ORWAC Research Development Grant

Next Deadline April 1, 2023

The Organization for Research on Women and Communication invites submissions for the 11th annual Research Development Grant.  Members are eligible to apply in one of five grant categories that support scholars at different levels of their career: Category 1 for undergraduate students, Category 2 for master's students, Category 3 for doctoral students, Category 4 for contingent faculty, and Category 5 for tenure/track faculty. Each grant offers a maximum of $2,500.00.

Grants are designed to assist feminist scholars completing research or creative projects that privilege and advance understandings about the intersectionality and complexity defining women’s lives.  Broadly speaking, submitted projects are those that chart new ground in disciplinary knowledge about women and gender; offer insights about the challenges and negotiations confronted by women in light of intersecting identities; and/or favor the diverse voices, experiences, discourses, performances and lives of women. Applicants’ research projects may be at any stage at time of submission. Grant funds may be used, for example, to pay for: conducting interviews, data transcription, archival research whether for copying costs or travel to archives, clerical support, transportation and/or registration fees for a conference to present the submitted project, among other needs.

Application Requirements

• Be a current member of ORWAC (ORWAC membership is independent of WSCA).
• Applicants are responsible for becoming members or ensuring their membership is current before submitting the grant application. You can join or renew your membership online: http://www.orwac.org/membership.html.
• Executive officers of ORWAC are ineligible for the grants.
• Submit a single PDF document containing the completed application form, budget, and current curriculum vita. Grant applications retrievable from http://www.orwac.org.
• Forward application materials electronically (PDF or Word document) to: Diane Keeling at keeling@sandiego.edu
• Within one year of receipt of a grant, awardees agree to submit a one page report detailing the results of the submitted project and use of funds to keeling@sandiego.edu

**Click here to access the 2023 Research Grant Application**

Deadlines

• Applications are due April 1, 2023 by noon (PST). Late proposals will not be reviewed.
• Applicants will be notified by June, with funds being distributed shortly thereafter.

Review Process

All applications are reviewed by the grant committee (i.e., composed of ORWAC officers, member volunteers, and/or past recipients).  Grant applicants will receive notification about receipt of their materials, and again later when final decisions are made. Review criteria and decision making are based upon: 1) a project that most strongly fits and supports ORWAC’s mission statement, 2) a project that examines the intersectionality of gendered experiences,  3) the overall quality of a submitted proposal, 4) the potential and/or likelihood for intellectual contribution to feminist scholarship in the field of Communication, and 5) the potential and/or likelihood for scholarly dissemination such as a conference paper, thesis, dissertation or book chapter, journal article, or creative project. 

The call for grant applications and the application form are posted to this website at the start of each calendar year. Applications are due at the beginning of April and awards are announced in June. 

History of the ORWAC Research Development Grant

In November 2007 at an Executive Officers' meeting, Michelle A. Holling (then President) presented fellow officers with a proposal to establish a scholarship or grant for ORWAC members. The grant was conceived as a way to invest in feminist scholars who help support the future of ORWAC and contribute to the growth of feminist communication scholarship. After much discussion about the feasibility of implementing a grant program, officers were unanimous in their support for beginning the “ORWAC Research Development Grant.” In the months that followed, officers contributed to crafting the grant call and teasing out specifics for the review and award process.  Promotion for the grant began in the January 2008 newsletter with formal announcement at the 2008 ORWAC Business Meeting, Western States Communication Association conference. Since then, subsequent officers have updated the call, requirements, and review process.


For a list of past recipients and their projects and/or additional information for the current call consult the links to the right.

ORWAC Brenda J. Allen Travel Grant Endowment for Women, Trans, and Non-Binary Graduate Students of Color

The Brenda J. Allen Travel Grant funds travel for women, trans, and non-binary graduate students of color who present on a WSCA ORWAC conference panel. We invite you to support this endowment by donating here. 

Professor Allen has been a pathbreaker in the field of communication and has devoted her career to ensuring that communication and the academy as a whole are more equitable and inclusive places. Her scholarship has been foundational in intercultural, organizational, and feminist communication studies, and her mentorship record is unparalleled. She is also a long-time member of ORWAC, and has played a leadership role for years, most notably as our first "web spinner." This is why ORWAC wants to endow a student travel award in her name to honor this legacy.

Background on the Endowment Creation: ORWAC created a special committee dedicated to auditing the organization's commitment to diversity, equity and belonging. Members of the committee were compensated for their service. Karma Chávez, a committee member, donated her honorarium back to the organization in order to seed an endowment that would provide travel grants for women, trans and non-binary graduate students of color to attend and present on ORWAC panels. This endowment would be in direct response to one of the special committee's findings that ORWAC needs to do more materially to make people of color feel a sense of belonging and buy-in to the organization. The Executive Board enthusiastically endorsed this idea, and named this award for Professor Allen.

Our goal is to raise $20,000, which will give ORWAC enough funds to provide $1000 annually toward travel grants for women, trans and non-binary graduate students of color. We need your help to make this happen and to show your support of the legacy of Professor Allen. We are asking for your help to make this happen and to show your support of the legacy of Professor Allen.

Please follow this link to make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=KHZPXY79M4AVN

If you'd prefer to send a check, you can do so by making it out to ORWAC and sending it to our treasurer:
Alyssa Samek
Cal State University Fullerton
2600 Nutwood Ave, suite 420
Fullerton, CA 92831

Questions about the endowment can be directed to keeling@sandiego.edu.