Dear Students,
The Program in Disability Studies invites applications from any current Georgetown student – undergraduate, graduate, or professional – for the 2023 Disability Studies Learning in Practice Fellowships.
You can learn more about research and fellowship opportunities available to students on the Center for Research and Fellowships website.
Fellowship Opportunity
The Disability Studies Learning in Practice Fellowships are designed to enable students to pursue immersive projects, including research, but also including community-based work, otherwise unpaid internships, and travel that centers and benefits the disability community. This year, Disability Studies will award $5,000 to each of the top three most compelling and sustainable projects addressing any topic concerning mental health and justice.
Generously funded by Catrina and Alessandro Guerrini-Maraldi (P’24), this year’s fellowships focus on the theme of Mental Health and Disability Justice: Research, Policy, and Advocacy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the worldwide mental health crisis into stark relief, demanding urgent and innovative responses. We are especially interested in supporting projects that bring together theory and practice and bridge the gap between academic study and social justice-oriented work in innovative ways. Appropriate topics include mental health stigma and cultural awareness, mental health equity and access, harm reduction, and healing and disability justice.
Fellowship Application
We extend a special welcome to students who identify as disabled, but this is not a requirement for the fellowship. Applicants must be in good academic standing and enrolled at Georgetown in the Spring 2023. Fellows are expected to engage in their projects in the Spring semester and/or the summer, completing them by August 1, 2023.
In order to apply, please submit a 500-1000 word proposal and budget describing your project. You must identify a mentor who is a member of either the Georgetown faculty or the disability/mental health community and who will review and approve the project on its completion. Please obtain the mentor’s permission before proposing the project. In addition, the project must:
- have clearly defined research and/or practice goals that serve to advance mental health and disability justice;
- include community-based work that centers disabled and community voices;
- operate according to a clearly laid-out budget.
Please submit your application and/or any questions to Professor Libbie Rifkin at lsr@georgetown.edu. The completed application must be submitted by Monday, November 14. Finalist interviews will be held prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. The three awardees will be notified by December 15.
Sincerely,
Quill Kukla, Director
The Program in Disability Studies
Libbie Rifkin, Associate Director
The Program in Disability Studies