Graduate Dissertation Research Grants

The Stuart L. Bernath Dissertation Research Grant
The W. Stull Holt Dissertation Fellowship
The Lawrence Gelfand - Armin Rappaport - Walter LaFeber Dissertation Fellowship
Samuel Flagg Bemis Dissertation Research Grants

SHAFR awards these grants and fellowships to defray dissertation research expenses.  These awards are announced formally at the SHAFR luncheon held during the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in January.    Membership in SHAFR is required.

Procedures: Self-nominations are expected. The annual deadline for applications is October 15. Applicants are automatically considered for all four grants and must be actively working on dissertations dealing with some aspect of U.S. foreign relations history.

To apply, please read through the Instructions Sheet and then apply through this page.  A link to the online application system will appear when applications are being accepted.  Questions can be e-mailed to [email protected].

ONLINE APPLICATION FORM

Within eight months of receiving the award, each successful applicant must file with the SHAFR Business Office a brief report on how the funds were spent. Such reports will be considered for publication in Passport.

The Bernath Dissertation Grant of up to $4,000 is intended to help graduate students defray expenses encountered in the writing of their dissertations.

Recent Winners:

  • 2023 Evan Bonney
  • 2022 Ayelet Marron
  • 2021 Jilene Chua
  • 2020 Rong Aries Li
  • 2019 Vivien Chang
  • 2018 Amna Qayyum
  • 2017 Alvita Akiboh
  • 2016 Michael B. de Groot
  • 2015 Eva-Maria Muschik
  • 2014 Nguyet Nguyen
  • 2013 Teishan Latner
  • 2012 Rebecca Herman
  • 2011 Sarah Miller-Davenport
  • 2010 Kevin Arlyck
  • 2009 Christopher Dietrich
  • 2008 Jennifer Miller
  • 2007 Blair Woodard
  • 2006 Peter Shulman, Robert McGreevey
  • 2005 Jessica Chapman
  • 2004 Meredith Oyen
  • 2003 Adam Howard
  • 2002 Larry Grubbs
  • 2001 Hiroshi Kitamura; Clea Bunch
  • 2000 Joseph Henning
  • 1999 Elizabeth Kopelman Borgwardt; Deborah Kisatsky
  • 1998 Max Friedman
  • 1997 D'Arcy M. Brissman
  • 1996 David Fitzsimons
  • 1995 Amy L. S. Staples
  • 1994 Delia Pergande
  • 1993 R. Tyler Priest; Christian Ostermann
  • 1992 Shannon Smith
  • 1991 Eileen Scully
  • 1990 David McFadden
  • 1989 Thomas Zeiler; Russel Van Wyk
  • 1988 Elizabeth Cobbs; Madhu Bhalla
  • 1987 Janet M. Manson; Thomas M. Gaskin; W. Michael Weis; Michael Wala
  • 1986 Valdinia C. Winn; Walter Hixson
  • 1985 John Nielson

The W. Stull Holt Dissertation Fellowship
The W. Stull Holt Dissertation Fellowship of up to $4,000 is intended to defray the costs of travel necessary to conduct research on a significant dissertation project.

Recent Winners:

  • 2023 Andrew Klein
  • 2022 Graeme Mack
  • 2021 Miriam Lipton
  • 2020 Ji Soo Hong
  • 2019 Yi Lu
  • 2018 Jonathan Ng
  • 2017 Nguyet Nguyen
  • 2016 Cindy Ewing
  • 2015 Ryan Archibald
  • 2014 Zach Fredman
  • 2013 Wen-Qing Ngoei
  • 2012 Alexander Noonan
  • 2011 Stephen Macekura
  • 2010 Lauren Beth Hirshberg
  • 2009 Christopher Dietrich
  • 2008 Ryan Irwin
  • 2007 Sudeepto Ani Mukherji
  • 2006 Kate Burlingham
  • 2005 Keri Lewis, Jongnam Na
  • 2004 David Snyder
  • 2003 Jason Colby
  • 2002 Erez Manela; Daniel Michael
  • 2001 Mary Montgomery
  • 2000 Jason Parker; Jeffrey Engel
  • 1999 Michael Donoghue; Gregg Brazinsky; Carol Chin
  • 1998 Christopher Endy; Richard Wiggers; Xiaodong Wang
  • 1997 Max Paul Friedman
  • 1996 Philip E. Catton
  • 1995 John J. Dwyer
  • 1994 Christian Ostermann
  • 1993 Darlene Rivas
  • 1992 Robert K. Brigham
  • 1991 Kyle Longley
  • 1990 Katherine A. S. Siegel
  • 1989 Joseph Bedford

The Lawrence Gelfand - Armin Rappaport - Walter LaFeber Dissertation Fellowship
SHAFR established this fellowship to honor Lawrence Gelfand, founding member and former SHAFR president; Armin Rappaport, founding editor of Diplomatic History; and Walter LaFeber, former president of SHAFR. The Gelfand-Rappaport-LaFeber Fellowship of up to $4,000 is intended to defray the costs of dissertation research travel.

Recent Winners:

  • 2023 Brian McNamara
  • 2022 Eri Kitada
  • 2021 Clare Richardson
  • 2020 Sarah Sklaw
  • 2019 Daniel Chardell
  • 2018 Thomas Jamison
  • 2017 Rachel Steely
  • 2016 Evan C. Rothera
  • 2015 David Reid
  • 2014 Heidi M. Krajewski
  • 2013 R. Joseph Parrott
  • 2012 Lauren F. Turek
  • 2011 Thomas Westerman
  • 2010 Stefanie Bator
  • 2009 Candace Sobers
  • 2008 Min Song
  • 2007 Sarah Manekin
  • 2006 Heather Dichter
  • 2005 Joey S.R. Long
  • 2004 Susan Haskell

Samuel Flagg Bemis Dissertation Research Grants
The Samuel F. Bemis Research Grants are intended to promote dissertation research by graduate students.  A limited number of grants of varying amounts (generally, up to $2,000) will be awarded annually to help defray the costs of domestic or international travel necessary to conduct research on significant scholarly projects.

Recent Winners:

  • 2023: Graydon Dennison, Kaitlin Findlay, Syrus Jin, Damanpreet Pelia, A. J. Perez, Sam Rogers, Boyd Ruamcharoen, Richard Sakamoto-Pugh, Rohan Niraj Shah, and Kaitlin Simpson 
  • 2022: Kimberly Beaudreau, Amy Fallas, Dexter Fergie, Christopher Hulshof, Muhammed Cihad Kubat, Miriam Pensack, Emily Sneff, Joshua Stern, Adam Stone, Shang Yasuda
  • 2021: Nathan Ellstrand, James Fortuna, Elizabeth Hameeteman, Nada Khalifa, Robert Konkel, Frances Martin, Sara Meiners, Steven Rodriguez, Amit Sadan, Megan Streit
  • 2020: Arash Azizi, Aniket De, Arang Ha, Aden Knaap, Mira Kohl, Kevan Malone, Ashley Serpa, Varsha Venkatasubramanian, Lael Weinberger, Sally Chengji Xing, Kelsey Zavelo
  • 2019: Marino Auffant, Robert Bell, Amanda Joyce Hall, Brendan A. Collins Jordan, Harrouna Malgouri, An Thuy Nguyen, Minami Nishioka, Kent Weber, Ida Yalzadeh
  • 2018: Miles Culpepper, Susmita Das, Ruodi Duan, Koji Ito, Sejoo Kim, Ruth Lawlor, John Perry, Kyle Shybunko, Amanda Waterhouse, Brandon Kirk Williams
  • 2017 Turgay Akbaba, Ashley Black, Rachel Bunker, Henry Gorman, Fumi Inoue, Robert Larson, Erik Moore, Heidi Morefield, Kaete M. O’Connell, Aileen Teague, Yuan Yi
  • 2016 Noaquia Callahan, Alexandra Tejblum Evans, Cody James Foster, Michael Franczak, Chad D. Frazier, Nathaniel George, Michael Limberg, Jessica Malitoris, Kazushi Minami, Rachel Grace Newman, Loan C. Pham, Mark Sanchez, Keenan J. Shimko, Allison Wells, Silke Zoller
2019 Yi Lu