Departmental Awards

Purpose 

$250.00 to be presented to a Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies major or Human Sexuality major at the annual WGSS banquet.

‘If only [women] had left their money, like their fathers and their grandfathers before them, to found fellowships and lectureships and prizes and scholarships appropriated to the use of their own sex, we might have...looked forward...to a pleasant and honourable lifetime spent in the shelter of one of the liberally endowed professions. We might have been sitting contemplative on the steps of the Parthenon, or going at ten to an office and coming home...to write a little poetry...’

- from: A Room Of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Eligibility

Nominee must be currently enrolled as a WGSS major or Human Sexuality major at KU with junior or senior standing.

Application 

Nominations for this award may be self-nominations or nominations from WGSS faculty and instructors.

To apply, send the following application materials to the WGSS Office at wgss@ku.edu by the announced deadline:

• A cover sheet that includes nominee's name, KUID, email address, and telephone phone number
• A short statement (1-2 pages typed, double-spaced) that discusses nominee's activism, scholarship, and/or leadership in women's and gender issues.

Purpose

An annual prize of $250 will be awarded for the best LGBTQ-related paper or project produced by an undergraduate KU student for a WGSS course during Summer, Fall, and Spring semesters of the current academic year.

Eligibility

All KU students, regardless of major, who were enrolled in a WGSS course during the eligible semesters may apply for this award.

There is no minimum or maximum length, nor is there a required type of submission. Traditional academic research papers and essays as well as projects such as films, blogs, photographic essays, art pieces, zines, and performances are eligible.

Application

To apply, send the following application materials to the WGSS Office at wgss@ku.edu by the announced deadline:

• Copy of paper or creative project: 
  • For written entries (research papers, essays, memoirs, etc): email a copy in .pdf or .docx format.
  • For non-written entries (videos, displays, photographic essays, art pieces, etc): email photographs, video files, hyperlinks, descriptions, and other relevant evidence of the project.
• A cover sheet that includes:
  • Personal Info: name, KUID, email address, and telephone phone number
  • Course Info: the WGSS course number, course name, instructor name, and semester for which the paper/project was produced.
• Explanation (optional)
  •  If the entry is not clearly LGBTQ-related, please also provide a brief statement of explanation. 

Purpose 

Dr. Omofolabo Ajayi, Professor Emerita in Theatre and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, created a new award in Spring 2015: "A Mile In These Shoes." WGSS staff will accept submissions and a committee of faculty, including Dr. Ajayi, will deliberate and choose a winner. At the end of each spring semester, the chosen student will be presented with a check for $250.00.

Eligbility 

To be eligible for this award, students must meet the following critieria:

• Be a WGSS major or Human Sexuality major.
• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.
• Identify as a student of color.

Application

If you meet the above criteria, send the following application materials to the WGSS Office at wgss@ku.edu by the announced deadline:

• An essay or creative work that considers race alongside gender and/or sexuality. The essay or creative work may have been submitted in fulfillment of an assignment for a WGSS class or not. 
• A cover sheet that includes your name, KUID, email address, and telephone phone number