Medieval Institute

Funding

There are various ways your graduate education in medieval studies may be financially supported. Applicants to the MA program will be considered for graduate assistantships if they request funding in their application. Continuing students may apply annually by the February 1 deadline for graduate assistantship funding for the following year. There are also additional opportunities for travel and research support with the Tashjian Study Fellowship. Students can also apply for travel funding for expenses associated with conferences or research at the Newberry Library in Chicago.

The Medieval Institute also offers hourly work at the International Congress of Medieval Studes, and there are funding opportunities through the Graduate College at Western Michigan University, which require separate applications.

The Medieval Institute customarily employs graduate assistants as instructors or co-instructors of MDVL 2000: Medieval Encounters: Voices from the Past in the fall and spring semesters. Graduate assistantships are usually awarded to students in good academic standing who are continuing in the master's program.

Application Process

For returning students, the deadline for applications for assistantships for the following academic year is February 1. Returning students must submit:

  • A résumé listing teaching experience.
  • A narrative response to the following prompt: If you have taught before, write a 700- to 1000-word essay explaining your teaching philosophy and experience. If you have not taught, write a 500-word essay in which you imagine your own approach to teaching.

Returning students must also arrange for two letters of reference from faculty or staff at WMU who are familiar with their academic promise and achievement. Those letters, which should be sent to the director of the Medieval Institute, preferably by email, should address the student's academic performance and suitability for college teaching.

Selection

Assistantships are awarded at the discretion of the director of the Medieval Institute. Graduate assistants are chosen for their scholarship and manifest interest in medieval studies.

Notification

In accordance with the Teaching Assistants Union contract, notification of awards for teaching assistantships is made by March 31 for those who will be employed the following summer session, the following fall and spring semesters, or the following fall semester and by December 1 for those who will be employed the following spring semester.

Apply as a returning student

The Tashjian Study Fellowship provides support for a student who has demonstrated interest in the culture and history of early medieval England or manuscript research and who is enrolled in the Master of Arts in medieval studies program. 

Find out more and how to apply

Western Michigan University is a member of the Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies Consortium through the Medieval Institute. Faculty, staff and graduate students are eligible to apply for a Newberry Renaissance Consortium Grant to receive travel funding to participate in Center for Renaissance Studies programs or to conduct research at the Newberry Library. Contact the director of the Medieval Institute with questions or for more details.

Medieval Institute Publications and the Medieval Institute hire hourly workers during May to support the Exhibits Hall and the running of the International Congress on Medieval Studies. Details will be shared with students as they become available, usually after the University's spring recess each year.

Other funding and award opportunities for graduate students are available from the Graduate College, including:

See the Graduate College's Fellowship and Grants page for other opportunities and for their lists of financial assistance programs offered by other WMU offices and programs outside of WMU.