Bursaries, Awards and Prizes

Bursaries

Dalhousie University's Bursary program provides funds to assist students in financial need and students must complete a bursary application in order to be considered.  More information about bursaries and the application process is available on the Money Matters page.

When you submit an application you will be considered for all available bursaries, but there are several that require students to be declared English majors.  If you want to be considered for these bursaries you must first declare your major.   

The Sophie MacLeod Memorial Bursary

Sophie MacLeod (1901-2001) received a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie in 1925. She enjoyed a long and distinguished career in teaching and for many years taught English at Bloomfield School in Halifax. This bursary is awarded annually to students majoring in English or undertaking a double major or combined honours degree with English as one of their focuses. Apply through the general online bursary program.

The "Throw the Switch, Igor" Bursary

"Throw the Switch, Igor" Bursary provides a four-year renewable bursary covering the full tuition of one female undergraduate English student at Dalhousie. The recipient must be registered as a mature student and must demonstrate financial need.

English Bursary for Black and Aboriginal Students

This fund was created through the generosity of the faculty and staff in the Department of English. The bursary is intended to alleviate financial difficulties for Black Canadian and Aboriginal students who have declared their major/Honours in English. The bursary is also intended to help retention and encourage student success in the program, and it will build on the Department's commitment to expanding the diversity of the program.

 

Undergraduate Awards and Prizes

These awards and prizes do not require any application from the student as they are awarded based on academic standing or the nomination of a faculty member.  Most require that the student be a declared English major.

The Avie Bennett Prize

This prize ($500 plus a complete set of the New Canadian Library) is one of six established by Mr. Avie Bennett, Chairman and President of McClelland and Stewart to mark the company’s 90th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the New Canadian Library, of which the founding general editor was Dalhousie Professor Emeritus, Dr Malcolm M. Ross. It is awarded each year to the best essay on Canadian literature submitted from an undergraduate class at Dalhousie during the current academic year. Essays may have been written for classes in any department, but they should focus explicitly on a Canadian literary topic and not on history or culture more generally, and they must be written in English. Essays should be nominated by instructors; clean copies should be submitted by the specified date.

The Allan and Lura Bevan Memorial Scholarship

Colleagues and friends of the late Allan Bevan have established a memorial scholarship. The scholarship is to be awarded, in the first place, to a student in the Major program (that is a student entering the third or fourth year of the Majors program). In the absence of a suitable candidate from the Major program, the scholarship will be awarded to a student entering the third or fourth year of the Honours program. If there are no suitable candidates from English, the selection will be made by the School of Performing Arts.

Barbara Bennett Chittick Prize

This prize is awarded annually to an outstanding first year student enrolled in introductory English at Dalhousie University. Section instructors will normally make nominations, which shall consist of a letter from the instructor on why the student should receive the award, the student’s final grade, and a sample essay.  

The Graham Creighton Prize

Awarded annually to a student entering his or her 4th year of study (i.e. having completed 90 credit hours) in an English Major or Honours (including Double Major or Combined Honours) programme who has demonstrated a high level of academic excellence. Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

The Kim Rilda LeBlanc Memorial Award in Healing and the Arts

This award was established to recognize outstanding interdisciplinary initiatives between the arts and the health sciences, and it honours the memory of this former graduate student in English. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students in the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, Medicine, and Health Professions. Faculty may nominate students who have completed an outstanding project, thesis, or research essay that combines work in the humanities or the arts with work in medicine or health care.

The Archibald MacMechan Chapter/IODE Scholarship in English

The MacMechan/IODE Scholarship is granted to a graduating English student who has demonstrated special abilities at the Undergraduate level. Preference will be given to those who intend to pursue a Master's degree in English. Students registered at King's are not eligible.

Paul McIsaac Memorial Prize

The McIsaac Prize is awarded to a student in the second or third year of study in the Honours or Majors programme in English who demonstrates an enquiring and original mind. Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

Margaret Nicoll Pond Memorial Prize in English

The Pond Prize was endowed by Mr. F.H. Pond of Halifax in memory of his wife, the late Margaret Nicoll Pond, a gifted teacher of English and a devoted alumna and governor of Dalhousie University. The prize is awarded to the woman graduating in  English with the highest academic standing (i.e. the highest GPA in English classes at the 2000 level and beyond). Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

Samantha Li Memorial Award

The Samantha Li Memorial Award was established by family, friends, faculty, and students to honour the memory of Samantha Li by supporting an annual prize for a student in the Honours programme in English.  The recipient chosen will most closely reflect the academic and personal qualities of Samantha Li: intellectual reach and creativity; a passion for the exploration of literature and ideas; generosity toward and engagement with fellow students and professors. Click here for a biography of Samantha Li.

The James W. Tupper Graduate Fellowship in English

Two fellowships, of an annual value of approximately $5,500 each, are awarded by the English Department, on the recommendation of the Undergraduate Committee, to students selected on the criteria of the GPA of all English classes at the 2000 level and beyond and a clear indication that the student(s) will go on to do graduate work.  The work must be done at a university approved by the faculty; it need not be held at Dalhousie. Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

The University Medal in English

Each year the Department of English offers a medal to the top First Class Honours graduate in recognition of superior achievement in the program.

 

Literary Prizes

Each year the English Department oversees a number of literary prize competitions. The Valentine's Day Sonnet contest and the Varma Prizes in Gothic Literature require that the student be a declared English major.  The Clare Murray Fooshee prizes are open to any undergraduate student registered at Dalhousie or King's University.

Clare Murray Fooshee Prize

The Clare Murray Fooshee Literary Prizes are an annual competition open to all full-time or part-time undergraduate Students from Dalhousie or King's College. Prizes are awarded for poetry (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place) and short stories (1st and 2nd place).

The Valentine's Day Sonnet Contest

The Department of English and the Dalhousie English Society present a Valentine's Day Contest. The task is to write a sonnet on a theme appropriate to Valentine's Day: love, unrequited love, rejected love, seasonally instigated dental cares, or a reproach to Saint Valentine for buying into the patriarchal economy of the exchange of women, for examples.  The sonnet may be in any of the recognized sonnet forms.  The contest is open to all declared English or Creative Writing majors and honours students (the contestant's transcript must show a declared English program), Dalhousie or King's.  Anonymous entries, the authors of which are identified only by B00 number, are to be placed in the departmental entry box by February 1st. Contestants agree that winning entries may be published by the department.  Prizes are as follows: 1st Prize $200, 2nd Prize $150, 3rd Prize $100 and two honourable mentions at $50 each, as well as some boxes of chocolate for the runner ups.  The prizes will be awarded at a reading and celebration on February 14th at the University Club at 4:00pm.

The Varma Prizes in Gothic Literature

Thanks to a donation from alumnus William Blakeney, the Department has instituted a Gothic creative writing competition, in honour of Devendra Varma, formerly of the Dalhousie English Department. First ($500), second ($150), and third ($100) prizes will be awarded for original works of fiction or poetry with a gothic setting or theme. Submissions (250 words maximum) should be deposited in the drop box in the English department office by late October (date TBD). Submissions should be identified by student number ONLY (B00***).  Contestants must have declared English or Creative Writing as a focus of their degree program (Honours, Combined Honours, Major, Double Major), and this must appear on their transcript at the time of judging.  Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony (date TBD). Judges and contestants are encouraged to come in costume.


Graduate Awards

All applicants to our MA or PhD programmes will automatically be considered for funding allocated to the department by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.  Our students are also very successful in winning NSGS, SSHRC, and Killam funding and all applicants are encouraged to apply for these awards.  The scholarships and prizes below have been donated by generous benefactors and we thank them for their support.

Patricia Keane Scholarship in English

This scholarship is to be granted to deserving students in the English Department at Dalhousie University.

The Malcolm Ross Thesis Award

Established to honour Malcolm Ross, founding editor of the New Canadian Library and Professor Emeritus in the Department of English, a prize of $200 to be awarded to an outstanding MA or PhD thesis on Canadian Literature. McClelland and Stewart have generously provided the funding to recognise Professor Ross’s role in forwarding the study of Canadian literature

The Malcolm Ross Graduate Scholarship

To provide an annual scholarship to a student entering the Master of Arts program in English at Dalhousie University.

Hilda and Albert Tyler Prize

To provide an annual scholarship to the leading Honours graduate English at Dalhousie University who intends to proceed to a Master's Degree.

Lynne and Clyde Evans Graduate Scholarship in English

This scholarship is awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student in Dalhousie's English department.

The Graduate English Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded annually to a graduate student or graduate students in Dalhousie's Department of English. The scholarship commemorates the important scholarly and cultural work done by faculty and graduate students in English at Dalhousie over the last 150 years.

To be eligible, applicants must be members of designated groups as defined under the Collective Agreement between the Board and the Dalhousie Faculty Association. Preference will be given to Aboriginal students or members of visible minorities.

Applicants may re-apply up to three years in a row.