Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

University departmental scholarships and awards are posted in the University of Connecticut Financial Aid System and are disbursed to the student’s fee bill account. If a student has already been packaged for Financial Aid, the addition of a scholarship(s) can result in adjustments to that aid. If a student has a balance on their fee bill, the scholarship funds will be applied to that balance and the student may request a refund for any remaining funds.

Undergraduate Awards

Arnold and Sandra Dashefsky Student Award for Excellence

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be:

  1. Incoming or continuing graduate or undergraduate student enrolled full time in CLAS
  2. Be majoring in Sociology or related fields.
  3. Demonstrate outstanding academic achievement in one of the following topics: American Jewry, prejudice discrimination, racism, or anti-semitism.
  4. Submit an application letter and a curriculum vitae

    For the undergraduate award, nominations must be made by instructors who should provide in writing reasons for how the student meets academic excellence in the above topics. Instructors who nominate an undergraduate student please contact the student nominee to submit an application letter and a curriculum vitae to the committee.

    Graduate students may self-nominate but need a letter of recommendation from a faculty member endorsing their nomination and academic excellence in the above topics.

    Each award is for $250.

    Apply for the Arnold and Sandra Dashefsky Student Award for Excellence

    Janet M. Fierberg Scholarship

    The Janet M. Fierberg Scholarship Fund in Sociology was endowed by I. Martin Fierberg and Janet M. Fierberg, an alumna of UConn who studied Sociology and had careers in Social Work. Two scholarships of a minimum of $2,000* each will be awarded this year to outstanding students in their Junior or Senior year at UConn who are planning to pursue graduate study in Social Work or Sociology or first year students in the University of Connecticut School of Social Work.

    Applicants must be sociology majors or minors, first year students in the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, or students who have applied to and will be accepted into the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. All awards will consider need and future professional promise.

    Applications must include:

    1. A letter of application in which you discuss your career interests in Social Work, or Sociology and relevant experiences in school, work or elsewhere;
    2. A copy of your transcript; and 
    3. A statement of your financial situation that describes your resources, debts, and need.

    Apply for the Janet M. Fierberg Scholarship

    Graduate Awards

    Arnold and Sandra Dashefsky Student Award for Excellence

    To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be:

    1. Incoming or continuing graduate or undergraduate student enrolled full time in CLAS
    2. Be majoring in Sociology or related fields.
    3. Demonstrate outstanding academic achievement in one of the following topics: American Jewry, prejudice discrimination, racism, or anti-semitism.
    4. Submit an application letter and a curriculum vitae

      For the undergraduate award, nominations must be made by instructors who should provide in writing reasons for how the student meets academic excellence in the above topics. Instructors who nominate an undergraduate student please contact the student nominee to submit an application letter and a curriculum vitae to the committee.

      Graduate students may self-nominate but need a letter of recommendation from a faculty member endorsing their nomination and academic excellence in the above topics.

      Each award is for $250.

      Apply for the Arnold and Sandra Dashefsky Student Award for Excellence

      Michael L. Dunphy Award

      The Sociology, History, and Political Science departments alternate in making an award of $250 for an outstanding graduate student who has:

      • exceptional academic credentials
      • financial need, and
      • scholarly interest in any or a combination of the following fields: American politics, society, culture, and history.

      This year the Sociology Department is authorized to make the award. The Graduate Program Committee has recommended as a threshold for academic excellence that applicants be post MA and have earned a GPA of a least 3.5 and as evidence of the student’s interests the topics of theses, dissertations, or papers submitted for publication. The committee also recommended that the applicant be within eligibility for departmental funding.

      Applications must include:

      • a statement indicating why the applicant thinks he or she should receive the award
      • a curriculum vitae
      • an unofficial transcript
      • a brief statement of financial need, and
      • a statement that the applicant is currently within her or his funding cycle (i.e., not beyond 5th year in program)

      Apply for the Michael L. Dunphy Award

      Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

      Information is provided by the department each year.

      Ron Taylor Award

      The Ron Taylor Award honors Professor Ronald L. Taylor, who served as Head of the Department of Sociology from 1981 to 1986. The award is made annually for the best paper by a graduate student in the Department of Sociology. In addition to the departmental recognition, the award includes a monetary prize. Papers for courses, for conference presentation, or for publication completed after January 2021 are eligible. In the case of co-authored papers, all authors must be graduate students in the department. Only one submission per student is permitted, with a maximum length of 12,000 wordsPapers are to be submitted in Word format only and will not be accepted if they are submitted in PDF format. 

      Apply for the Ron Taylor Award

      Sociology Graduate Student Travel

      When department budget allows, Sociology graduate students within their funding years are eligible for an award of up to $250 per fiscal year to help fund conference related travel. Research travel is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

      Students cannot receive more than $250 in a fiscal year in departmental funds. Fiscal years start on July 1st and run through June 30th of the subsequent year.

      To apply, please complete this form.

       

      Graduate School Funding Opportunities

      Check the Graduate School website for a list of funding opportunities.

      Conference Participation Award
      External Funding
      Internal Funding
      Summer Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship