Dissertation Grant Musher Subvention Prize Jewish Studies Expansion Program

Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Fund for Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies

Deadlines/Application

The 2010-2011 Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Fund for Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies is now closed. Best of luck to all of you who applied! Winners will be notified before the end of May.

Overview

The Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Fund for Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies encourages scholarly research, publication and teaching in the various disciplines of Jewish studies. Established in 1960, we have awarded fellowships to nearly 600 scholars, including many leaders in the field.

The Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies are made for one academic year and are given for the final stages of completing a dissertation, typically in the fifth year of study. Applicants should have completed all doctoral requirements, except for the completion of their thesis, and must show evidence of being able to complete their thesis within the fellowship year.

After a reduction in grant amounts due to market conditions in 2009, the Foundation anticipates that grant amounts for 2010-11 cycle will be commensurate with previous years.

To download a sample of the guidelines please click here.

Eligibility

Applicants should:

Be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or Canada;
Have completed all academic requirements for the Ph.D., except dissertation, by the date of application;
Demonstrate significant course work in Jewish studies at the graduate level;
Provide evidence of proficiency in a Jewish language (i.e. Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Aramaic, etc.);
Be in a reasonable position to complete the work of their thesis during their fellowship year ;
Have a proposal or prospectus that has been approved by a thesis committee;
Complete online application in full. Partially completed applications cannot accepted. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that applications are complete by the deadline.

A strong preference is given to individuals preparing for academic careers in Jewish studies, and to those who indicate that they will pursue a career in the United States.

To enable recipients to devote themselves fully to completing the dissertation, it is expected that they will not hold a full-time job or equivalent academic workload during the fellowship year. We request that grantees inform us of any other fellowships or grants they may receive during their fellowship year.

Fellowships cannot be postponed or deferred to another year. Grantees who defer their awards will not receive special consideration upon reapplication.

For reapplicants only: Because we are transitioning to online application system, you will be required to resubmit a full and completed application online. This will include transcripts and references, as well as a 2-page statement outlining how the project has developed or changed from a previous submission.

Previous grantees of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Fund for the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies may not reapply.

Criteria for Selection

Each application is reviewed according to the following criteria:

Academic promise and ability of candidate as judged by previous performance and recommendations;
Potential of project to significantly impact understanding of Jewish life, culture or thought ;
Clarity, originality, breadth, and depth of the thesis proposal;
Qualifications and academic record of applicant's advisors and references;
Likelihood that an applicant will go on to teach Jewish Studies at an American college or university.

Recent Panelists

The 2008–2009 academic advisory panel was co-chaired by Dr. Elisheva Carlebach of Queens College and Dr. Raymond Scheindlin of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

In addition to Drs. Carlebach and Scheindlin, the panel consisted of: Dr. Barry Holtz of the Jewish Theological Seminary; Dr. Richard Kalmin of the Jewish Theological Seminary; Dr. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett of the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; Dr. Alan Mittleman of the Jewish Theological Seminary; Dr. Pamela Nadell of American University; Dr. Marsha Rozenblit of the University of Maryland; Dr. Nancy Sinkoff of Rutgers University; Dr. David Sperling of Hebrew Union College

Current Grantees

We awarded five grants in 2009–2010, recognizing the work of:

Rachel Bergstein From Leo Frank to Civil Rights: Jews in New South Cities, 1915-1968, Yale University, History Department

Andrew Berns The Natural Science of the Biblical World in Late Renaissance Italy, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Early Modern Jewish History

Amos Bitzan Jewish Representations of Violence in the First World War and its Aftermath, University of California-Berkeley, History Department

Jonathan Gribetz Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the 'Arab-Zionist' Encounter: A Study of Mutual Perceptions in Late Ottoman Palestine, Columbia University, History Department

Hannah Pressman Confessional Texts and Contexts: Studies in Israeli Literary Autobiography, NYU, Department of Hebrew Literature

For a complete list of past grantees, click here.

For further information, please contact us at grants@jewishculture.org.

Program Funders

The Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Fund for Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Jewish Studies has received generous major support from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Arnow, Mrs. Harry August, Mr. Richard Baron, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Berman, Mr. Joshua Bruner, Maurice and Marilyn Cohen, Mrs. Susan Crown, the Dorot Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Everett, Mr. and Mrs. Saul D. Freedman, Mr. Paul Goldberg, Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Greenberg, Mr. and Mrs. H. James Horvitz, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jesselson, Mr. Jay Kogan, Mr. and Mrs. Jules Kroll, Mr. Peter Lewis, Mr. and Mrs. Robert N. Mayer, Ms. Betty Milgrim, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Nobel, Mr. and Mrs. Richard J. Scheuer, Prof. Avi Seidmann, Mr. Ernest Siegler, Mrs. Marjory C. Slavin, Mr. Michael Victor, Mr. and Mrs. Murry Waldman, and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Wornick.