Barbara Rosenblum Scholarship

Deadline: April 1 of calendar year

About Barbara Rosenblum
Barbara Rosenblum is a sociologist who made significant contributions to the understanding of women and cancer before her passing from breast cancer. She and her partner, Sandra Butler wrote, Cancer in Two Voices, published in 1991 as one way of making the most of their remaining years together. This text is noteworthy for the way in which the diary entries center the social, emotional, and physical impacts that breast cancer had on their lives. Barbara passed away in 1988. 

History and Overview
The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage doctoral research in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and related fields on women’s experience of breast and other reproductive cancers and the prevention of these cancers. Another goal of the scholarship is to encourage scholars to make this type of research accessible to the public through speaking and publishing for lay audiences.

Award Benefits
The scholarship recipient will receive a $2,500 award check, a certificate, and a $500 travel stipend at the annual Winter Meeting. 

Eligibility and Application Submission
The dissertation candidate must have a feminist orientation and be sensitive to studying reproductive cancers and their impact on diverse groups of women, including those of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, language, religion, geographical areas, and other cultural perspectives. 

The candidate must have an approved prospectus for doctoral research at the time of award submission. The scholarship prefers to support social scientists or researchers who plan to present their findings and applications to lay audiences. The topic should be useful academically and also have pragmatic and practical applications such as informing and empowering women, demystifying the disease, and/or having implications for the breast cancer epidemic more broadly.

Applicants must be SWS members and may apply for membership at the time of submission. For membership information go tosws.memberclicks.net.

Application Process

Complete application packets should be submitted via the SWS Membership Portal: sws.memberclicks.net where there is an Awards Submission Form. Please address any questions to the Awards Director at [email protected].  

• A Curriculum Vitae

• A 15-page dissertation proposal or prospectus. 

• Note that applicants should not send more than 15 pages of the dissertation proposal or prospectus. If the full proposal is longer, applicants should select the section or sections which most clearly describe the project, define the subjects, and identify the methods.

• Applicants nearing completion of their doctoral research should include a brief one-page statement describing the major findings.

Responsibilities of Recipients

• Attend the SWS annual Winter Meeting. The recipient receives complimentary registration and a $500 stipend to cover travel expenses to this meeting. If the award recipient needs assistance with arranging their travel to the annual meeting, they can contact the Executive Officer and the travel arrangements will be made on their behalf using the travel stipend.

• Submit a brief report (3 pages max) on the work completed during the scholarship year and how the funds were spent no later than August 30 of the year following the award, about 1 month after the end of the award period. This report should be emailed to the Awards Director at: [email protected].

Awardees are notified by late summer if they are the recipient.

Click HERE to see previous award recipients.