The Medieval Academy of America’s Mentoring Program Committee is excited to announce the 2025 Summer Research and Professional Development Workshop for PhD-track students. This program is designed to foster the growth of essential skills and mentorship relationships and improve the educational experiences for graduate students in fields intersecting with Medieval Studies. Our primary goals are to facilitate the development of successful dissertation projects, foster networking and community-building, and improve competitiveness for grants and academic positions.
The 2025 workshop will be entirely virtual. We will host a series of 6-8 sessions between 15 July and 15 August. The goal of the workshop will be to help participants learn to explain their research and its significance to others. Effectively communicating one’s research is beneficial in securing grants, publishing articles, and finishing a dissertation. In the latter sessions, participants will break into two cohorts, and leaders will help them each develop a targeted written work relating to their dissertation project: this project could be a dissertation prospectus, a grant proposal, or an introduction to an article addressing and contextualizing the broader goals of the project. Workshop leaders will aspire to provide guidance or tips on library and archival research, writing strategies and techniques, networking, community-building, and other vital professional skills, as well.
We seek twelve graduate students who are currently enrolled in PhD programs in some Medieval Studies discipline, who have finished their PhD coursework but have yet to defend their dissertation. There are no disciplinary or geographical limitations. MA students are ineligible to apply. In keeping with the MAA’s ambition to incorporate and enable access to resources for people from underrepresented groups, we especially encourage applicants from communities and backgrounds that have been traditionally underrepresented or marginalized within Medieval Studies. Preference will also be given to applicants with more limited access to the resources this program seeks to offer. Participants will receive a stipend of $1,500 and a complimentary one-year MAA membership.
Applications are due on 1 March. Click here for more information and to apply.
