CENTER FOR NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS RESEARCH

Graduate Fellowships

The Center for Native American and Indigenous Research (CNAIR) requests proposals for its 2019-2020 graduate student fellowship awards. As the university’s and Chicago’s intellectual hub for research with and about Native Americans and for Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) research, CNAIR supports undergraduate, graduate, and faculty fellows. The Center’s graduate student fellowship program seeks to generate and support research that is responsive to and engaged with Native communities and organizations and NAIS research. Graduate students will receive mentoring in Indigenous methodologies; present their work at the CNAIR research symposium; and join a community of scholars dedicated to work that is interdisciplinary and oriented both to critical inquiry and to its repercussions for communities inside and outside the university. We welcome fellowship applications from Northwestern graduate students in all disciplines, including the social sciences, humanities, science and engineering, business, law, and medicine.

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIPS

Graduate student fellows will:

• Meet regularly throughout the fellowship term to discuss their projects with the CNAIR scholarly community
• Attend CNAIR-sponsored talks and events
• Present work at end of year CNAIR Research Symposium
• May select and lead discussion of a reading with the NAIS graduate cluster
• Have the opportunity to develop an understanding of career pathways related to NAIS research and Native organizations both inside and outside of university settings. Once selected, fellows will work with CNAIR co-directors to partner with a mentor at Chicagoland NAIS-and Native organizations.
• We will select one digital projects fellow, who will receive mentoring in creating digital projects related to NAIS scholarship and Native communities. If you wish to be considered as the digital projects fellow, please include in your personal statement the rationale for this consideration. This rationale should focus on a proposed project or use for digital platforms (no prior experience is necessary: we seek to foster digital scholarship in NAIS with the fellowship and will consider the student’s proposed research goals and plan rather than experience or expertise. We will provide necessary training and mentoring.)

Fellowships include support for one quarter, including a monthly stipend, fringe benefits, and research funds. TGS will cover the cost of tuition and health insurance benefits. Recipients of these fellowships will have the possibility to extend their existing funding toward support in their sixth year. Fellowships will be awarded by March 30, 2019; funds may be applied to fall 2019 and winter, spring, and summer 2020 quarters. Applicants must be enrolled in a Northwestern doctoral program.

application process

Applications are due by March 1. Please submit the following documents as one PDF file to Jennifer Michals (jennifer.michals@northwestern.edu):

• A 5 page, double spaced research proposal. The proposal should describe your research project in a way that is accessible to an interdisciplinary audience; identify your methodology and explain how it aligns with CNAIR’s mission; contextualize your research within your field or discipline; and explain your anticipated outcomes from your fellowship (a dissertation chapter, a creative piece, particular data gathered, etc.).
• A budget proposal for the $1500 research funds
• C.V.
• One writing sample, not to exceed 20 pages (double spaced); shorter samples (such as conference papers) are welcome.
• A letter of recommendation from your primary faculty mentor should be sent directly from the faculty member to jennifer.michals@northwestern.edu by March 1.

Read about our 2019 fellows here.