Editing Area Studies Focus

* '''American Academy of Religion - International Dissertation Research Grants Program:''' 

-- The American Academy of Religion announces the 2010 International Dissertation Research Grants Program. This program is designed to support AAR Student members whose dissertation research requires them to travel outside of the country in which their school or university is located. Grants are intended to help candidates complete their doctoral degrees by offsetting costs of travel, lodging, and other dissertation research-related expenses. (Grant monies may not be used for tuition, computer hardware, or meals.) This is a competitive program: applications will be reviewed by a jury of senior scholars appointed by the AAR President. The Academy will make two grants in 2010.

-- A. The Academy will award one International Dissertation Research Grant to a student working in any sub-discipline within religious studies, and B. The Academy will also award the Selva J. Raj Endowed International Dissertation Research Fellowship, which is described as follows:

The Selva J. Raj Endowed International Dissertation Research Fellowship honors the life and work of Professor Selva J. Raj, a prolific scholar, a gifted teacher, and a magnificent human being who passed away unexpectedly in 2008. A graduate of the University of Chicago Divinity School and a long-time member of the American Academy of Religion, Selva held several prominent leadership positions in the Academy and at Albion College, where he was Chair of the Religious Studies Department as well as the recipient of an endowed professorship and several other honors, grants, and student awards. Selva’s excellent scholarly contributions, his tireless passion for promoting scholarly exchanges, and his extraordinary collegiality are warmly remembered in the Academy and beyond. His ground-breaking field research-based scholarship on ritual boundary-crossings in Indian popular Catholicism greatly advanced our understanding of Indian Christianity, Hindu-Christian Studies, religious syncretism in India, popular religiosity in India, as well as ritual studies, inter-religious dialogue, and religious pluralism. In awarding the Selva J. Raj Endowed International Dissertation Research Fellowship, priority will be given to graduate students working in one or more of these areas.

-- Amount: $5,000 each. Checks will be made payable to the individual student recipient. The Academy will issue recipients a Form 1099 in the amount of the grant for income tax use.

--Eligibility: Applicants for International Dissertation Research Grants must have been AAR student members for at least two years and must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. degree except the dissertation. Recipients of International Dissertation Research Grants are not eligible to make subsequent applications. The Academy will make Grants only if there is a sufficiently diverse and rich pool of applicants.

-- Application Materials: Candidates must submit a.) a letter of application (no longer than 3 pages) that describes their research project and how support for on-site research is critical for the completion of their dissertation, b.) a current curriculum vitae, c.) a proposed budget, and d.) a letter of support from their dissertation supervisor.

-- Application, Notification, Expenditure, and Reporting Timeline: Applications for the Grants Program must be received or postmarked no later than April 15, 2010. Notification of awards will be made by May 21, 2010. Funds awarded must be expended by December 31, 2010. Recipients will be expected to submit a written report of their research, including a budget narrative, no later than January 31, 2011. Application materials may be sent electronically (to IDRGrants@aarweb. org), by fax (to 404-727-7959) , or by mail (to International Dissertation Research Grants Program, American Academy of Religion, 825 Houston Mill Road NE, Suite 300, Atlanta, GA 30329-4205, USA.)

-- For Further Information Contact: Margaret Jenkins, Director of Development and Membership, margaret.jenkins@ aarweb.org, 404-727-3049 


* '''Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program for Advanced Multi-Country Research:'''                                                                                                                                                                                 

-- Sponsor:          Council of American Overseas Research Centers

-- SYNOPSIS: Fellowships provide up to $10,000 to conduct research in more than
one country, at least one of which hosts a participating American
overseas research center.  U.S. doctoral candidates and established
scholars may conduct research on broad questions of regional or
trans-regional significance in the fields of humanities, social
sciences and related natural sciences.  The duration of the fellowship
is three months.

-- Deadline(s):      01/15/2010

-- Web Site: http://www.caorc.org/programs/multi.htm

-- Program URL: http://www.caorc.org/programs/multi-details.htm#guidelines

-- OBJECTIVES: The sponsor provides support for advanced regional research in the
humanities, social sciences or related natural sciences.  Fellowships
require scholars to conduct research in more than one country, at
least one of which hosts a participating American overseas research
center. Fellowships are limited to the support of study and research
in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural sciences. 

-- ELIGIBILITY: Eligible applicants: must be a U.S. citizen; must have a Ph.D. or
be a U.S. doctoral candidate who has completed all Ph.D. requirements
with the exception of the dissertation; must be engaged in the study
and research in the humanities, social sciences, and allied natural
sciences; must wish to conduct research of regional or trans-regional
significance in two or more countries outside of the United States,
one of which must host participating American overseas research
center.

-- FUNDING: It is anticipated that ten small grants not exceeding $10,000 will
be awarded.  Fellowship tenure must be of at least ninety days in
duration.  No dependent allowance is available.  Scholars must carry
out research in at least one of the countries which host overseas
research centers, which are: Italy, Jordan, Mongolia, Algeria,
Morocco, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India,
Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Cambodia, Cyprus, Mexico, Palestine,
Iraq, Senegal, Greece, and Israel. 


* '''Eurasia Program--Dissertation Support Fellowships:'''                                                                                                                                                                                                             

-- Sponsor:          Social Science Research Council

-- SYNOPSIS: The sponsor provides financial and academic support to graduate
students near completion of their doctoral programs in the social
sciences and related humanities. The program provides fellowship
awards of up to $25,000 for the 2010-2011 academic year.

-- Deadline(s):      12/10/2009

-- Web Site: http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/eurasia-fellowship/
 
-- OBJECTIVES: The sponsor provides financial and academic support to graduate
students near completion of their doctoral programs in the social
sciences and related humanities. The program is designed to allow
advanced graduate students concentrated time to devote to the
intellectual development of their projects and to write up the results
of their research. In addition to financial assistance, the fellowship
program provides academic support and numerous networking
opportunities, as all fellows will be required to attend two workshops
- one at the beginning and the other at the end of the their
fellowship term. These workshops will allow fellows to discuss their
work in an interdisciplinary setting with a number of their peers and
resource faculty, as well as provide a number of training sessions
explicitly geared towards advanced graduate students. 
 The Fellowships are intended for applicants who have completed
their dissertation field research and/or data collection, who have
made significant progress in outlining emergent, innovative
contributions to scholarship, and who are willing to reach beyond the
academic community to make their work known and accessible to a
variety of publics.
 One of the goals of program is to support and sustain American
expertise on the countries of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. This program
also works to support outreach; build relationships between the policy
community and the academic community; help build national capability
by engaging diverse experts in the exploration of new ideas and
perspectives; and create new knowledge and research.
 
Proposals must pertain to one or more of the following countries:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Successful comparative proposals would deal directly with Eurasia and
related cross-border fields to conduct advanced research with
particular emphasis upon the use of data on those states and
countries. The greater Central Asia region is of critical importance.
Proposals that incorporate a focus on Cross-Regional Issues and
include specifically the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and/or Uzbekistan, relative to their shared
historical, ethnic, linguistic, political, economic, and cultural ties
with such countries as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Korea, China
and Turkey are especially encouraged. Particular themes of interest
include Central Asian Islamic practices, energy and the
environment/conservation, trafficking in persons, cyber/technology and
economic themes.

-- ELIGIBILITY: All applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of the
United States as of December 10, 2009.  Applicants must have obtained
ABD status (must have completed all requirements for the Ph.D. degree
except for the dissertation) by the application submission
deadline.

-- FUNDING: The program provides fellowship awards of up to $25,000. Award
recipients' universities are required to make a cost-sharing
contribution of not less than 10% of the award amount. This may be an
in-kind contribution, and may come in the form of a tuition remission,
a waiver of required fees, health coverage, etc.


* '''Research Grants Program:'''                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

-- Sponsor:          Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies

-- SYNOPSIS: The sponsor funds a wide range of research in areas such as history
(including family and community history), politics, law, public
policy, health (social, cultural and environmental aspects),
biological sciences, education and cultural transmission, Indigenous
knowledge systems, linguistics, social anthropology, archaeology and
the arts.

-- Deadline(s):      01/11/2010
 
-- Program URL: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/research/grants/grants.html

-- OBJECTIVES: The program will support research into a wide range of research
areas in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, such as
history (including family and community history), politics, law,
public policy, health (social, cultural and environmental aspects),
biological sciences, education and cultural transmission, Indigenous
knowledge systems linguistics, social anthropology, archaeology and
the arts.

-- ELIGIBILITY: The sponsor welcomes applications from people who wish to undertake
research relevant to its research areas. Applicants are not required
to have formal qualifications, but must demonstrate in their
application that they have the ability to carry out the research
described and present a clear outline of what they want to do.
Applicants employed by, or studying at, a university or other tertiary
institution must follow their institution's guidelines when applying for AIATSIS funding. Tertiary
institutions are expected to commit funds to support the research
costs of their staff and postgraduate students applying to AIATSIS for
a grant. Only one application will be accepted involving any single
researcher in this grant round.

-- FUNDING: Funds will be available from 1 July 2010. The total funds available
for new grants in 2010 will be at least $620,000. This amount may be
increased before grants are approved, depending on the sponsor's
budget position.