Townsend (Dissertation) Fellowship
Our longest-running program, the Townsend Fellowships Program supports the research of graduate students and assistant professors. Throughout the year the fellows meet for regular discussions with several tenured faculty and other invited guests. These discussions allow for interdisciplinary peer review of work in progress in a weekly discussion format.
Townsend Fellowships are awarded to graduate students writing Ph.D. dissertations whose research projects significantly involve humanistic material or problems that have a significant bearing on the humanities. The competition is open to graduate students who are advanced to candidacy, or who will be advanced to candidacy by June 2010. Graduate students receive an $18,000 stipend. In general, the award will not affect the student's eligibility to receive the Dean's Normative Time Fellowship (DNTF), which, in most cases, can be postponed. Specific questions about the DNTF should be directed to the Graduate Division's Fellowships Office (510-642-0672). Because the purpose of the Townsend Fellowship is to enable full-time research, fellows will not hold other university appointments during the academic year.
The purpose of the Fellowship is to further the research of the individual recipients and to promote interdepartmental exchange: i.e., to enable faculty and graduate students within the humanities to meet and work with their colleagues in other departments. However, the project need not be "interdisciplinary" by definition. Awards are based on the scholarly merit of the individual applications. The selection committee will also take into consideration the research project's potential interest to scholars in different fields of the humanities and the likelihood of the applicant’s contribution to interdisciplinary discussion. The Fellows, together with several tenured faculty appointed by the director of the Townsend Center, form a Fellowship group that meets over lunch every Tuesday to discuss work in progress. The award of a Townsend Fellowship carries with it the understanding that the recipient will attend the weekly meetings of the Fellowship group and participate actively as a member.
Download the 2010-2011 Fellowships guidelines and application:
PDF (200kb)
Microsoft Word (64kb)
For information about the 2009-2010 Fellows, click here.