Deadline: 2-Apr-21
The William T. Grant Foundation has announced a call for proposals for the One-Time Writing Fellowship: Theories of Blackness, Indigeneity, and Racialization in Research to Reduce Inequality in Lives of Young People.
This small, one-time writing fellowship incorporates three components for each participating Writing Fellow:
- Publication of an original chapter in an edited volume,
- Participation in a writing workshop, and
- Presentation of parts of each chapter in a facilitated webinar series.
Those who engage in research to reduce youth inequality know that strong methods are needed alongside strong theorizing about racialization, racism, and racial categorization. In graduate school, many of them learned the methods which can be utilized to reveal deep-seated systems of racism in our society. However, they often had to learn to theorize racialization and racism in less formal ways, including by participating in social movements, new collaborations, and peer-to-peer mentoring; by working with students; and through self-guided reading outside of the discipline. Learning to meaningfully theorize about racism and racialization certainly can be humbling. The goal is not to arrive as an expert at a final destination, but instead always to understand thinking as a work in progress.
Award Information
A stipend of up to $2,000 will be provided; if a chapter is co-authored, the stipend will be split evenly between co-authors. The stipend will be distributed as follows:
- $500 upon acceptance as a Writing Fellow,
- $1,000 upon acceptance of a completed chapter, and
- $500 for participation in the webinar.
Eligibility Criteria
- Writing Fellow applicants are invited to reflect upon and tell a story about how they came to theorize Blackness, Indigeneity, and/or racialization and race.
- While the editors locate their work in the disciplines of education and psychology, they invite scholars from various social science disciplines, including economics, sociology, public health, and all other disciplines, to submit a chapter proposal.
- They ask applicants to share the challenges, dilemmas, and contradictions that arose when grappling with understandings of race, racialization, and racism.
- They welcome narratives from scholars who have embarked on a journey of self-education and are actively working against disciplinary and institutional norms and values. They also welcome co-authored chapter proposals in which authors exchange stories or share a conversation about these themes.
How to Apply
To apply to become a writing fellow, please send a chapter proposal, in a Word document that contains the following information. Please submit your application by April 2, 2021, and include “WTG Writing Fellows” as the subject line.
- A 500-word proposal (APA format).
- Your chapter proposal should focus on answering the following questions:
- What theories and conceptualizations of Blackness, Indigeneity, and/or racialization inform your research? Are aspects of those theories especially important to consider in research with youth?
- Who are the teachers and books, and what are the lived experiences that are important to the story you have to tell about how you learned to theorize about Blackness, Indigeneity, racialization, and racism? What challenges, contradictions, dilemmas, and shifts are important in sharing your story?
- What do these theories and conceptualizations mean for how you approach your research?
- What do these theories and conceptualizations mean for how you engage with policy and practice around your research?
- What do you wish to see more scholars in your field achieve? If you could make a change to your field, what would that change be?
- Ideally, chapter proposals demonstrate or describe the storytelling approach of the intended chapter. They seek chapters that bring readers along with the line of thinking of the author(s).
- Provide name, affiliation, and contact email for each proposed author. For co-authored submissions, please designate one author for correspondence. If you are a member of an Indigenous community, please include the name of your Nation or Indigenous community.
For more information, visit http://wtgrantfoundation.org/grants/research-grants-reducing-inequality/call-for-proposals-one-time-writing-fellowship