Home > Programs > Graduate Program

Schaeffer Fellowship Program in Creative Non-Fiction

In light of budget cuts, Schaeffer Fellowships will not be made available for the 2010-2011 year. Please check back next year for 2011-2012 availability of funding under the auspices of the Schaeffer Fellowship Program for graduate study in the Department of English at UC Irvine in the field of Creative Non-Fiction. Below you will find more information about the fellowship and application process.

 

These generous fellowships ($20,000/year for the first year of graduate study, with the possibility of a second, dissertation-year fellowship for a thesis consisting in a work of Creative Non-Fiction) are competitive in nature. The Schaeffer Fellows will be selected by a faculty review committee.

Applicants will be considered for admission to the Ph.D. in the English Department according to normal procedures. Files for the Schaeffer Fellowships will then be assessed on the basis of the applicant's intention to devote part of the graduate career to course work in areas related to creative non-fiction. Students with experience in journalism or other forms of non-fiction prose writing are ideal candidates for this fellowship. Applicants should demonstrate a significant interest in pursuing of creative non-fiction forms while at UC Irvine.

If you wish to apply for the Schaeffer Fellowship Program, you must include the following additional items with your regular application materials:

1.) An essay of no more than 500 words, in which you describe your prior interest and experience in creative non-fiction and discuss the area in which you might work on the dissertation project.

2.) An additional writing sample: an example of previous writing in the field of creative non-fiction. Please note: This sample is in addition to the writing sample required for admission into the graduate program.

3.) A cover letter, in which you announce your intention to apply for the fellowship, give the title of the sample that you are submitting to the fellowship committee, and outline your possible areas of Ph.D. study, including the intended focus of a possible dissertation project in creative non-fiction.

To receive consideration for the Schaeffer Fellowship, all submissions must be postmarked by the same application deadline for Ph.D. admissions.

APPLICATION DEADLINES (no exceptions):

  • For the Ph.D. Program in English: December 15 (for the following Fall).

 

Please mail your submissions to:

Ph.D. Graduate Program Administrator
Department of English-UC Irvine
435 Humanities Instructional Building
Irvine, CA 92697-2650

 
UC Irvine Department of English