The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder is now accepting applications for a new dissertation fellowship program provided by the Lilly Endowment Inc.
The one-year fellowship grants of $12,000 each are available to doctoral candidates nationwide who are engaged in research projects involving media, religion and culture. The grants are designed to coincide with the year of dissertation proposal writing, or the first year after the approval of the dissertation proposal.
Stewart Hoover, professor and interim dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said that the goal of the fellowship program is to help develop teaching and scholarship in media and religion.
"A program like this can jump-start a new field, and that is precisely what we hope to do," he noted. "There is a growing need for teaching and research in a variety of places, and we see this as a way of providing leadership."
Fellows will be selected from various universities and disciplines on the basis of their proposals. The selected candidates will be brought together for "master seminars" at which leading scholars in media, religion and culture will interact with fellows, their advisers and the research team at CU-Boulder's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, headed by Hoover and Assistant Research Professor Lynn Schofield Clark.
According to Hoover, the seminars are expected to result in significant publications, either in the form of edited volumes or journal symposia. Other means of dissemination and sharing of these experiences also will be explored, including online discussions and resources.
Last year, three fellowships were awarded for the current academic year, 2002-2003, the first year of the program. The recipients are Phyllis E. Alsdurf of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, Anne L. Borden of Emory University's sociology department and Ferruh Yilmaz of the University of California at San Diego's department of communication.ÌýÌýÌý
The deadline for applications for academic year 2003-2004 is March 31. More information on the application process is available by calling Diane Alters at (303) 735-3053 or visiting the Web site at .Ìý
The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment supports the causes of religion, education and community development with grants that last year totaled nearly $600 million.