APPLICATION DEADLINE: 1 February 2012

• Two four-day interdisciplinary training workshops in Poitiers, France and Philadelphia, USA
• Assistance with research design and preparation of funding proposals
• Up to $5,000/ €3,700 for summer research

Objectives

This program will assist students in preparing for dissertation research on topics related to transnationalism and "circulation migratoire" (migratory circulation). Selected fellows will attend two training workshops and conduct summer research under the mentorship of prominent scholars in this area of research: Dr. Emmanuel Ma Mung (Director of Research, CNRS) and Dr. Khachig Tölölyan (Professor, Wesleyan University).

The workshops and summer research opportunities are designed to help doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences refine their dissertation projects while drawing upon interdisciplinary and transatlantic research. The spring workshop (June 2012 in Poitiers) will help participants become more knowledgeable of research approaches from various disciplines in understanding transnationalism and migratory circulation. The fall workshop (September 2012 in Philadelphia) will guide participants in refining their research questions and overall projects in light of their summer research experiences. In both workshops, participants will engage in cross-cultural dialogues among graduate students studying in the U.S. and France.

The Research Field

New Approaches to Transnationalism and Circulatory Migration guides participants through distinct conceptual and methodological frameworks that have been developed in France and the United States focusing on the circulation of migrants, their cross border practices and the implications of those practices for the way that social and cultural relationships can best be understood in an increasingly mobile, globalized world, ones in which space and time function in new ways. Participants will revisit the francophone, anglo-saxon, and alternative approaches to cross-border migration by exploring relations between the objective conditions of immigrant lives and daily practices with migrants’ subjectivities and their imagined projection into supranational fields. Students from the social sciences and humanities will explore how research carried out with a variety of research methods makes possible new approaches to cross-border social and cultural formations and criticizes or reaffirms aspects of older approaches. A more detailed description of this field can be found here.

DPDF Selection Criteria for Students

Student applications will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria.

• Originality and appropriateness of the topic. The dissertation topic must suggest an original contribution to an existing body of scholarship. It should acknowledge and build on such scholarship while presenting a new research question and suggesting a substantive and appropriate methodological direction in the research. Topics that are interdisciplinary and comparative are especially encouraged; in all cases, the topic must fit within the research field as described in the current field descriptions, and applicants will also be assessed on the basis of how their topics complement and elaborate the stated aims of the research field.
• Preparation of the student. Students should have completed sufficient course work in or related to the research field for which they are applying; they should also have completed one or more research papers or presentations related to their field (undergraduate honors papers, major research papers, M.A. theses, workshop or conference presentations). Students must be in good standing in their home departments. In order to participate in the DPDF program, students must have finished all incomplete course work and have removed any "Incompletes" from their transcripts before the spring workshop in June.
• Summer pre-dissertation research plan. Preliminary summer research plans must justify the necessity and relevance of undertaking on-site, empirical investigations—-whether qualitative, quantitative, archival, or library-based—related to the dissertation topic. Students should describe the kinds of investigations they expect to pursue and sources they might consult and outline a research timetable. Students are strongly recommended to request a minimum of two months at their research sites. It is also recommended that students make formal and professional contacts at their research sites.
• Summer funding. The DPDF Program may award fellowships with or without funding depending on financial need. Summer research funding of up to $5,000 is available to cover necessary research costs, but applicants are required to submit budget proposals that justify the use of these funds

Eligibility

A total of 12 doctoral students, 6 from French-based institutions and 6 from institutions in the U.S. will be selected competitively. Early-stage doctoral students in any discipline of the social sciences or the humanities who meet the following criteria are welcome to apply:

• The student’s dissertation research project must clearly fit within the research field.
• The student is currently enrolled full-time in a PhD program at a French or U.S. university.
• The student is preparing for dissertation research.
• The student’s English proficiency will enable both completion of the application in English and participation in workshops.

NOTE: This is the only field of the DPDF Program open to doctoral students enrolled in universities outside of the U.S.

More information and the application can be found on the DPDF website : http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/dpdf-fellowship/

Please direct any questions to DPDF program staff at dpdf@ssrc.org