; create a cohort of fellows who will lead the field of Jewish Studies for decades to come; expose new audiences to Jewish Studies scholarships through fellows’ public lectures; and promote continued growth of academic Jewish Studies, at a time of institutional cutbacks in the humanities and social science. The program will both provide resources to fellows, in the form of a $20,000 stipend, as well as professional development opportunities, through a mid-year workshop and ongoing contact with mentors during the fellowship year. Only students who are in the final stages of writing their dissertations and who display clear evidence of their ability to defend their dissertations by June 20, 2018 are eligible to apply for this program.
A unique feature of the program will be its public engagement component. Each fellow will be asked to give one public lecture or workshop at the end of their fellowship year in which they will share their research with a general audience. The purpose of this public speaking component is to give fellows crucial experience in making their work accessible to an interested but non-expert public, and to help satisfy the great demand for engaging and sophisticated discussion of Jewish history, literature, religion, and culture.
For further information, including application instructions please visit the AJS website. Questions? Contact Amy Weiss, AJS Grants and communications Coordinator, at aweiss@ajs.cjh.org. You can apply via Interfolio at this link.
Deadline: December 6, 2016