[REPOST] Accepting Applications: Fall 2025 Student Research Fellowship!

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 13:36:38 -0400

The Global Asias Initiative at UMBC is now offering the third round of its student research fellowship in Global Asias in the amount of $500 where students will work with faculty and community partners on an independent study in the field for a period of one semester. We’re currently accepting applications for projects taking place in Fall 2025.

The fellowship supports a research project supervised by a UMBC faculty member working in the field of Global Asias. The project should explore a topic in the field of Global Asias: broadly construed to include Asian American studies, Asian studies, or Asian diaspora studies in global context. The exact parameters (length, format, etc) will be set by your faculty advisor. Depending on your major and your academic and professional plans, your project may consist of a scholarly research project or a creative product with a significant research component. At the end of the year, students will submit the final project to their faculty advisor and may be asked to do a brief presentation on their topic to fellow students and faculty in Global Asias. We highly encourage proposals for projects that use methods, ideas, and approaches from more than one discipline. We also encourage students to consider working with a community partner, or incorporating a public-facing component into their work.

The proposed project should be humanities research. Broadly speaking, the “humanities” means the study of human society and culture. Humanities majors or minors typically include but are not limited to: Africana Studies; American Studies; Anthropology; Art and Art History; Asian and Asian American Studies; English; History; Human Rights; Journalism; Latinx Studies; Media and Communication Studies, Philosophy; Sociology; Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.

Eligibility

Fellowship applicants should be rising sophomores, rising juniors, or Master’s students in good academic standing.

Application

1. A Word document with answers to the following questions in 500 words (total):
- What is your project’s title?
- What question(s) is your project asking related to the field of Global Asias, and why are those questions important to you, your community, and society?
- What is your plan for the project? What work will you do to try to answer its questions? What plans do you have for publicly sharing your project? (URCAD? UMBC Review? other)
- How do you think working on this project contributes to your own goals?

2. A writing sample of your best research and writing (for example, your best final paper).

3. A brief email from a UMBC faculty member that states their willingness to supervise the project over the course of semester and what course or independent study you will be registering for with them to support the project. (The faculty member should email their letter directly to tbhalla@umbc.edu. There’s no need to wait until the letter is complete to submit the rest of your application.)

Payment Disbursement: Payment will be distributed to the student as a stipend in two $250 amounts at the beginning and the end of the semester

If selected, students will have to complete a short onboarding process

If students are not already employed by system, they will also have to fill out an I-9

Deadline: May 1, 2025

Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions! Send all questions and application materials to both Dr. Tamara Bhalla at tbhalla@umbc.edu and Priya Bhayana at priyab@umbc.edu