CCAS Social Justice and Equity Fellowship
The CCAS Social Justice and Equity Fellowship was created to support advanced research by undergraduate students at GW. The Social Justice and Equity Fellows will:
- Conduct summer creative work or research under the direction of a CCAS faculty mentor.
- Conduct creative work or research that engages Social Justice and Equity themes, broadly conceived, by drawing upon disciplinary questions, methods, ideas and frameworks from the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences.
Funded students receive stipends to advance their research, and their faculty mentors also receive support.
According to the Tax Office 3-8313, the student should receive a 1098T and report this information on their taxes. It can, therefore, have an impact on student financial aid. Please contact CCAS Undergraduate Studies if this impact creates difficulty for a student’s participation.
Eligibility
Undergraduates pursuing Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, or Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees are eligible to apply. Students who apply:
- Must be a GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences first year student, sophomore or junior when applying (graduating seniors are not eligible).
- Must have a full-time CCAS faculty mentor (CCAS part-time faculty may serve as co-mentors).
- Must have a declared major.
- Must be in good standing with the university.
The fellowship will support students with research interests in all disciplines and subdisciplines of CCAS. There are many examples within CCAS of potential research including, but not limited to, environmental literature, sustainability, food equity, arts and social justice, disability studies, data and social justice, gender equity in the sciences, and the list goes on.
Examples of research projects include — but are not limited to — historical research on Bracero workers who were given visas to work as farm laborers in the United States; quantitative research on the impact of incarceration on children; staged performance of theater or dance that represents the experiences of minoritized communities; or policy analysis of health care data in Washington, D.C. communities.
Research Project
- Must be undertaken during the sophomore, junior or senior year.
- Should result in work that could merit presentation, performance or publication in a scholarly venue in the spring semester after the research is completed such as the GW Research Showcase or the GW Undergraduate Review Journal.
Requirements
- At the end of the summer after the award, students should present a one-page progress report that is reviewed by the faculty member and reported to the Undergraduate Dean.
- All funded students are invited to propose and present at the CCAS Research Showcase during the spring semester or encouraged to present at another venue.
- Students and faculty mentors may be asked to represent or present their research or creative works at other university events.
How to Apply
The application process requires a 2-3 page application, which should include three elements:
- One-and-a-half-page statement by the student of their research or creative work, how their research or creative work engages social justice and equity themes, how the research or creative work will contribute to their academic, creative, and/or professional goals, and the impact of the research.
- One-page statement of support by the faculty with a detailed description of how they will mentor the student.
- Short statement by department chair about how the student’s research or creative work contributes to the department’s curricular mission.
Application Deadline
Applications are due to the Associate Dean's Office in early March of the academic year. Applications are reviewed by members of the Undergraduate Studies Committee.
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