Advanced PhD Dissertation Fellowship
This is a $20,000 grant to advanced doctoral students in all fields, who have passed their qualifying exams and exhausted the initial package of funding. It is awarded to students engaged in dissertation research related to women, gender, and/or sexuality. One will be awarded per year.
To apply:
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
The applicant must:
* be registered as a UB PhD student
* be engaged in dissertation research related to women, gender, and/or sexuality
* have passed their comprehensive examinations
* have exhausted their initial package of support from the home department
* be available to participate in a monthly works-in-progress workshop at UB
* not concurrently have another fellowship, such as the Humanities Institute dissertation fellowship or external fellowships
TO APPLY
Please submit the following materials :
1. 200-word dissertation abstract with title
2. four page double-spaced application statement, including:
-description of the dissertation and its intellectual contributions
-plans for the fellowship year
-timetable for completion
3. a confidential recommendation letter from your dissertation adviser to be submitted to the UB Scholarship Portal.
4. a curriculum vita, including all funding received and future funding as a graduate student
Please submit all application materials to the Scholarship Portal. Through the portal, invite recommendation letters from your adviser. The fellow will be announced in early May.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
* evidence of the dissertation's scholarly quality and significance
* relevance of the research to expanding our knowledge of women, gender, and/or sexuality
* applicant's academic accomplishments to date and promise of future scholarly productivity
UB International as well as domestic students are invited and encouraged to apply. The Gender Institute supports UB's nondiscrimination policy that "applies to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, gender, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, veteran status, military status, domestic violence victim status, or ex-offender status."
2026-27 Dissertation Fellow: Sam King-Shaw
Sam King-Shaw is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University at Buffalo. Their dissertation research focuses on twentieth-century Black queer cultural production, cross-temporal relationships between artists, and the archive. Sam’s dissertation research has been supported by archival research fellowships from Yale University and Emory University. In addition to their academic commitments, Sam enjoys hiking, crocheting, and following their favorite sports teams.
Sam’s dissertation project, tentatively titled “Networks of Relation in Twentieth-Century Black Queer Cultural Production,” focuses on art and literature created by Black queer cultural workers active in the United States during the Harlem Renaissance and the early AIDS crisis. The project develops a method that traces the production and circulation of Black queer art through a relational lens – prioritizing connections between Black and queer artists, writers, activists, and intellectuals to reveal the networks of Black queer relationships that gave rise to life-sustaining art and literature. “Networks of Relation in Twentieth-Century Black Queer Cultural Production” combines two strategies: first, pairing Black queer artworks from different mediums and time periods to close read them in conversation with each other, and second, constellating these analyses within “Black queer relational networks” based on archival research. These networks map the informal systems of shared collaborators, mutual friends, common influences, unexpected overlaps, and points of contact that link Black queer artists across the century. By telling a story about Black queer art that highlights the interpersonal relationships that sustained and influenced cultural works, this dissertation project demonstrates that twentieth-century Black queer cultural texts, and the social matrix from which they emerged, offer important insights for surviving our contemporary anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ+ moment.
Past Awardees
2025-2026
Anupriya Pandey, Sociology and Criminology
2024-25
Iman Lathan, Educational Leadership and Policy
2023-24
Srushti Upadhyay, Sociology
2022-23
Hannah Ginn, Social Work
2021-22
Alyssa Schwendener, Visual Studies
2020-21
Dana Venerable, English
2019-20
Maryam Muliaee, Media Study
2018-19
Alexandra Prince, History
2017-18
Elizabeth Masarik, History
2016-17
Molly Ranahan, Urban Planning, School of Architecture
2015-16
Kristina Darling, English
2014-15
Averill Earls, History
Lara Iverson, Geography
2013-14
David Squires, English
Bincy Wilson, Social Work
2012-13
Leah Benedict, English
Krishni Burns, Classics
Jessica MacNamara, Sociology
2011-12
C. Michael Hurst, English
Katie Grenell, American Studies