Duke Feminist Theory Workshop Travel Grant

The UB Gender Institute provides support for doctoral students to attend Duke’s Feminist Theory Workshop (FTW), held annually in March. The FTW is a two-day long conference that combines small seminars and roundtable discussions with keynote lectures. The conference encourages collaborative conversations and sustained dialogue about feminist theory.

The UB Gender Institute will award travel grant(s) (up to $700) to Durham, North Carolina to pay for transportation and accommodation. There is no charge to participate in the workshop or for some meals during the event.

For more information about FTW, visit the workshop website.

Check back in the fall for 2025 application due dates. 

Application Information

It is the student’s responsibility to register directly with FTW and to make travel and lodging arrangements. Receipts must be submitted for reimbursement.  The travel grant is only available to PhD students who have completed their oral exams. 

Application for the Gender Institute travel grant can be sent to ub-irewg@buffalo.edu and must include:

1. Application cover sheet, available here Download pdf
2. Essay (500 words) that describes your dissertation project and how it would   benefit from the workshop; and what you believe you can contribute to FTW.
3. Two-page CV, including date oral exams completed and names of dissertation committee members.
4. Letter of support from dissertation chair (which can be sent separately).

2025 Duke Feminist Theory Workshop Travel Grant Recipients

Person outdoors in a dark shirt, smiling at the camera.

Sam King-Shaw
PhD Candidate,
Global Gender and Sexuality Studies,
University at Buffalo

Sam King-Shaw is a Schomburg Fellow and PhD Candidate in the Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Their research focuses on twentieth-century Black and queer cultural production, especially recurring sociopolitical concerns, intergenerational relational networks between artists, Black queer historiography, and the archive.

Person standing outdoors in front of a brick wall, wearing a yellow shirt.

Srushti Upadhyay
PhD Candidate,
Sociology and Criminology,
University at Buffalo

Srushti Upadhyay is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminology. Her research broadly examines gender and precarious work in the digital age. Currently, she is investigating how sugar babies strategically “do” (and “undo”) gender through technology in sugar dating. Upadhyay has also been awarded the Advanced PhD Dissertation Fellowship by University at Buffalo’s Gender Institute (2023-2024).

Past Awardees

2024: Amelia Gayle, Romance Languages and Literatures; Kailey McDonald, Global Gender and Sexuality Studies

2023: Gabriela Cordoba Vivas, Media Studies; Yuyun Sriwahyuni, Global Gender and Sexuality Studies   

2022: Kathleen Naughton, English; Jocelyn E. Marshall, English

2020: Gabriela Cordoba Vivas, Media Studies

2019: Gabriella Nassif, Global Gender & Sexuality Studies

2018: Naila Sahar, English; Cheryl Emerson, Comparative Literature

2016: Sarah Robert, Learning and Instruction; Anne Martell, Learning and Instruction; Catherine Dawson, Visual Studies; Morani Kornberg-Weiss, English; Mopelolade Oreoluwa Ogunbowale, American Studies

2015: Fremio Sepulveda, English; Yoonha Shin, English; Elif Ege, Global Gender Studies

2014: Sangeeta Chatterji, Social Work; Kristina Darling, English; Alison Fraser, English; Yitian Zhai, Comparative Literature