The Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture

The Scherer Center currently offers dissertation-year fellowships for Ph.D. students in the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. These awards, which include stipends comparable in value to the top dissertation-year fellowships offered through the Humanities Division, recognize excellence and promise in the study of the culture, history, and society of the United States of America, including pre-1775 history.

Beginning in 2009, the Scherer Center will partner with the Newberry Library in Chicago to award short-term fellowships for research on American culture. The Scherer Center/Newberry Library Fellowship in American Culture  is restricted to Ph.D. candidates, post-doctoral scholars, or holders of other terminal degrees from outside of the Chicago area who have a specific need for Newberry collections. For further information, please visit the fellowships page on the Newberry Library’s website.

Scherer Center Dissertation Fellowship for 2009-2010

The Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture at the University of Chicago is pleased to announce dissertation-year fellowships for students pursuing projects on American topics in the Humanities, the Social Sciences, and the Divinity School. These awards, which include stipends comparable in value to the top dissertation-year fellowships offered through the Humanities Division, will recognize excellence and promise in the study of the culture, history, and society of the United States of America, including pre-1775 history.

Terms: Fellows will receive tuition, required fees (i.e., the student activity fee and the health and wellness fee), a stipend (in 2008-09 the stipend was $24,900), and University student health insurance on the Basic Plan, if the student elects to take it.

Eligibility: Students must have been formally admitted to candidacy at the time of nomination (i.e., by April 17, 2009). This deadline is firm, and no exceptions will be granted. Scherer Center Fellowships may not be held by students who are beyond the eighth year in their programs, and strong preference will be given to applicants currently in year five or year six of their programs.

Nomination process: Departments and committees may submit nominations for no more than two students. Nominations should be made in a letter from the chair, which must specify that the candidate has been nominated by the entire faculty of the department or committee. If a department or committee wishes to nominate more than one student, the chair’s letter should include a relative ranking of the candidates.

Supporting documents: The dossier for each nominated student should include the following supporting documents:

1. letters from three members of the student’s dissertation committee (or two letters if the student has only two readers),
2. a copy of the nominee’s dissertation proposal,
3. a table of contents and current completion status of each chapter,
4. a curriculum vitae (CV),
5. a copy of one (and no more than one) approved chapter of the nominee’s dissertation, and
6. a copy of the student’s transcript.

The Scherer Center selection committee reserves the right to exclude from consideration dossiers that do not comply with these requirements.

Departments in the Humanities and Social Sciences and areas in the Divinity School should submit nominations and dossiers directly to their Dean of Students Offices by April 17, 2009. Please direct all questions about this award to Kristin Lueke at 773-834-3403 or klueke@uchicago.edu.