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After successfully developing and implementing a new graduate student initiative in 2018, Pre-doctoral Fellowships for Indigenous Students, and awarding it to a total of eight previous fellows, this year the Faculty of Arts and Science is expanding the program. It will now include three new Pre-doctoral Fellowships in Black Studies as well as three Pre-doctoral Fellowships for Indigenous Students.

Lynda Jessup, Associate Dean (Strategic Initiatives), was inspired to develop the program after working with Erin Sutherland (PhD’16), an Indigenous student who had received a pre-doctoral fellowship at another university.

“I see the development of this program as a way of supporting culturally relevant learning opportunities both for Queen’s and for Indigenous students,” says Dr. Jessup. “This year, along with the three fellowships for Indigenous students, the program will expand to also award three Pre-Doctoral Fellowships in Black Studies.The expansion is intended to reinforce the profile of the Black Studies program at the graduate level.”

Launched in 2018 as the first of its kind in Canada, the Pre-doctoral Fellowships for Indigenous Students program was designed to support the intellectual and scholarly development of senior Indigenous doctoral candidates in ways that position them for success. The program also provided mentorship and access to Queen's resources, it brought new scholars and Indigenous ways of knowing into undergraduate classrooms, and fostered conversations that advanced the FAS commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity.

Five fellowships were awarded in 2018-19 and three in 2019-20:

• Scott Berthelette - PhD Candidate, Department of History, University of Saskatchewan
• Keri Cheechoom - PhD Candidate, Department of English, University of Ottawa
• Jennifer Meness - PhD Candidate, Communication and Culture Program, York & Ryerson Universities
• Evelyn Poitras - PhD Candidate, Department of Gender Studies, Trent University
• Adrianne Xavier - PhD Candidate, Department of Global Development Studies, Royal Roads University
• Lesley Belleau - PhD Candidate, Indigenous Studies, Trent University
• Cydd Panjunen- PhD Candidate, Department of Philosophy, University of Guelph
• Zachary Smith - PhD Candidate, Department of History, University of Toronto

The Fellowship provides $37,000 in annual stipends plus wages for teaching and up to $3,000 for research and conference travel. It also offers a competitive advantage for academic and non-academic jobs after graduation.

“I am always telling people about the opportunity because Indigenous graduate students, we seem to all find each other,” Adrianne Xavier, PhD Candidate, Department of Global Development Studies, Royal Roads University. “We’re not always that common in the graduate sphere, and we need to support each other, and that for me is what this is about, really being supported and taking the chance to be successful. Being part of the pre-doctoral program gave me a real feel for what it means to be in the academy, as a part of it, not as a student in it.”

Expansion of the program supports the new BA Honours Major and Joint Honours in Indigenous Studies for fall 2021, and the development of the BA General/Minor in Black Studies by the Department of Gender Studies for 2022.

The application deadline is August 15, 2021. Learn more and apply on the website.

Sign up for a one-hour webinar to learn about the one-year Pre-Doctoral Fellowships for Indigenous PhD Students and PhD Black Studies Students. Hear from our Associate Dean Strategic Initiatives and Associate Professor, Gender Studies. A short presentation will be followed by a Q & A period at the end of the webinar.