The Law and Society Association and The American Bar Foundation

Law and Social Science

Dissertation Fellowship & Mentoring Program

Applications due December 1, 2009

The Law and Society Association, in collaboration with the American Bar Foundation and the National Science Foundation, seeks applications for the Law and Social Science Dissertation Fellowship and Mentoring Program (LSS Fellowship).

Awards

Fellowships are held in residence at the American Bar Foundation in Chicago, IL, where Fellows are expected to participate in the intellectual life of the ABF, including participation in a weekly seminar series. LSS Fellows will receive a stipend of $26,000 per year beginning fall 2010 and are eligible for up to two years of support. Fellows will attend LSA annual meetings in both years of the fellowship and the Graduate Student Workshop in the first year of the fellowship. Fellows will receive up to $1,500 for research and travel expenses each year. One-time relocation expenses of up to $2,500 may be reimbursed.

Eligibility:

Third, fourth and fifth year graduate students who specialize in the field of law and social science and whose research interests include law and inequality are invited to apply. Fellowship applicants should be students in a Ph.D. program in a social science department or an interdisciplinary program. Humanities students pursuing empirically-based social science dissertations are welcome to apply. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply.

Application Materials Required

Applicants should submit: (1) a 1-2 page letter of application; (2) a 2-3 page description of a research project or interest that relates to law and inequality (broadly defined) with a statement of how the applicant became interested in the research topic; (3) a resume or curriculum vitae; (4) a writing sample (a paper written for a graduate-level course or dissertation prospectus); (5) three letters of recommendation from faculty members (including one from the faculty member who will serve as the departmental liaison -- typically the applicant’s advisor).

Please send TWO complete sets of application materials by December 1, 2009. One set to Mary McClintock, Law and Society Association, University of Massachusetts, 40 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9244 and the other to Allison Lynch, Program Associate, American Bar Foundation, 750 North Lake Shore Drive – 4th Floor, Chicago, IL, 60611.

For more information, contact Mary McClintock at LSA, lsa@lawandsociety.org, tel. (413) 545-4617; or Laura Beth Nielsen at lnielsen@abfn.org.