The Kranzberg Fellowship
The Melvin Kranzberg Dissertation Fellowship is presented annually to a doctoral student engaged in the preparation of a dissertation on the history of technology, broadly defined. This award is in memory of the co-founder of the Society and honors Melvin Kranzberg's many contributions to developing the history of technology as a field of scholarly endeavor and SHOT as a professional organization.The $4,000 award is unrestricted and may be used in any way that the winner chooses to advance the research and writing of his or her dissertation. Possible uses include underwriting the costs of travel to archival collections; photocopying or microfilming; translation of documents; and so on. The award may not be used for university tuition or fees.
Students from institutions of higher learning anywhere in the world who are working on projects in the history of technology are eligible to apply; doctoral candidates from outside the United States are especially encouraged to submit application materials. Applicants must have completed all requirements for their doctorate except for the dissertation by September 1 of the year the award is made. (Students from outside the United States, whose programs of study may follow a different pattern, are encouraged to contact the committee chair to review their standing and discuss their eligibility for the Kranzberg Fellowship.)
A complete application should be sent to each member of the Kranzberg selection committee. The application materials should include the following:
- A curriculum vitae (all applications must be in English)
- A 3–5 page (750–1250 word) summary or abstract of the proposed dissertation. In this summary, applicants should describe how their research contributes to the history of technology.
- A 1–2 page (250–500 word) description of how the applicant intends to use the funds;
- A letter of recommendation from the student's dissertation director. This letter should also attest that the student is currently enrolled and in good standing at a recognized university graduate program, and will complete all requirements for the doctorate except the dissertation by September 1.
All application materials, including the letter of recommendation, should be in English and should be in the hands of each member of the committee by April 15. Submissions by email attachment are acceptable. The committee is charged with selecting the most promising proposal from among those submitted.
2009 Kranzberg Fellowship Committee
| Jennifer K. Alexander Program in History of Science and Technology University of Minnesota 1100 Mechanical Engineering 111 Church Street SE Minneapolis MN 55455 jalexand@me.umn.edu |
Maria Paula Diogo Department of Social Sciences Faculty of Sciences and Technology New University of Lisbon Campus de Caparica Monte de Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal mpdiogo@netcabo.pt |
Mark Finlay (chair) |
| Rayvon Fouché Department of History University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 309 Gregory Hall 810 S. Wright St. Urbana, IL 61801 rfouche@uiuc.edu |
Prakash Kumar |
For more information, please contact the committee chair or Bernie Carlson, SHOT Secretary, 434.975.2190, shot@virginia.edu.
Previous Recipients of the Kranzberg Fellowship
| 2008 | Robert C. Gardner, "Growing Trees in the Sand Hills: The Nature and Culture of a Technological Forest" |
| 2007 | Etienne S. Benson, “Spying on the Wild: Science,Surveillance,and Survival in Cold War America” |
| 2006 | Mara Mills, “The Dead Room: Deafness and Modern Communications Technologies” |
| 2005 | Alan D. Meyer, "Why Fly? A Social and Cultural History of Private Aviation in Post-World War II America, 1945-1985" |
| 2004 | Tanya Sheehan, "'Doctor Photo': Portrait Photography as Medicine in Late Nineteenth-Century American Culture" |
| 2003 | Matthew Sneddon, "Exhibiting Real America: History and Heritage in Museums of Science, Technology, and Industry" |
| 2002 | Judith Schueler |
| 2001 | Libby J. Freed |
| 2000 | Maril Hazlett |
| 1999 | Gerald Fitzgerald |
| 1998 | Alexander Magoun, "Shaping the Sound of Music: The Evolution of the Phonograph Record" |