Through the support of our Partners of the Center, CSWGS is pleased to offer competitive fellowships to advanced graduate students in the CSWGS Graduate Certificate program who are in the final phase of Ph.D. dissertation writing. Fellows receive a $7,500 dollar stipend.

Eligibility

• The program is open to Graduate Certificate students who have completed Certificate requirements and all requirements for the Ph.D. except the dissertation (obtained ABD status) by the application deadline and have already completed at least one chapter of the dissertation.
• The program will give priority to graduate students who have exhausted regular funding from their departments.
• Graduate students who currently hold or have previously held a dissertation completion fellowship are not eligible.
• Unsuccessful applicants may reapply.

Application Requirements

• Please contact cswgs@rice.edu prior to submitting your application, and prepare the following elements:
• A proposal (no more than five pages, double-spaced) indicating the dissertation’s topic and argument.
• One-page timeline for the expected completion of dissertation writing and defense.
• Completed chapter of the dissertation (that is neither the introduction, nor the conclusion, nor the literature review) of not more than 25 double-spaced pages, or a representative 25-page excerpt from a longer chapter. The chapter must be in English, though citations may be in other languages (with translations provided).
• A letter from the dissertation director that indicates the applicant’s scholarly record, contribution to the field of women, gender, and sexuality studies, and progress toward the degree.

Criteria Used in Judging Applications

The CSWGS faculty committee asked to review applications is instructed to use the following four criteria:
1. The potential of the project to advance the field of study of women, gender, and sexuality and make an original and significant contribution to knowledge.
2. The quality of the proposal with regard to its methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature.
3. The feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will execute the work within the proposed timeframe.
4. The scholarly record and career trajectory of the applicant.