Department of History

Fellowships, awards, and prizes offered by the Van Hunnick History Department.

  • Due to the generosity of past donors, Roberta Persinger Foulke  and William Roberts Jr, the Van Hunnick History Department is able to give an award to for the best paper written by a history major or minor in a course taught by a member of the history faculty. The Undergraduate Studies Committee will accept nominations from both instructors and students.  Send an electronic copy of the paper in MS Word or PDF to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Lindsay O’Neill (ljoneill@usc.edu). The awardee will receive $100 and the winner will be announced at the department’s annual Honors Day event at the end of the Spring semester.

  • Due to the generosity of past donors, Roberta Persinger Foulke  and William Roberts Jr, the Van Hunnick History Department is able to give an award for the best honors thesis written each year. All theses that receive the honors distinction will be considered for this award. Nominations are not required. The awardee will receive $200 and will be announced at the history department’s annual Honors Day event at the end of the Spring semester.

  • The Mauricio Mazón Undergraduate Research Fellowship was established by USC faculty member Mauricio Mazón, who taught in the departments of History and American Studies and Ethnicity, and pioneered Chicano studies at USC. The fellowship will provide assistance for students who demonstrate the ability or desire to further the interests of Latinos and Latinas in the field of history or historical studies.

    Research grants are given to Latina/o undergraduate students majoring or minoring in a History Department course of study who have the best proposals to use funds for scholarly research and undergraduates majoring or minoring in a History Department course of study whose research focuses on Latino/a history. Funds will be applied to items such as travel expenses or research materials and can be used in the summer months. The amount requested can be up to $500.  For more information see attached or email ljoneill@usc.edu.

  • The Roberta Persinger Foulke Fellowship was established by USC Alumna Roberta Persinger Foulke (BA/MA History 1936). The fellowship provides assistance for students who demonstrate the ability or desire to further the interests of women in the field of history or historical studies. Feel free to contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Lindsay O’Neill) at ljoneill@usc.edu for further information. There are two award categories:

    1) Merit Awards are given to female undergraduate students majoring or minoring in a History Department course of study who demonstrate career promise and academic excellence, AND any male or female undergraduates majoring or minoring in a History Department course of study who demonstrate career promise and academic excellence and the ability or desire to further the interests of women in the field of history or historical studies. The support can be used for tuition only. To apply for a merit award, use the general USC Dornsife Continuing Student Scholarship online application (available at https://dornsife.usc.edu/css) and complete the supplemental essay for the Foulke Scholarship.

    2) Research and Travel Grants are given to female undergraduate students majoring or minoring in a History Department course of study who have the best proposals to use funds for scholarly research, travel, or other departmentally approved programs, AND to male and female undergraduates majoring or minoring in a History Department course of study whose research focuses on women, gender, or the family. Funds will be applied to items such as travel expenses, conference fees, or research materials and can be used in the summer months. The amount requested can be up to $3,000. To apply for a travel grant, please use the application below. Applications are due in late March and grant notifications will be sent by the end of April.

Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

Fellowships, awards, and prizes offered by the Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

  • Dornsife Scholars Award

    For many years, the University of Southern California has provided special recognition to undergraduates who demonstrate outstanding achievement in important dimensions of undergraduate education. Discovery Scholars are students who excel in the classroom while demonstrating the ability to create exceptional new scholarship or artistic works. The Global Scholars program recognizes undergraduates who have excelled in their studies both at home and abroad. Renaissance Scholars are students whose broad and diverse interests help them excel academically.

  • ExL Award

    The ExL Award provides funding for qualified USC undergraduate students at USC Dornsife who wish to participate in experiential learning opportunities such as service-learning, professional conferences, or overseas studies opportunities.

  • Fisher Fellowship Program

    The Fisher Fellowship is the first program at USC Dornsife that enables students with financial needs to fully participate in the enrichment opportunities that are at the heart of the college. Students selected for this program will receive between $6,000 and $10,000, which may be used over a three-year period to participate in programs that involve international travel, field research, and service to various communities.

  • SURF (Student Undergraduate Research Fund)

    SURF is an opportunity for USC Dornsife students to pursue research in conjunction with Dornsife faculty members, either on or off campus, during the summer semester. Any student in good standing, with at least one USC Dornsife major, may apply for a research stipend of up to $3,000 to provide support for working with a member of the faculty on the faculty member’s research.  The stipend may be used to pay for travel, equipment, living expenses, fees, or other costs related to the research effort.  Students participating in one of USC Dornsife’s Problems Without Passports (PWP) research courses may use these funds to offset tuition.

  • SOAR (Student Opportunities for Academic Research)

    The SOAR program provides funding to Dornsife undergraduates for participation as a research assistant in a faculty member’s project. The purpose of SOAR is to connect students with faculty members and their research; it allows all students to be mentored one-on-one by USC faculty, and introduces students early in their academic careers to the process of serious scholarly inquiry. Please note that we do not fund independent research projects, including those related to 490 courses or honors theses.

University-Wide Fellowships, Awards, and Prizes

Fellowships, awards, and prizes offered by the University of Southern California.

  • USC Libraries Primary Sources Research Award

     The annual USC Libraries Research Award recognizes excellence and creativity in the use of USC Libraries’ research collections and services. Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit papers or projects they have completed at USC in a for-credit class or through independent study during the spring, summer, or fall semesters. In addition to their papers, a Reflective Essay of 500-1000 words is required. For details, see the descriptions for each award level.

    QUESTIONS? Contact Michaela Ullmann at ullmann@usc.edu or Sue Luftschein at luftsche@usc.edu

  • USC Office of the Provost, Academic Honors and Awards

    The USC Office of the Provost, Academic Honors and Awards, offers numerous opportunities for which History Majors and Minors are potentially eligible.  Please visit the Academic Honors and Awards site directly to see the complete list.  Note especially some of the most prestigious external awards such as Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, and Fulbright are listed here.

  • Discovery Scholars

    The Discovery Scholar designation honors students who excel in the classroom while demonstrating the ability to create exceptional new scholarship or artistic works. Like sailors on an unexplored sea, Discovery Scholars blaze new paths, rather than simply following the course charted by others.

  • Renaissance Scholars

    The Renaissance Scholar designation honors students whose broad interests help them excel academically. Like Leonardo da Vinci, who was equally adept in the arts and the sciences, Renaissance Scholars are students whose majors and minors are from widely separated fields of study.

  • Global Scholars

    USC Global Scholars extend their learning by spending at least ten weeks in other countries around the world. No matter what you are studying at USC, these Global Learning Outcomes can help you get the most from your time aboard by encouraging you to see the global impact of your education.

  • USC Provost’s Undergrad Research Fellowships

    The Office of the Provost will provide a limited number of fellowships for undergraduate research each academic year in the fall and spring semesters. Each undergraduate student funded by the program will receive a stipend in the amount of $1000 to support research in any academic field for a period of not less than ten weeks during the awarded term. All full-time USC faculty engaged in research are eligible to serve as faculty supervisors.

  • External Fellowships

    For information about competitive fellowships sponsored by organizations outside of USC, see External Fellowship page, https://ahf.usc.edu.  These fellowships include a wide variety of criteria and deadlines. They include Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, Truman Scholarship, Critical Language Scholarship (CLS), and Fulbright awards.