Townsend (Dissertation) Fellowship

The Townsend (Dissertation) Fellowship is awarded annually to graduate students. The purpose of the Fellowship is to further the research of the individual recipients and to promote interdepartmental exchange. The Fellowship group is made up of six to seven graduate students and three assistant professors who meet together with several senior faculty on a weekly basis to discuss work in progress.

The competition is open to graduate students who will be advanced to candidacy by June of the fellowship year. Awards are based on the scholarly merit of the individual applications. Successful dissertations significantly involve humanistic material or problems that have a significant bearing on the humanities. The selection committee also considers the research project’s potential interest to scholars in different fields of the humanities and the likelihood of the applicantís contributing to interdisciplinary discussion. The award of a Fellowship carries with it the understanding that the recipient will attend the weekly meetings of the Fellowship group and participate actively as a member.

Graduate student Fellows receive an $18,000 stipend. Please note: the Center does not pay tuition, fees, or any additional costs. 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, we expect that students will not hold other university appointments during the academic year.

The application period for 2008-2009 Fellowships is November 16, 2007.
Please note that applications and letters of reference may now be submitted via email. Please download the complete instructions for details.
DOWNLOAD APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS.

For questions about the program, please contact Program Coordinator Harris Kornstein at 510/643-9670 or harriskornstein@berkeley.edu.

For information about the 2007-2008 Fellows, click here.