Emory appreciates the richness that a diverse student body and professoriate contributes to education and scholarship and recognizes the need for future scholars from many backgrounds and cultures. The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences emphasizes the recruitment, retention, and education of a diverse student population. The Emory Minority Graduate Fellowship Competition is but one of the ways that we compete aggressively for the most talented minority students in the country. Graduate students receive their training through course work, seminars, and collaborative and independent research projects ending in the completion of a dissertation. Highlighting the essential role of teaching in scholarship, the Graduate School has instituted the Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity Program.
Doctoral students receive comprehensive and discipline-specific training.
Although the training of graduate students is our central objective, the Graduate School also enhances the research activities of the faculty by providing support for special conferences, faculty travel and seed money for new projects. Consistent with this mission, the Graduate School supports academic journals edited by faculty members. In addition, the Graduate School maintains scholarly projects that do not fall within the purview of single departments or are not necessarily promulgated by faculty members. Finally, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences values the positive function of debate and discourse in a scholarly community. To this end, the Graduate School sponsors colloquia, forums and conferences which address questions and issues of the academy itself as well as its role in the larger society.