Weinstein Family Fellowship offers $25,000 for interdisciplinary research, applications due Dec. 5

The School of Arts & Sciences is accepting proposals for the Weinstein Family Fellows Program now through Friday, December 5. The Weinstein Family Fellowship provides a stipend of $25,000 to a team of students and faculty who develop an interdisciplinary research project that touches one of departments in Weinstein Hall.

Students who apply for the fellowship can major in anything. Their research proposal should span at least two different subject areas, however, with one of the subjects relating to a field that is currently housed in Weinstein Hall: criminal justice, anthropology, sociology, political science, journalism, rhetoric and communication studies or geography. For example, a successful proposal might combine chemistry and journalism or studio art and political science.  

The first step to completing a successful fellowship proposal is for a student to speak with a professor who works in one of the Weinstein Hall departments mentioned above. Together, the student and faculty member develop a potential research project and recruit a second professor who works in an outside discipline. As the scope of the project grows, the student and professors will typically recruit other students to work on the team.

Winning a Weinstein Family Fellowship kicks off a 16-month research cycle. The winning proposal is announced in January and the students and faculty spend the spring semester preparing their summer research agenda. During the summer, the team collects data. The following fall is spent furthering research, synthesizing ideas and data and creating the research product, typically a paper or presentation. During that time period, the team will organize discussions and events to educate the campus about their topic. The following spring semester, the faculty members who led the project will teach a course that relates directly back to the research project.

Proposals for the 2009-2010 Weinstein Family Fellowship are due Friday, December 5 at the School of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office. Questions about completing the proposal should be directed to Susan Johnson O’Neil. Visit the School of Arts & Sciences’ Web site for the application or to learn more about past recipients’ projects.

Posted November 7, 2008