India S. Lenear, sixth year ABD Doctoral Candidate, has received the American Dissertation Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). With her work broadly focusing on Black Women's politics, Black politics, and Black feminism(s)/Womanism, Lenear's dissertation, "From Margin to Center: Investigating Black Women's Diverse Political Ideologies," examines Black women's diverse ideological self identification, beliefs and attitudes through mixed methods and their effect within formal and informal political spheres.
The American Dissertation Fellowship is open to women in all fields of study, though those engaged in science, technology, engineering, and math fields, or those researching gender issues, are especially encouraged to apply. Established in 1888, AAUW American Fellowships are the oldest non-institutional source of graduate funding for women in the United States. The fellowship, in particular, offsets scholars’ expenses during their final year of dissertation writing and deepens AAUW’s impact by accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia.