WGS Grants

Available WGS grants

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  Jane Schaberg WGS Student Grants

  The Jane Schaberg Women’s and Gender Studies Student Grants are named in honor of the late Jane Schaberg, professor emerita of Religious Studies, who helped found and direct the WGS program at Detroit Mercy.

  These yearly grants of up to $200 are awarded to current Detroit Mercy students and student organizations who wish to provide their fellow students with opportunities to engage with women's and gender issues. These opportunities can take the form of activities, community projects, or academic projects. Activities and projects that examine women’s and gender issues in connection with culture, race, class, or sexuality are welcome.

  Possible activities, community projects, or academic projects include, but are not limited to:  

  • Speaker honorariums 
  • Service-learning projects 
  • Student-sponsored movie nights 
  • Refreshments for WGS-oriented events 
  • Travel to conferences to present WGS-related academic work 
  • Production of videos regarding gender/racial justice that can be posted on WGS website and social media

  Read on for information about applying for a Jane Schaberg WGS Student Grant. For additional questions, contact the WGS Program.

  How to apply for a Jane Schaberg WGS Student Grant

  There are two steps:

  1. Have a project consultation. Applicants are required to consult with Associate Professor of English Rosemary Weatherston (weatherr@udmercy.edu) by Monday, Jan. 16, 2024, to make sure your project and rollout plans meet grant criteria. No application will be considered without a project consultation.
  2. Submit an online WGS Student Grant application.

  Frequently asked questions about Jane Schaberg WGS Student Grants

  Who can apply?

  Current undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and university-recognized student organizations are eligible to apply for a Jane Schaberg WGS Student Grant.

  What types of projects get funded?

  Past grants have been awarded in support of a wide range of activities, community projects, and academic projects, such as:

  • Bringing an international poet to Detroit Mercy to recite her work and speak on trauma, journey, and the modern stories of Muslim women
  • The publication and performance of a student chapbook of written and visual art that engaged issues of gender
  • A Ph.D. Capstone project on vicarious trauma and its effects on sexual assault nurse examiners
  • Travel to an academic conference to present research on mental health interventions for Black women
  • The Chemistry Club’s Women in Science Symposium 

  All funded proposals shared the following characteristics:

  • The projects were clearly described: who, what, where, when, and why.
  • The proposals stated exactly how the activities or projects would enable other UDM students to engage with women's, gender, or sexuality issues.
  • The projects were narrow enough in scope that the students could successfully complete them within the required timeframe. 

  I have an idea, but I am not 100% sure about it or about how to write the proposal. Is there anyone I can talk to before applying?

  Yes! We are very happy to speak with students about their ideas and proposals before they submit them. In fact, you are required to have a project consultation (as mentioned above, under "How to apply"). Also, you may contact the WGS director(s).

  Can I apply for money to pay my tuition or buy books for my classes?

  No, the grant does not cover individual students’ tuition or books.

  Can I apply for a grant to partially fund an activity or project?

  Yes, you may apply for a grant to partially fund larger activities or projects. We ask, however, that you indicate who the other sponsors are/might be and when you will know if you will receive the additional funds.

  Can my friend and I both apply for grants for the same project?

  No, only one grant will be awarded per project, but you can apply jointly for a single grant.

  Can I apply for a project that is already complete?

  Yes, you may apply for a grant for a project that has been completed within the 2023-24 academic year. 

   

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  WGS Feminist Scholarship Grants

  2023-24 Application Guidelines

  The Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) Program is now accepting applications for the 2023-24 Feminist Scholarship Grants (FSG). These yearly grants of up to $500 are awarded to current full- and part-time Detroit Mercy faculty members to support scholarly projects that critically examine the place of gender or women in society. Projects examining the intersection of gender with race, class, sexuality, or other elements of identity are welcome.

  Applications will be accepted for scholarly projects in the beginning, middle, and final stages of completion. Applicants may submit multiple applications over several years in support of the beginning, middle, and concluding stages of a single project.

  In previous cycles this grant has been used to reimburse faculty expenditures such as research materials, equipment, travel, and childcare. Moving forward, the WGS Program would like to acknowledge that feminist scholarship takes many forms, all of which require significant time and labor. Recipients are encouraged to think of these grants as compensation for their work
  and will not be required to submit receipts detailing expenses.

  Recipients of the grant will be required to present their work (whether complete or in-progress) at a WGS-sponsored research colloquium during the Fall term of the academic year following the date of the awarding of the FSG. Thus, an applicant awarded a FSG for 2023-24 must present their work in the Fall 2024 semester.

  APPLICATION PROCESS

  The 2023-24 Feminist Scholarship Grant deadline is Monday, December 4, 2023.

  Applications for the grant will be blind reviewed by the WGS Program’s Steering Committee.

  Applications must include the following:

  • Applicant’s name, department affiliation, phone number, and e-mail address.
  • A working title for the scholarly project.
  • A one- to two-page description of the scholarly project for which the applicant seeks the grant, including the stage of the project. In addition, this description must include a clear explanation of how the project fulfills the criteria for the grant.

  Completed applications should be sent to wgs@udmercy.edu.

  Questions?

  Questions can be directed to the director(s) of the WGS Program. Contact information is on the main WGS page.

  Early applications are encouraged. Pre-tenured faculty and faculty who have not received the grant before are especially encouraged to apply.

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  Feminist Teaching Grants

  2023-24 Application Guidelines

  The Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) Program is now accepting applications for the 2023-24 Feminist Teaching Grants (FTG). These yearly grants of up to $500 are awarded to current full- and part-time faculty members to support the development of courses that will expand the curricular offerings of the WGS Program. Preference will be given to courses that expand the Program’s course offerings in the Core Curriculum and to applicants who have not received a FTG in the past five years.

  In previous cycles this grant has been used to reimburse faculty expenditures such as books and other teaching materials. Moving forward, the WGS Program would like to acknowledge that course development requires significant time and labor. Recipients are encouraged to think of these grants as compensation for their work and will not be required to submit receipts detailing expenses.

  Recipients of the FTG will be expected to provide a report describing their work and a complete syllabus, including descriptions of major assignments and assessment metrics, by May 31 of the academic year following the date the grant was awarded. Thus, an applicant awarded a FTG for 2023-24 must submit these by May 31, 2024. Sample WGS syllabi are available upon request.

  APPLICATION PROCESS

  The 2023-24 Feminist Teaching Grant deadline is Monday, December 4, 2023.

  Applications will be reviewed by the WGS Program’s Curriculum Sub-Committee and Steering Committee.

  Applications should:

  1. Include the applicant’s name, phone number, email address, and department
  2. Identify whether they plan to:
     1. Enrich a departmental course that is currently being offered for WGS credit; OR
     2. Transform an existing departmental course into a course that could be offered for WGS credit; OR
     3. Create a new departmental course that meets the WGS Program Course Criteria (see below)
  3. Provide a summary of how the applicant plans to enrich, transform, or create the course
  4. Indicate the frequency with which the course will be offered (Ex: “I currently teach this course once a semester” or “My Department has approved the creation of this course and plans to submit it to the Curriculum committee. We anticipate it will be taught every second year.”)
  5. Indicate whether the course is currently offered in the Core curriculum or is being submitted for inclusion in the Core curriculum
  6. Provide a one- to two-page explanation as to how the course will meet the WGS Program Course Criteria (see below)

  Completed applications should be sent to wgs@udmercy.edu.

  Questions?

  Questions can be directed to the director(s) of the WGS Program. Contact information is on the main WGS page.

  Early applications are encouraged.

  I. Criteria for Approval of Women’s and Gender Studies Courses:

  The Women’s and Gender Studies Program is essential to the mission of University of Detroit Mercy, extending the mandate for respect of persons to those traditionally marginalized in society and in the academic pursuit of knowledge. Academic excellence is achieved only when all voices contribute to each discipline.

  The Women’s and Gender Studies Program critically examines the place of women and gender in culture and society. Feminist theory is applied to traditional disciplines to analyze the origins and effects of power, dominance, and gender. Since women's and gender issues encompass and modify all areas of knowledge, and since such issues as race, class, and sexuality are crucial aspects of such experiences, the program is necessarily interdisciplinary, intersectional, and multicultural.

  A. Content Requirements:  

  Course content must clearly reflect and acquaint students with recent scholarship on feminist theory and women, gender, and/or sexuality. The course syllabus should be composed primarily (50% or more) of works about women, gender, and/or sexuality. If, for historical or disciplinary reasons, the subject of the course precludes this, then the texts used should consistently be put into a dialogue with feminist perspectives.

  B. Methodology Requirements:  

  Each Women's and Gender Studies course should have clear intellectual goals that integrate both the content and issues of the instructor's specific discipline and the overarching concerns of Women's and Gender Studies. For example, a history course entitled "Women in Modern Europe" class might have the primary goals of: 1) enabling students to use gender as a category of analysis in the study of modern European history, and 2) providing students with an understanding of women's roles in and contributions to the social, political, and cultural developments in Europe from the period of the Enlightenment to the present. In addition, WGS courses should critically examine the gender assumptions in the traditional methods, theories, and research of particular disciplines and/or explore the production of knowledge in the arts and sciences as it reflects, challenges, or creates cultural assumptions about gender.

  As part of the WGS Program’s curriculum, a WGS course should also promote one or more of the Program’s outcomes, advancing students’ abilities to:

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the major concepts and issues of the discipline of Women’s and Gender Studies
  2. Analyze structures of power, dominance, subordination, and gender roles and relations
  3. Recognize the ways in which gender intersects with race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nation, and/or other identity categories
  4. Use this knowledge to reflect critically and thoughtfully upon their own academic, personal, and professional lives, as well as their communities

  C. Pedagogical Requirements: 

  Women’s and Gender Studies courses should be taught in a way that fosters the empowerment of all students and that equips students to identify and critically analyze gender relations and systems of domination so they can develop their own informed positions on issues raised in the class.

  II. Procedure for Approval of Courses in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program

  Undergraduate courses taught in all Detroit Mercy Colleges and Departments are eligible to be considered for inclusion in the WGS Program. Accepted courses retain their normal departmental prefix and number (for example, “ENL 2750” or “BUS 2480”) but are designated with an attribute in the online schedule as counting for “WOMENS AND GENDER STUDIES MINOR CREDIT.”

  Faculty members who wish to offer courses for WGS Minor credit should submit their syllabi to the Curriculum Sub-Committee. Please contact Amanda Hiber at hiberja@udmercy.edu to arrange the submission of your materials and/or if you have any questions. The members of the WGS Curriculum Sub-Committee are available for consultation with faculty who are revising or creating courses for WGS Minor credit.