The Jerome A. Connor Dissertation Award, 2021-2022
In October 1997, the Department of Sociology received a gift of $20,000 from the estate of the Department’s first recipient of an M.A. degree, Jerome A. Connor (M.A. 1931). Those funds, now endowed, allow our department to make a cash award each year.
By a vote on February 19, 1999, the Sociology faculty approved the use of these funds to establish “The Jerome A. Connor Dissertation Award.” This award will be given to a Sociology graduate student to assist with future (not past) out-of-pocket dissertation (not M.A.) expenses, such as (but not restricted to): data-gathering travel, copying/printing, postage for questionnaires, printing costs, transcription of qualitative interviews, etc. The award does not cover travel to professional meetings. This is a cash award to the winner – if the winner uses the award to hire someone to assist (e.g., transcription of qualitative interviews), the employee will not be paid directly by UF. The recipient of the award will receive the funds AFTER having defended the dissertation proposal.
The Sociology faculty on the Graduate Committee will decide on the recipient of the award. Faculty who are chairing the dissertation of any of the applicants will not participate in the selection of the Award recipient. If more than one of the faculty members on the committee is eliminated for this reason, the Chair will appoint a substitute. Usually one applicant will be chosen as the winner, but the Committee in a given year might decide to split the award between two winners or to name no winner at all.
Each applicant should submit a 5-page dissertation summary (double-spaced – approximately 1,250 words) plus a one-page single-spaced outline of what expenses are anticipated. The applicant should also specify other sources of dissertation support (e.g., federal grant; CLAS Dissertation Fellowship). Applications will be evaluated based on the quality and significance of the project as well as budget justification and the potential for the Award to have an impact on the quality of the dissertation. The total amount available for the Connor Award for this year is $500. Connor Award funds will be dispersed after a successful proposal defense.
A plaque is on display in the main office to recognize Mr. Connor and to commemorate the Award winners. A tree honoring Mr. Connor has been planted on the southeast side of Newell Hall (straight across the street from the “Information Booth” on the southwest corner of Turlington).
Winner
- Sameera Akella (The Health-Seeking Processes and Negotiations for Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, People of Color in the United States)