The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures offers a competitive five-year funding package to all students admitted to the PhD program. The standard funding model is:
Year 1: Pre-candidacy tuition and fees, stipend, $500 yearly book award, healthcare, and $5000 summer stipend
Year 2: Fall and Winter Graduate Student Instructor position (includes full tuition waiver, stipend, and healthcare), $500 yearly book award, and $5000 summer stipend
Year 3: Fall and Winter Graduate Student Instructor position (includes full tuition waiver, stipend, and healthcare), $500 yearly book award, and $5000 summer stipend
Year 4: Candidacy tuition and fees, stipend, $500 yearly book award, and healthcare
Year 5: Fall and Winter Graduate Student Instructor position (includes full tuition waiver, stipend, and healthcare), and $500 yearly book award
The department has funding available for current ALC graduate students beyond their initial admissions package. This funding can be used for summer research, travel to conferences, etc. Students must submit a proposal, budget, and supporting letter from their advisor to be considered. ALC graduate students are also encouraged to apply for awards from the International Institute Centers, Rackham Graduate School, FLAS, and the department's competitive research awards: The Hide Shohara Fellowship, Charles and Myrl Hucker Research Award, and the Phillip Thomas Lincoln Memorial Endowment Fellowship.
For information on the cost of tuition at the University of Michigan, please refer to the Office of the Registrar website. The Rackham Graduate School also lists details regarding funding on their website.
Philip Thomas Lincoln, Jr. Memorial Endowment Fellowship
Philip Lincoln, Jr., a 1964 College of LS&A graduate, earned two graduate degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, later returning to the University of Michigan for graduate work in Economics and Chinese Studies. As a career diplomat with the U.S. State Department from 1966 to 1996, he dedicated his life to the betterment of relations between the United States and the countries of Asia, especially China. He was a patriot, scholar, teacher, musician, and loving family man – a true gentleman. This fellowship has been created to honor his memory by supporting graduate student research in Asia. It is made possible by generous gift to the department in 2001 by Ethel Jane Lincoln, Philip Lincoln’s mother.
ELIGIBILITY
The Lincoln Fellowship is intended to help support travel for advanced research in Asia. Funds may be used in conjunction with other awards from the Department and other sources internal and external to the University of Michigan. The fellowship is open to all PhD students in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Applicants must present a plan to perform research in Asia, to begin no more than nine months from the date the funds are awarded. Applicants must be in good academic standing with the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Preference will be given to students who have achieved candidacy or will achieve candidacy by the date their proposed research project is to begin.
AWARD
One award of $4,000 will be given each year.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
All application materials must be submitted to the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures by 5:00 PM on April 1. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
APPLICATION MATERIALS
♦ Statement of Purpose: no more than three-page narrative description of the overall direction of your research for your degree as well as a description of your plans for this particular research trip. Students will be expected to provide approximate dates of travel.
♦ Detailed Budget: applicants should include all costs of travel (airfare, lodging, meals, etc.) as well as details of where all estimates were obtained. Applicants must also include sources of other funds that have been received or requested for this research project.
♦ Curriculum Vitae (CV)
♦ Two letters of recommendation one of which must be from the applicant’s mentoring or dissertation committee chair.
SELECTION
An awardee will be selected by the Graduate Program Committee of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Applicants will be notified in early- to mid-April regarding the award decision. The awardee will be invited to meet with the Lincoln family to discuss his or her plans for research before departure and the results of the research upon return. Awardees will also be expected to participate in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures Graduate Student Research Colloquium.
The Charles and Myrl Hucker Research Award
Charles O. Hucker joined the Department of Far East Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan (now the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures) in 1965 as Professor of Chinese and served as its Chair from 1965-1971. He retired from the University of Michigan in 1983 as Professor Emeritus of Chinese and of History and Williams Emeritus Professor. Professor Hucker had a distinguished career as a teacher and scholar of Imperial Chinese culture. Appealing to both specialist and popular audiences, he authored, among other works A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China, as well as China’s Imperial Past, which was selected by The History Book Club as the most acclaimed general history of Imperial China ever written by an American. Throughout his career, Professor Hucker was an active member of the Association for Asian Studies, for which he served as director in 1961-63 and secretary in 1966-68. This award has been created as a tribute to the scholarly and collegial legacy left behind by Charles O. Hucker and to the friendship of his wife Myrl by supporting graduate student research in the area of Chinese studies.
ELIGIBILITY
The Charles and Myrl Hucker Research Award is intended to help support graduate student research in the area of Chinese studies. Funds may be used in conjunction with other awards from the Department and other sources internal and external to the University of Michigan. The fellowship is open to all PhD students in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Applicants must propose a research project to begin no more than nine months from the date the funds are awarded. Applicants must be in good academic standing with the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Preference will be given to students who have achieved candidacy or will achieve candidacy by the date their proposed research project is to begin.
AWARD
One award of $6000 will be given each year. Awardees will also receive a copy of Professor Hucker’s book China’s Imperial Past.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
All application materials must be submitted to the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures by 5:00 PM on April 1. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
APPLICATION MATERIALS
♦ Statement of Purpose: no more than three-page narrative description of the overall direction of your research for your degree as well as a description of your plans for this particular research trip. Students will be expected to provide approximate dates of travel.
♦ Curriculum Vitae (CV)
♦ Two letters of recommendation one of which must be from the applicant’s mentoring or dissertation committee chair.
SELECTION PROCEDURE
An awardee will be selected by the Graduate Program Committee of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Applicants will be notified in early- to mid-April regarding the award decision. The awardee will be invited to write a letter to Mrs. Mryl Hucker to thank her for the award and to describe your plans for research. Awardees will also be expected to participate in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures Graduate Student Research Colloquium.
The Hide Shohara Fellowship
Hide Shohara received his PhD in Linguistics from the University of Michigan in 1932. Dr. Shohara went on to become a well-known educator and scholar of Japanese language pedagogy, publishing such works as Introduction to Spoken Japanese. He also served as one of the four original faculty of the Department of Far Eastern Languages and Literatures, the forerunner of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. During his tenure at the University, he actively promoted the study of Japanese language, forming the foundation of the Japanese Language Program as it exists today. This fellowship was created to honor his memory and to support graduate students in the field of Asian languages.
ELIGIBILITY
The Hide Shohara Fellowship is intended to support PhD students in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures by providing funding for educational expenses. The award may be used in conjunction with other awards from the Department as well as sources internal or external to the University of Michigan. Applicants must have a record of excellence within the program and be in good academic standing. Preference will be given to students who will use the award to support dissertation writing or research.
AWARD
Up to two awards will be given each academic year. The amount of the award will be calculated by the Graduate Program Committee of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures in consultation with the Department Chair.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
All application materials must be submitted to the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures by 5:00 PM on February 1. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
APPLICATION MATERIALS
• Statement of Purpose: a three-page narrative description of progress of research towards the degree as well as a description of plans for the use of the award.
• Detailed Budget: all costs that would be covered by the award as well as an explanation of how the costs were calculated. Applicants must also list sources of other received or requested funding.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Letter of Recommendation from the applicant’s mentoring or dissertation committee chair approving the request and explaining how s/he feels the award will benefit the student.
SELECTION
Awardees will be selected by the Graduate Program Committee of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures in consultation with the Department Chair. Applicants will be notified by early March. Awardees will be honored at the annual Asian Languages and Cultures Graduation and Awards Ceremony held at the close of Winter term.
Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Positions
The department offers several Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) positions in the Fall and Winter semesters. ALC graduate students are first considered for these positions and are contacted by the Curriculum and Student Services Coordinator about preferences and assignments in February (for Fall term) and in October (for Winter term). The remaining positions are then posted for two weeks on March 15 (for the Fall term) and on November 1 (for the Winter term) for graduate students outside of the department to apply. Please review our hiring policy before applying for a GSI position.
