Woodrow Wilson Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies

The Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellowship in Women’s Studies encourages original and significant research about women that crosses disciplinary, regional, or cultural boundaries. Previous Fellows have explored such topics as transnational religious education for Muslim women, the complex gender dynamics of transidentity management, women’s electoral success across racial and institutional contexts, women’s sports, militarism and the education of American women, and the relationship between family commitments and women’s work mobility.

The WW Women’s Studies Fellowships support the final year of dissertation writing for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences whose work addresses topics of women and gender in interdisciplinary and original ways. Since the first Women’s Studies Fellows were named in 1974, over 500 emerging scholars have been funded, many now prominent in their fields. They are distinguished faculty members, artists and novelists, and (in some cases) leaders in business, government, and the nonprofit sector. They include a Pulitzer Prize winner, two MacArthur Fellows, seven Guggenheim Fellows, a number of Fulbright Fellows, and many others who have achieved significant distinctions. Notably, a number of the Fellows volunteer their time as reviewers to help select new Women’s Studies Fellows and enthusiastically support the next generation of scholars exploring women’s issues and matters of gender.