A student successfully defends her master's thesis to her faculty committee while friends and supporters silently cheer her on from the wings.
Scholarships & Awards
Scholarships, and More
Looking for scholarship information? Need to write a grant? In addition to the scholarship listings that the
university and the College of Arts & Sciences make available, this site offers information on scholarships and
grants specifically for black students. It also provides information on other resources that can prove invaluable
to graduate and undergraduate students alike, including summer research opportunities, writing resources, and a
survival guide for the Bloomington campus.
Graduate Awards
At the end of spring semester, the department hosts its annual Graduate Student Appreciation Celebration at which several merit awards are presented to outstanding students.
In addition to three major awards named in honor of the first faculty members hired by founder Herman C. Hudson (see below), the department presents the Community Outreach Award and the Medal of Honor to deserving students.
Phyllis R. Klotman Outstanding Thesis/Creativity Award
Phyllis R. Klotman is professor emerita of Afro-American Studies and Film Studies. In 1981, she founded the Black Film Center/Archive at Indiana University, the first such resource in the nation, and served as its director for 18 years. In addition, she was a driving force, along with professors John McCluskey and Fred McElroy, in developing the department’s master’s program.
Professor Klotman’s work includes African Americans in Cinema: The First Half Century (CD); Struggles for Representation: African American Documentary Film and Video; Frame by Frame II: A Filmography of the African American Image; Screenplays of the African American Experience; Frame by Frame: A Black Filmography; and Another Man Gone: The Black Runner in Contemporary Afro-American Literature.
Serving as the dean of women’s affairs at IU (1986-1993), Professor Klotman made it possible for women to ride bicycles in the annual Little 500 bicycle race and instituted numerous procedures to improve women’s safety on campus. She also served as director of IUB’s Affirmative Action Office (1974-1979).
The Klotman Award is given to the student who demonstrates superior work in the research and writing of the thesis or in the production of creative projects.
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Winona L. Fletcher Outstanding Leadership Award
Winona L. Fletcher, professor emerita of Afro-American Studies and Theatre and Drama, served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1981 to 1984.
Professor Fletcher, an internationally respected theater historian, is the author of A Glimpse of African American Life in Frankfort, Kentucky, “Witnessing a ‘Miracle’: Sixty Years of Heaven Bound at Big Bethel in Atlanta,” and other articles and contributions to books.
Professor Fletcher is a senior fellow of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre (invested in 1979), as well as a recipient of the Career Achievement in Education Award of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. The Winona Fletcher Theatre Collection is one of the rotating permanent collections of the Center of Excellence for the Study of Kentucky African Americans at Kentucky State University.
The Fletcher Award is given to the student who most demonstrates leadership in many activities and organizations and who takes the time to serve as a mentor to other students.
William H. Wiggins Outstanding Associate Instructor Award
William H. Wiggins is professor emeritus of Afro-American Studies and Folklore. After serving as acting chair of the department from 2000 to 2002, Professor Wiggins retired in 2003. A long-time mentor and supporter of African American students at IU, he currently serves as the acting director for the IU Faculty and Staff for Excellence Mentoring Program (FASE).
Professor Wiggins’s book Joe Louis: A Folk Biography, for which he won a Guggenheim teaching award, stands as a definitive work on the life of the great boxer. His other work includes chapter contributions to Jubilation!: African American Celebrations in the Southeast, as well as “Pilgrims, Crosses, and Faith: The Folk Dimensions of Heaven Bound” and other articles and book reviews.
The Wiggins Award is given to the student who has shown the strongest dedication to teaching and who has demonstrated serious commitment to helping undergraduates improve their skills.
Undergraduate Awards
Each spring the department holds its Undergraduate Reception to show appreciation for outstanding undergraduates in AAADS. Certificates of Appreciation are presented to outstanding students during the social hour.
New Initiatives for Undergraduates interested in Graduate School
We are pleased to announce that this summer the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University will launch a new program aimed at helping undergraduate students from under-represented groups apply to and succeed in Graduate School. Called PREPARING FOR GRADUATE STUDY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY (PGS-21), this two-week program is the result of a hard-working committee (Claude Clegg, Arlene Diaz, Valerie Grim, Joan Pong Linton, Bob Patterer, Harmeet Sawhney) and hopes to attract some 15-20 students working in the humanities and social sciences.
In addition to helping students prepare for applications, the GRE tests, and other matters, PGS-21 will also center around the students’ own writing and research skills. Students will bring their most accomplished writing with them and through mentorship on such topics as finding and employing relevant scholarship, deploying research effectively in arguments, and citing it accurately, they will leave the program with the start of an effective writing sample to include in their graduate applications. At the same time, they will also be introduced to the rigors and expectations of advanced degree work and will work with advanced graduate students as well as faculty.
With the exception of a modest registration fee to be paid by each participant, all expenses will be paid by the College. You can read more about it at the following address: http://college.indiana.edu/graduate/pgs21/index.shtml
For more information click the below links
Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies
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