Humanities Futures Workshop Graduate Mentors

Application Deadline Extended:
Monday, January 16, 2023

The Mellon Environmental Stewardship, Place, and Community Initiative (MESPAC) is seeking nine graduate students to mentor undergraduate students at the Humanities Futures Workshop (April 13-15, 2023) and to participate in two planning meetings in advance of the Workshop.

MESPAC focuses on centering Indigenous epistemologies and other ways of knowing to shape how we think about relationships with the planet and each other. One goal of this multi-campus grant is to introduce Indigenous and other underrepresented undergraduates to the possibilities of graduate education in the humanities for advancing their own commitments and careers. Undergraduate mentees will primarily be drawn from three Humanities Futures Lab courses in Native American and Indigenous Studies offered in Spring and May terms, 2023. 

The Humanities Futures Workshop April 13–15, 2023 will be held on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus alongside the MESPAC Initiative Capstone Symposium and offers undergraduates opportunities to explore graduate education and see how Indigenous ways of knowing are being incorporated in the humanities.

The role of the mentors will be to help plan the Spring workshop and to work with small groups of undergraduates during the workshop, sharing their experience in graduate school. 

 

Eligibility & Participation Commitments

Applicants should be U of M graduate students, actively enrolled in Spring 2023. Masters or PhD students welcome. Students from any program at the U of M can apply.

Preference will be given to applicants who represent diverse disciplines, who have interest in humanities education and/or institutional transformation, and/or have community engagement experience, and who are Indigenous and/or other underrepresented identities.

Mentors must commit to attending two planning meetings in Spring 2023 (one before Spring break and one after), potentially missing some class April 13-15 during Workshop hours, and sharing their grad school experience with groups of four undergraduate mentees.

 

Compensation

A $500 honorarium will be provided, as well as 2-3 meals during workshops. Commitment will not not exceed 20 hours work.

 

Application Instructions

Application deadline: Monday, January 9th, 2023. You will be asked to submit the following via InfoReady Review:

  • Name
  • Department
  • Why did you decide to go to grad school and how did you choose the field/discipline you are in? (100 words)
  • Tell us about your graduate research. (200 words)
  • How do your community relationships inform your academic work? What does community-engaged research look like to you? (200 words)
  • What do you think is important to share with Indigenous and other underrepresented students about graduate school? (100 words)
  • Describe any ideas you have for engaging undergraduates (methods or activities) in a workshop/mentorship context. (100 words)
  • Is there anything else you would like us to know?