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Description
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The Social Science Research
Council offers predissertation training fellowships which
enable students to pursue language training and
multidisciplinary area study, as well as master the
mechanics of conducting research in the developing world.
This fellowship equips students to hit the ground running
when they begin their dissertation research. The program
seeks to address some common problems faced by doctoral
students: All too often, the first months of the
dissertation fellowship are spent perfecting language skills
and realizing that the research questions being asked are
either the wrong questions to be asking in that particular
regional context, or too sensitive to be asked in this
particular society. Similarly, much time is wasted
redesigning methodology to suit the culture, or rethinking
the research schedule due to unexpected travel delays
stemming from unfamiliarity with the practical realities of
different regions. Predissertation fellowships also permit
the working out of logistical details such as research
affiliations for future research, which can also consume
much valuable time when the clock is ticking on the research
fellowship.
One of the more important
functions the fellowships serve is to create networks among
fellows, between fellows and scholars working in their
fields, and between fellows and their counterparts in the
developing world. Through an annual conference and an e-mail
reflector, fellows are given the opportunities for exchange
of knowledge and experience, for getting a broader
perspective on one's plans for dissertation research, and
for sharing practical information about the field site.
Through workshops in the developing world in which fellows
participate with students being trained locally, fellows
learn to communicate across language barriers, cultural
divides, and differences in academic and scholarly
traditions.
http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/ipfp/
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