Assistantships and Scholarships

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS

Most of us work as graduate assistants while we are completing our MA degree. We applied for funding as part of the application process. If we are making satisfactory progress toward the degree, our assistantships are renewed for a second year. In exchange for a nine month stipend and a tuition waiver, we work twenty hours per week when courses are in session.

Ways we work for the department include:

  • Undergraduate classroom support: We assist faculty with teaching responsibilities like grading, scanning course materials, leading class discussions, and holding office hours.
  • Research assistance: We gather and process research material for ongoing faculty projects.
  • Archival Interns: We work directly with Special Collections in the Virginia Tech Library through processing archival materials, working the front desk, and assisting researchers.
  • Graduate Editors: We manage the Virginia Tech Undergraduate History Review (VTUHR). We lead a team of undergraduate editors in order to assess, edit, and public original historical research.

SCHOLARSHIPS 

The VT MA Program also offers two special scholarships.  One for Civil War Studies research, another for research on the history of Virginia.  If you fit the description, here’s how to apply.

Virginia Center for Civil War Studies (VCCWS) Scholarship

  • Up to $5,000 awarded annually, renewable for a second year
  • Supports research interests in the causes and consequences of the American Civil War, broadly construed
    • Candidates for these scholarships may pursue a wide variety of research approaches (including social, political, cultural, military, or economic history) and topics (including—but not limited to—race, slavery, gender, memory and memorialization, violence, political protest, science and medicine, transformations in everyday life, industrialization).
  • Holders of these scholarships are also eligible to hold graduate assistantships.

Applying is easy! Just indicate that you’d like to be considered for one in your MA application.

Frank L. Curtis Fund Scholarship for Virginia History

  • Up to $1,500, awarded annually for one year.
  • Supports research specifically focused on the history of Virginia.
    • Curtis Foundation scholarships encourage students to pursue a wide variety of research approaches and topics that advance our understanding of the place of the state and the experiences of Virginians in any era of history.
  • Holders of these scholarships are also eligible to hold graduate assistantships.

To Apply: Submit a separate, one-page (maximum 400 words) essay that

  1. Explains clearly and concisely how your research interests relate to the purpose of the scholarship.
  2. Discusses how these research interests relate to your career goals.

The Curtis Scholarship application should be mailed directly to the Department of History, Attn: Director of Graduate Studies, Mail Code 0117, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

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