Now accepting applications! Deadline: February 24, 2012

The Fellowship

The Laurence A. Weinstein Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Education and Jewish Studies is designed to support the work of exceptional graduate students working in the area of “Education and Jewish Studies,” broadly conceived. This Fellowship, awarded at regular intervals through the generous gift of Frances Weinstein, affords the successful candidate a package that includes an academic stipend and tuition worth a total of approximately $35,000 for the academic year. The stipend is typically granted for one year but sometimes two.

Eligibility

The Fellowship is aimed at students whose work is concerned with the role that education has played in Jewish civilization and/or with questions pertaining to education in Jewish Studies. Ideally, this interest will be reflected in some combination of prior work experience, courses taken, dissertation work, and/or professional plans. The holder of this Fellowship will pursue full-time graduate study in a recognized UW masters or doctoral program, and will contribute to the intellectual life of the Center for Jewish Studies and the University of Wisconsin. Students work with professors in both Jewish Studies and Education and take courses in both areas.

In the event that an appropriate candidate in the area of Education and Jewish Studies cannot be found, the Fellowship may be given, but for no more than one year at a time, to a graduate student whose work is seriously concerned with the more general area of Jewish Studies. Incoming graduate students as well as continuing students are invited to apply for the fellowship.

Application Procedure

Interested students should submit the following by 11:59 pm on Friday, February 24, 2012:

1. Academic transcripts of prior academic work at undergraduate, and, if applicable, graduate levels
2. Three letters of recommendation that speak to your academic abilities and qualifications. Ideally, one or more of these letters will speak to your background and interests in (as well as your aptitude for) work in the area of Education and Jewish Studies, or Jewish Studies, or Education
3. A personal statement of 2–3 pages that addresses your interests, academic background, and future plans—academic and/or professional—in the area of Jewish Studies and Education.

Please submit application materials electronically to scholarships@cjs.wisc.edu.

Recipients

The current holder of the fellowship is Irene Resenly, a first year PhD student in the Curriculum and Instruction – Social Studies Education working with Goodman Professor Simone Schweber. She writes: “I have both a bachelor’s degree in German Language and Literature and a teaching certificate in Modern Foreign Language Education from Boston University, and a master’s degree in Holocaust Education from New York University. I have had the honor to work as the staff coordinator for a Holocaust survivor and professor, work as a museum educator with high school and college students, and work as an culture and communication teacher in a small city in Poland. Each academic and professional experience has enriched me as an educator and each of the students and scholars I have been privileged to meet along the way have inspired me to in my pursuits.

Thanks to the generous fellowship, I am able to continue my journey as an educator and academic researcher here at the university. My work is centered in international Holocaust curricula. I plan to examine and compare how to the Holocaust is taught in America, Germany, and Poland with the ultimate goal of working in conjunction with teachers in Poland to create innovative, meaningful Holocaust curricula.”