The Global Council of the Widtsoe Foundation is pleased to announce an honorarium to be paid to an established scholar in Mormon studies who provides external advising to a PhD or masters thesis student working on a Latter-day Saint-related topic. The Foundation notes that much of this informal advising happens anyway, stemming from the generosity and collegiality of members of the Mormon Studies community. To support this ongoing work, and provide further structure and support for students at institutions without deep mentoring resources in Latter-day Saint research, the Foundation is piloting an honorarium program.

Masters or PhD students should apply for this honorarium for an external advisor by submitting 1) a brief cover letter no longer than 250 words explaining their research and why [insert name of Established Scholar here] would be a great external advisor, 2) a CV, 3) a sample of their latest written work (about the length of a term paper or a dissertation chapter, between 4,000-10,000 words) and 4) a copy of a short (around one to two sentence) email from the named “Established Scholar” saying that if the student wins the honorarium grant, the scholar would be willing to be available to the student as an external advisor. This means the external advisor would read drafts, provide comments, and offer general advice in Zoom or phone meetings, at roughly the same level of engagement and frequency as the advisor provides to his or her “own” internal PhD or masters students, for a period of six months. The honorarium of $250 USD will be paid from the Widtsoe Foundation directly to the advisor after six months of working with the student.