Jane Kahn '77 Undergraduate Research Fellowship
Undergraduate students are invited to submit proposals for the Jane Kahn '77 Undergraduate Research Fellowship. This fellowship awards up to 2 undergraduates a $5,000 stipend for summer semester research examining current and emerging issues in criminal justice reform and the rights of individuals with mental illness, disability, and socio-psychological factors frequently associated with incarceration.
The priority deadline to apply for 2022 summer funding will be March 2, 2022. See the list of 2021 recipients.
This fellowship honors the memory of Jane Kahn, a 1977 graduate of Brandeis University who dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of individuals incarcerated in California prison system. Jane, along with her husband Michael Bien ’77, spent almost two decades litigating a class action civil rights lawsuit on behalf of mentally ill inmates in California. That case, Coleman v. Schwarzenegger, argued that the treatment of mentally ill inmates in California prisons was constitutionally deficient due to extreme overcrowding and inhumane treatment. After prevailing in the lower court, the case made its way to the United States Supreme Court, which affirmed the decision and ordered the State of California to reduce its prison population by 30,000.
Jane and Michael were honored at Brandeis in 2011, and provided the Joshua A. Guberman Lecture entitled "Representing Prisoners with Serious Mental Illness Trapped in a Nightmare: The California Prison Overcrowding Case." It is in the spirit of this work, and Jane’s dedication to her clients, that this fellowship was established.
Eligibility
Students can either earn course credit for research (e.g., 99 course) or receive a research fellowship (paid as a stipend), but not simultaneously earn course credit and be paid a research stipend for the same project in the same semester. Students are required to fill out an I-9 in order to receive a stipend. International Students are encouraged to review the steps for beginning on-campus employment found on the International Students and Scholars Office website. Please contact Kathleen McMahan, Department Administrator, with any questions related to the I-9 process.
What students can do:
- Enroll in a research for credit course and apply for funding to support research-related expenses for that research (examples of current programs are the Provost's Undergraduate Research Funds for Senior Thesis and Academic Year Research Reimbursements). Expenses could include specialized software, art supplies, or travel to a study site (when travel is again permitted).
- Receive a summer research fellowship for thesis research the summer before the senior year (when the student is not enrolled in a thesis class)
- Apply for funding for a project that significantly differs from the research project the student is doing for course credit
How to Apply
Applications for Summer 2022 are not yet being accepted. Proposals should include the following information:
- the title of the proposal, the applicant’s name, undergraduate class or expected date of graduate degree, major(s) and minor(s), campus mailbox, email address, and additional information as requested on the Google form;
- a 3-4 page (excluding references) detailed description of the proposed research project, how it connects to the spirit of the Fellowship and how it fits into your program of study at Brandeis and beyond
- resume and transcript (unofficial is acceptable)
- a letter of recommendation from the Brandeis faculty member overseeing the applicant’s research commenting on the feasibility of the proposed project, and the applicant’s ability to conduct the research.
- Students should refer their faculty references to urccreccs@brandeis.edu for letters of recommendation.
A URCC committee that includes Faculty in the Legal Studies Program will evaluate submissions and select up to two successful candidates. The awardees will be announced in April 2022.