Undergraduate Internships, Funding & Prizes
The CSGS offers the following funding opportunities and prizes for undergraduate students at the University of Chicago:
- Undergraduate Summer Internship Program
- Research Grants for Undergraduate Students
- The UChicago LGBTQ+ Community Engagement Award
- Ruth Murray BA Thesis Prize in Women's Studies, Feminist Criticism, Gender or Sexuality Studies
Undergraduate Summer Internship Program
Priority deadline: Thursday, February 29, 2024
If you’re interested in working this summer with an organization that focuses on issues of gender and/or sexuality, this is a great resource for you. The CSGS will select up to 6 UChicago undergraduates (1st/2nd/3rd years are eligible) who apply to receive funding ($5,000) for an 8-10 week unpaid internship in a relevant field. You don’t need to know exactly where you’re going to work in order to fill out the application, just have an idea of the kind of service or activism that interests you. It’s an opportunity to do work that is meaningful to you and also help you think about future career options.
Contact Bonnie Kanter at bonniek@uchicago.edu if you have questions.
Research Grants for Undergraduate Students
Deadlines for 2023-24: October 23, 2023; January 29, 2024; and April 15, 2024
Apply Now!
The CSGS supports research on gender and sexuality across all disciplines at the University of Chicago. In order to support this work we are providing research grant opportunities for students at all levels. Grants will be decided upon quarterly during Autumn/Winter/Spring, with deadlines Monday of 5th week each quarter. Grants can be used to cover research expenses or travel to conferences. This could include costs of transcriptions, purchasing texts or software, interview incentives, or other costs. (Computer and hardware purchases excluded.) To be eligible, the research must be related to the study of gender and/or sexuality. Undergraduate students can apply during any quarter for a maximum of $500 per year. Preference will be given to those who have not previously received funding. The application requires a CV or resume, budget, description of the project and the email address of a recommender. If you have any questions, please contact Bonnie Kanter (bonniek@uchicago.edu).
The UChicago LGBTQ+ Community Engagement Award
Deadline: April 1, 2024
Apply Now!
The LGBTQ+ Community Engagement Award is a new student prize sponsored by UChicago Alumni Pride and the Center. The award will be given annually to honor exceptional contributions that advance and support the interests of the LGBTQ+ community and is open to current UChicago undergraduate or graduate students in good academic standing. The awardee will receive a prize of $500. The awardee will also be honored with the opportunity to speak publicly about the significance of their work and introduce the invited distinguished speaker at the coming year’s OUTstanding Speaker Series lecture. Undergraduate winners will be listed on the College Honors and Awards page.
Nominations (including self-nominations) are due April 1. Eligible nominees will be notified in early April with a request to submit materials by April 29.
Ruth Murray BA Thesis Prize in Women's Studies, Feminist Criticism, Gender or Sexuality Studies
Ruth Murray (center), Education Librarian at the University of Chicago is pictured in the Eckhart Hall Tea Room with two unidentified colleagues. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-02188, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
Deadline: May 5, 2024
Apply Now!
The Ruth Murray Prize will be awarded for the best BA thesis written by a University of Chicago undergraduate student in any discipline which focuses on women's studies, feminist criticism, gender and/or sexuality studies. The $500 prize sponsored is in memory of Ruth Murray, who died in 1991, having served as Bibliographer for the Education, Psychology, Sociology and Women's Studies Collections at the Regenstein Library for many years. Ruth Murray had a strong interest in encouraging scholarship in women's studies and often served as a stimulus and facilitator of work by students and faculty in the area. It is the intent of the Ruth Murray Prize Committee that the thesis competition sustain and encourage scholarship in gender and sexuality studies, as Ruth Murray did during her lifetime. Theses may come from students in all majors and may take the form of analytic or critical essays, empirical research papers, or personal essays. Entries should be no longer than 50 double-spaced pages. Students may only submit one paper each. Papers must be in English.
To enter the competition, a student should submit an application electronically.
The committee reserves the right to split the prize in the case of multiple awards.
Please contact Assistant Director for Student Affairs and Curriculum Bonnie Kanter (bonniek@uchicago.edu; 773-702-2365) with any questions.