Frequently Asked Questions

Ph.D. Candidates may apply if all pre-dissertation requirements are met, if questions of women and gender studies are of central to their dissertations, and if they can reasonably expect to complete their dissertations during tenure of the award.

Yes, foreign citizens may apply if they meet the following criteria:

1. They are enrolled in a doctoral program at an American university located in the United States.

2. They have completed all pre-dissertation requirements.

No. Only students currently enrolled in a graduate program in the U.S. are eligible to apply.

Yes, if you applied for the Fellowship within the last two years and provided that your revised timeline meets the Fellowship guidelines for completion and defense.

The Fellowship is open to doctoral candidates, which means that a doctoral student has fulfilled all of the institutional and departmental criteria prior to writing the dissertation. The requirements for candidacy may vary between institutions and departments—some require a language exam, others do not; some may require a proposal defense, others may not. Candidacy is determined by each department’s individual criteria. A departmental administrator can tell you whether or not you have advanced to candidacy.

Yes.

No. Eligibility is limited to candidates in the social sciences and humanities working toward a Ph.D. or Th.D. degree. Candidates must me enrolled in an American doctoral program at a graduate school located in the United States. Candidates working on D.Min., law, Psy.D., Ed.D., and other professional degrees are not eligible.

The fields of study listed in the application reflect the fields in which the Women’s Studies competition has selection panels. If you do not see your precise field listed, choose the field most closely aligned with your work. For example, if you are in a classics department, decide whether your particular project should be read as art history, early world history, philosophy, or world literature.

The online application, doctoral transcript, supplemental items (cover sheet, abstract, proposal, bibliography, timetable, personal statement, and C.V.), and two letters of recommendation. See the How to Apply page for more details about the online application process.

You should ask the person who is directing your dissertation and an additional faculty member. (A co-director may be listed as a faculty recommender.) The faculty member may be from your own institution or department or a different institution or department.

If a recommender declines your request to provide a recommendation, you will be notified via email by Tech-Help. You will then need to return to your application and replace the recommender.

If the recommender in question has not submitted a letter, go to the Recommendation section of your application and use the trash icon to remove the recommender. You can then enter the contact information of the new recommender and click Send Invitation.

If the recommender in question has already submitted a letter, no change is possible. Should one of your recommenders inform Tech-Help@citizensandscholars.org that they decline to provide a recommendation, you will receive an email from Tech-Help advising you to replace a specific recommender.

If your recommender has not received your request, please ask them to check their spam/junk folder in case it has been blocked by their IP address or by their personal email preferences. If they do not find it, you can return to the Recommendation section of your application and click the Resend Invitation button under the appropriate recommender.