Awards and Scholarships
The Department of Social and Critical Inquiry funds awards, scholarships, and prizes at the undergraduate and graduate levels. These programs celebrate the outstanding scholarship, teaching, and creativity of students in our community.
For additional scholarship opportunities, please visit the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences website.
For Undergraduate Students
Chase Going Woodhouse Prize
Open to: all Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) majors
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
This award is given to an undergraduate student for an academic project that focuses on concerns relevant to Gender and Sexuality Studies. We invite students to submit interdisciplinary critical or creative work, including research papers, personal essays, and hybrid pieces.
The prize is named in honor of former congresswoman and the director of the Women’s Service Bureau. An activist and leader among the first generation of post-suffrage women in Connecticut, Chase Going Woodhouse provided an example of commitment to women’s interests and to realizing feminist goals in practical politics.
Additional Application Instructions
- In your application personal statement, describe how your project connects to the mission of the award.
- Include a PDF attachment of the full academic project or paper with a cover page that includes the project title, semester completed, course title, and instructor.
- Note: One of your faculty references must be the faculty member to whom the project was originally submitted.
Feminist Arts Award
Open to: all WGSS majors
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
First awarded in 2002, this honor recognizes undergraduate feminist artwork and celebrates the vibrant outburst of feminist arts activity at UConn. Submissions may include visual art, zines, music, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, drama, or film.
Additional Application Instructions
- In your application personal statement, describe the feminist intent and inspiration connected to your artwork and your role as a feminist artist.
- Include a PDF attachment with 2-5 original pieces of artwork. You may include links to videos, websites, and other multimedia works within the pdf.
Gladys Tantaquidgeon Award
Open to: all WGSS majors
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
This award is presented to an undergraduate student whose academic and/or community work reflects a dedication to the understanding and advancement of women from underserved communities that have been made "at-risk" by the state. This award is named in honor of Gladys Tantaquidgeon, a Mohegan citizen, Elder, medicine woman, anthropologist, and community educator. Her leadership and scholarship were critical to the Mohegan case for federal recognition.
Additional Application Instructions
- In your application personal statement, describe how your work reflects a dedication to the understanding/advancement of women of color in the U.S.
- You may upload or include examples of academic work and/or community engagement that connect to the mission of the award.
In addition to the completed application form, applicants must include a short essay describing how their work connects to the mission of the award and the name and contact information of one faculty reference familiar with their work.
Kristie Ann Wood Endowment Scholarship
Open to: all WGSS majors
Award: $2,000
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
Awarded to an undergraduate WGSS major in recognition of academic achievement and demonstrated financial need, this endowment is named after Kristie Ann Wood, the first Women’s Studies major at UConn, and honors her passion for social justice. Preference is given to students with senior standing who have demonstrated a commitment to social justice.
Additional Application Instructions
- In your application personal statement, describe how you and your work meet the mission of the award.
- You may also choose to upload examples of work and/or community activism that connect to the mission of the award.
Students applying for the Kristie Ann Wood Endowment Scholarship should make sure that their personal statement responds to the award selection criteria: academic achievement, financial need, and commitment to social justice.
Robert Tilton Prize in American Studies
Open to: all majors
Award: $500
Application deadline: The application period for the 2025-2026 academic year will open in fall 2025.
This prize is awarded to the best essay written by an undergraduate student in an American Studies course at UConn. The topic should address some aspect of U.S. history, literature, art, politics, or culture, or examine the flow of cultures, ideas, peoples, and power across U.S. borders. Essays should be between five and fifteen pages in length and must have been written between fall 2024 and the present.
Candidates may be nominated by others or self-nominate and must be current UConn students. Once nominated, the candidate should submit the essay and a brief cover letter as a single PDF to Martha Cutter, Area Director of American Studies. The cover letter should identify the course and professor for which the essay was written.
WGSS Excellence Award
Open to: all WGSS majors
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
This award recognizes the academic excellence of a WGSS major. Preference is given to graduating seniors. Applicants should have a GPA of at least 3.5 in the major.
WGSS Regional Student Achievement Award
Open to: regional campus students minoring in WGSS
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
This award recognizes a WGSS student at any regional campus (UConn Stamford, Hartford, Waterbury, and Avery Point) for exceptional academic achievement and community involvement. Preference is given to students with a declared WGSS minor.
For Graduate Students
American Studies Graduate Student Research Fellowship
Open to: priority consideration will be given to students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in American Studies, but all graduate students are eligible to apply
Award: $1,000
Application deadline: April 15, 2025
The American Studies Graduate Student Research Fellowship supports graduate students conducting interdisciplinary research in American Studies or related fields. Fellows receive up to $1,000 to fund research-related expenses, including travel, equipment, conference participation, indexing, copyediting, permissions, publication assistance, or language acquisition.
Application Instructions
To apply, email the following materials to Martha Cutter, Area Director of American Studies, by the deadline:
- A budget outlining proposed expenses.
- A CV.
- A brief project description (250-300 words), including its status and disclosure of other funding sources.
Applications will be reviewed by the American Studies Executive Committee. Fellows will be asked to give a brief presentation on their research after completing the fellowship.
Distinguished Graduate Career Award for Feminist Praxis
Open to: nominated students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Award: $500
Nomination deadline: April 11, 2025
This award honors contributions by a current WGSS graduate student who, over the course of their graduate career, has provided distinguished service to WGSS and modeled feminist praxis in their career as a graduate student. Students must be nominated by a faculty member and are encouraged to request nomination; once nominated, students will be invited to apply.
Excellence in Graduate Teaching in Gender and Sexuality Studies Award
Open to: graduate assistants who teach a WGSS course
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
This award recognizes excellence in teaching by graduate students who instruct a WGSS course. It is awarded annually to a graduate student who exemplifies feminist pedagogy in the classroom and brings a passion and commitment to feminist issues to teaching.
Additional Application Instructions
- Please include a 1 to 2-page pedagogy statement.
- If you have taught a WGSS course as a primary instructor, include a PDF attachment of 1 course syllabus and the student evaluations.
- All applicants must have taught for WGSS during AY 2022-2023 or 2023-2024.
Susan Porter Benson Graduate Research Award
Open to: students enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Award: $500
Application deadline: April 11, 2025
This award recognizes cutting-edge research and creative production in feminist studies that offer an innovative articulation of theory and practice. We invite submissions of critical or creative work that take an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach.
Additional Application Instructions
- In your application personal statement, describe how your work meets the mission of the award.
- Include a PDF attachment with a 20 to 30-page academic paper, creative portfolio, or comparable artistic submission relevant to the award.