History

Graduate Scholarships and Awards

Graduate School:
Janet Waldron Doctoral Research Fellowships (JWDRF)
The Janet Waldron Doctoral Research Fellowship (JWDRF) is open to all doctoral students, regardless of discipline and is designed to stimulate research and scholarship at UMaine as measured by research productivity and doctoral-degree graduation rate. Therefore, successful applicants will explicitly address how fellowship support would result in an overall increase in productivity. This JWDRF is intended to provide up to two years (24 months) of support for doctoral students to assist in completion of their degrees; however, support for the second year is contingent upon budget availability and success in meeting productivity goals.
(Yearly. Apply to Graduate Coordinator. Nominated by the Graduate Committee in December)

Susan J. Hunter Teaching Fellowships (SJHTF)
Susan J. Hunter Teaching Fellows are doctoral and post-doctoral students. Each fellow is required to teach one lower division course normally scheduled to be taught by a member of the Graduate Faculty. The Graduate Faculty member must agree to teach a graduate course that otherwise would not have been taught; this course can be delivered during any semester. All Fellows will be required to attend several teaching workshops to be held during the Fall semester, run by the Center for Excellence in Teaching Assessment. Open positions are subject to the availability of funds.
(Yearly. Apply to Graduate Coordinator. Nominated by the Graduate Committee in December)

Chase Distinguished Research Assistantships
Ten research assistantships are available annually and are awarded by the Graduate School. The stipend is approximately $14,600.00 for the academic year (9 months) depending upon the type of appointment. A tuition waiver for up to nine hours per semester is included exclusive of courses taken as audit or pass/fail or below 400 level. Some receive a tuition waiver during the summer following the academic year of the award. Partial health benefits are also included. These awards are made on a competitive basis and involve nomination by the department of study and submission of a research proposal delineating the research to be undertaken.
(Yearly. Apply to Graduate Coordinator. Nominated by the Graduate Committee in January)

Atlantic Provinces Graduate Scholarships
Three scholarships, which pay a year’s tuition, are available on a competitive basis to graduates of the colleges and universities of the Atlantic Provinces and Quebec. Applicants interested in being nominated for this award should consult their department. Nominations are sought in late-January and early-February.
(Yearly, when applicable. Nominated by the Graduate Coordinator in late January)

Graduate Trustee Tuition Scholarships
Up to twenty scholarships, which pay a year’s tuition, are available on a competitive basis to students enrolled in graduate programs. Scholarship recipients are required to register for nine hours of credit each semester. The Graduate School requests nominations from the departments in late-January and early-February. Interested students should seek nomination through their departments of study.
(Yearly, when applicable. Nominated by the Graduate Coordinator in late January)

Thurgood Marshall Scholarships
Two scholarships which pay a year’s tuition are available to graduate students whose socioeconomic background, prior academic or work experience, and/or graduate educational interests would bring a unique perspective to the University of Maine community. Preference for these scholarships is given to individuals from groups that have been traditionally underrepresented at the University of Maine. Scholarship recipients are required to register for nine hours of credit each semester. The Graduate School requests nominations from departments in mid-February. Interested students should seek nomination through their departments of study.
(Yearly, when applicable.Nominated by the Graduate Coordinator in late January)

Summer Dissertation Writing Fellowships
Dissertation writing fellowships are open to doctoral students who have passed their comps and are actively writing their dissertations. Depending on number of applicants, the Graduate School will consider master’s students who have completed four semesters of study and are actively engaged in writing a thesis, but preference will be given to doctoral students. Summer Fellowship recipients may not hold any other source of funding for the summer. Those students who have already have summer funding may apply for office space in Stodder Hall through the same competitive process.
(Yearly, when funded. Apply directly to the Graduate School following call for application)

Canadian-American Center:
New England-Atlantic Provinces-Quebec Fellowships
Available to graduate students engaged in cross-border research. One fellowship is reserved for a graduate student in History. $14,600 Stipend, plus a tuition waiver, and 50% of health insurance covered. Awards available to citizens of any country.
(Yearly. Apply to Graduate Coordinator following Canadian-American Center announcement in January)

Canadian-American Center Fellowships
Available to graduate students in all disciplines focusing on Canada or Canadian-American relations. $14,600 Stipend, plus a tuition waiver, and 50% of health insurance covered. Awards available to citizens of any country.
(Yearly. Apply to Graduate Coordinator following Canadian-American Center announcement in January)

Alice R. Stewart Graduate Fellowships in Canadian History
Available to doctoral candidates engaged in research in Canadian or Canadian-American History. $14,600 Stipend, plus a tuition waiver, and 50% of health insurance covered.Awards available to citizens of any country.
(Irregular funding. Apply to Graduate Coordinator following Canadian-American Center announcement in January)

Department of History:
Teaching Assistantships
Available to graduate applicants for admission in History and to eligible History graduate students. Annual number of appointments vary. $14,600 Stipend, plus a tuition waiver, and 50% of health insurance covered. Awards available to citizens of any country.
(Yearly for accepted applicants. Internal applicants should communicate to the Graduate Coordinator their interest in a teaching assistantship)

The John J. Nolde Lectureship in History
The John J. Nolde Lectureship in History is designed to assign a one-semester course each year to an advanced graduate student who has made a commitment to teaching. The purpose of the lectureship is to provide experience, direction, and support in a kind of teacher-in-training arrangement. The stipend is approximately $6,000, plus the semester’s tuition fees. The assigned course should be at a lower division level, with the number of students limited to 30. Doctoral students who have completed everything but their dissertations (ABD) are eligible to apply for this lectureship.
(Yearly, when funding is available. Apply to faculty members of the Graduate Committee, via the Graduate Coordinator, following the call for applications).

The John J. Nolde Memorial Prize

In 1989 the family of a distinguished scholar of Chinese history, the late Professor John J. Nolde, established a prize at this institution in his memory. Professor Nolde taught at the University of Maine for many years and was also Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In his last years he became a foremost authority on the connections between Ezra Pound’s poetry and Chinese history. The Nolde Prize is awarded each year to an outstanding student of history.

The Bowen Scholarship in Canadian History
The Bowen Scholarship was created in 2005 through a contribution from Drs. Dawn S. And Marshall E. Bowen for the purpose of supporting those who are pursuing a graduate degree in History with a focus on Canada. Dr. Dawn S. Bowen earned her Master’s degree at the University of Maine in 1990. She created the scholarship with her husband because the supportive environment that existed in the History Department and the Canadian-American Center convinced her to choose a career in academics.
(Yearly, when funding is available. Nominated by the department’s Canadianists in consultation with the Director of the Canadian-American Center and the faculty members of the Graduate Committee)

The Wiebke Ipsen-Marli Weiner Memorial Scholarship
This award is named in memory of Dr. Wiebke Ipsen and Dr. Marli Weiner, who died within a month of each other in 2009. Dr. Ipsen, an Assistant Professor (2006-2009), taught Latin American History and did research in gender, politics, and nation building in Brazil. She was a deeply engaged professor whose pedagogy, scholarship, and friendships grew from a gentle and spirited personality. Dr. Weiner, a distinguished member of the History Department for over 20 years (1988-2009), taught courses and published scholarship in her academic specialties of nineteenth-century U.S. history, women’s history, the South, and African-American history. We remember her for her brilliant intellect, kind heart, and commitment to doctoral students. The fund provides scholarship assistance for History students at the University of Maine with preference given to graduate students conducting research in gender or social history, areas that Professors Ipsen and Weiner both dedicated their professional lives to studying.
(Yearly, but monetary award varies. Nominated by the Chair of the Department of History in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator).

The Frances Robinson Mitchell Scholarship Fund
The Frances Robinson Mitchell Scholarship Fund was established in 2006 through a gift from Frances Robinson Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell attended the University of Maine from 1942 through 1944. Due to World War II she enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944. The income from this fund provides a scholarship annually to a graduate student or graduate students who are making a thorough study of the history of the United States, with particular emphasis on the Great Depression and World War II period, with special attention to the Pacific Theater and/or on the Revolutionary War and the launching of a new democratic form of government, with particular emphasis on the role played by George Washington.
(Yearly. Nominated by the Chair of the Department of History in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator)

The Charles J. Dunn Graduate Research Grants
The Charles J. Dunn Graduate Research Grants were established to reimburse specifically-budgeted research expenses incurred by M.A. and Ph.D. candidates in the Department of History. Up to $6000 is available during an academic year primarily to applicants who already have tapped other sources of funding on campus (such as the grants awarded by the Association of Graduate Students). Individual grants of up to $500 for M.A. students and $7500 for Ph.D. students are awarded during the Fall and Spring semesters for travel to archives and libraries that house material not available on campus. These grants cover transportation expenses, daily living expenses, and such technical expenses as photocopying, microfilming, and photography. In exceptional cases, particularly after all worthy travel requests have been covered, awards may be made for the acquisition of essential research materials for Fogler Library not covered by the Library’s normal acquisition budget.
(Biannually. Apply to Graduate Coordinator following the call for applications in Fall and in Spring)

To apply for the Charles J. Dunn Research Grant, click HERE for conference travel, HERE for MA thesis application, and HERE for dissertation application.

History Writing Lab
With support from the Charles J. Dunn fund, the Department of History offers a five-hour per week position of tutor in the History Writing Lab. The graduate student helps primarily with writing strategies and techniques and can also be a resource during the entire writing process from choosing a topic to the construction of outlines, from creating a bibliography to producing the final paper. The graduate student also helps with other issues to encourage more engaged and better prepared history students.
(Appointed yearly by the Chair, following a recommendation from the Graduate Committee)