To encourage and support scholarship, The Strong awards research fellowships three times each year. The Strong provides research grants through three programs: The Strong Research Fellowships, the Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Research Fellowships, and the Frances M. Williams Research Fellowships. Researchers from around the world have used The Strong’s collections and archival materials to inform dissertations, books, and other scholarly works. Find out more about their research below:
Past Fellowship Recipients
September 2019

Cristina Di Maio
Macerata University, Macerata, Italy
Topic: Play and the ludic element in short fiction by women writers
The Strong Research Fellowship
August 2019

Sonia Tiwari
Penn State University
Topic: The evolution of Maker Toys over the last 50 to 60 years
The Strong Research Fellowship

Paul Rubery
Stony Brook University
Topic: The history and social context of handheld electronic games
The Strong Research Fellowship

Robert Whitaker
Louisiana Tech University
Topic: Digital games with historical settings and themes
G. Rollie Adams Research Fellowship
July 2019

June Coyne
Loyola University, Chicago
Topic: Cultural impact of educational computer games
The Strong Research Fellowship

Stella Rossikopoulou Pappa
Harvard University
Topic: Domestic games as a medium for expressing the transforming conceptions of knowledge, education, and citizenship
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship

Whitney Pow
Northwestern University
Topic: The contributions of transgender women to the video game industry
The Strong Research Fellowship

Ian Larson
University of California, Irvine
Topic: Game console and software cloning from 1975 to 1995
The Strong Research Fellowship
June 2019

Steven Dashiell
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Topic: Conversations at gaming tables
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosmany Fellowship

Peter Licari
University of Florida
Topic: The influence of video games on political attitudes
The Strong Research Fellowship

Eva Nwokah
Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio
Topic: How authors play with words and images to create meaning for children
G. Rollie Adams Research Fellowship

Aria Halliday
University of New Hampshire
Topic: The contributions of black women to popular culture
The Strong Research Fellowship
March 2019
Tom Boellstorff
University of California, Irvine
Topic: The history of the Intellivision video game system
The Strong Research Fellowship

Braxton Soderman
University of California, Irvine
Topic: The history of the Intellivision video game system
The Strong Research Fellowship
January 2019

Marina Fontolan
University of Campinas, Brazil
Topic: United States video game industry history
The Strong Reseach Fellowship
September 2018

Gleb Albert
University of Zurich
Topic: 1980s video gaming piracy
The Strong Research Fellowship
July 2018

Alex Mirowski
Indiana University
Topic: The role that space (cosmos) has played in the development of video games
The Strong Research Fellowship

Sean Purcell
Indiana University
Topic: How jigsaw puzzles reinforce political, religious, and familial ideologies
The Strong Research Fellowhip

Andrew Ervin
Temple University
Topic: Dungeons & Dragons adventures
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship
June 2018

Jana Rosinski
Syracuse University
Topic: Female game designers
The Strong Research Fellowship

Alec Hurley
University of Texas at Austin
Topic: Relationship between play and competitive sports
The Strong Research Fellowship

Natalie Underberg-Goode
University of Central Florida
Topic: The evolution of video games
The Strong Research Fellowship

Patrick Ellis
Georgia Insitute of Technology
Topic: Charles Lindergh-themed toys
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship

Susan Fletcher
Author
Topic: History of childhood and play in America
G. Rollie Adams Research Fellowship
January 2018

Dany Guay-Bélanger
Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada
Topic: Video game preservation.
The Strong Research Fellowship
October 2017

Danielle Almedia
Federal University of Paraiba in Brazil
Topic: The role of toy in cultural identity.
The Strong Research Fellowship
September 2017

James Newman
Bath Spa University in England
Topic: The localization and international reception of 1980s and 90s console video games
The Strong Research Fellowship
August 2017

Matt Knutson
University of California-Irvine
Topic: Pre-history of today's modern esports culture
The Strong Research Fellowship
July 2017

Susan Asbury
Penn State University
Topic: The role of board games in shaping American home life
G. Rollie Adams Research Fellowship

Whitney Pow
Northwestern University
Topic: History of maps and representations of space in video games and board games
The Strong Research Fellowship

Jose Bellido
University of Kent in England
Topic: Emergence of modern intellectual property
The Strong Research Fellowship
June 2017

Sarah Bell
Michigan Technological University
Topic: Speech synthesis and the Texas Instruments Speak & Spell.
The Strong Research Fellowship

Amy Ansong
George Mason University
Topic: STEM-based toys and their impact on girls' play.
The Strong Research Fellowship
March 2017

Katriina Heljakka
University of Turku in Finland
Topic: The playfulness of cultures and their "toyifying" tendencies.
The Strong Research Fellowship
August 2016

Angela Cope
York University in Toronto
Topic: Rise of plastic use in children's toys from 1945 to 1970.
The Strong Research Fellowship

Lauren DeLaCruz
Northwestern University
Topic: The ways that children's toys share cultural ideas, values, and beliefs about gender.
The Strong Research Fellowship

Elizabeth Badger
University of Minnesota
Topic: Origins of the "male-dominated" video game industry and culture.
The Strong Research Fellowship
July 2016

Chris Dingwall
University of Toronto
Topic: The relationship of a popular 1915 black slave mechanical Christmas toy to contemporary views on race.
The Strong Research Fellowship

Benjamin Hoy
University of Saskatchewan (Canada)
Topic: The depiction of Native Americans in history and in board games.
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship

Siobhan Carroll
University of Delaware
Topic: The influence of 19th-century playthings on the Victorian novel.
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship

Chris Hanson
Syracuse University
Topic: The work and influence of video game designer Roberta Williams.
The Strong Research Fellowship

James Fleury
University of California at Los Angeles
Topic: The history of video game licensing and development.
The Strong Research Fellowship
April 2016

Nancy Callahan
State University of New York at Oneonta
Topic: Educational toys from the late 1800s.
The Strong Research Fellowship
February 2016

Aria Halliday
Purdue University
Topic: Ways that pop culture icons use "girl play" to popularize their brands.
The Strong Research Fellowship
December 2015

Mattia Thibault
University of Turin (Turin, Italy)
Topic: How toys reflect and represent cultural values
The Strong Research Fellowship

Molly Duggins
National Art School (Sydney, Australia)
Topic: Victorian-era romance with the sea and its influence on the 19th-century marketplace
The Strong Research Fellowship
October 2015

Riccardo Fassone
University of Turin (Turin, Italy)
Topic: The history of early film-to-video game adaptations.
The Strong Research Fellowship
August 2015

Koral LaVorgna
University of Brunswick (Canada)
Topic: Connection between the cereal industry and children's history and culture.
The Strong Research Fellowship

Emily Aguilo-Perez
Pennsylvania State University
Topic: Puerto Rican women and their experiences with Barbie.
Blog: "Venturing into Barbie's World"
The Strong Research Fellowship

Benjamin Lindquist
Princeton University
Topic: Shifts in play and the concept of fun in American Christianity.
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship
July 2015

Anastasia Salter
University of Central Florida
Topic: Life and work of video game designer Jane Jensen.
The Strong Research Fellowship

Alexander Bevier
New York University
Topic: The career of pioneering board game designer Sid Sackson.
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship

Andrea Braithwaite
University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Topic: How girls and women understand themselves as gamers.
The Strong Research Fellowship
May 2015

Robyn Holmes
Monmouth University in New Jersey
Topic: Connection between board games and cultural, social, moral, and religious messages.
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Fellowship
January 2015

Devin Monnen
Independent Games Historian
Topic: North American video game industry crash of 1983
The Strong Research Fellowship

Laine Nooney
New York University
Topic: Cultural history of computer game company Sierra On-Line
The Strong Research Fellowship
November 2014

Raiford Guins
Stony Brook University
Topic: History of coin-op arcade video game cabinet design
The Strong Research Fellowship
October 2014

Emily Flynn-Jones
York University in Toronto
Topic: How women and girls at play have been represented throughout history
The Strong Research Fellowship
September 2014

Jason Corace
Maryland Institute of Art
Topic: Games that feature both analog and electronic elements
The Strong Research Fellowship
August 2014

Nina Huntemann
Suffolk University in Boston
Topic: Strategic business practices of video game companies that failed to survive the seventh generation console launch
The Strong Research Fellowship

Evan Lauteria
University of California-Davis
Topic: Influence of culture on the global video game market in the late 1980s and early 1990s
The Strong Research Fellowship

Reem Hilu
Northwestern University
Topic: Video games that focus on domestic settings and themes
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Research Fellowship
July 2014

Brandi Venable
Rutgers University
Topic: Conceptions of childhood food preferences in popular American print advertising
The Strong Research Fellowship

Gillian Smith
Northeastern University
Topic: Role of procedural content generation in digital and nondigital games
Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman Research Fellowship

Marc-Niclas Heckner
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Topic: Impact of WWII-based first person shooter games on spatial perceptions of history
The Strong Research Fellowship

Carly Kocurek
Illinois Institute of Technology
Topic: History of coin-operated video games
The Strong Research Fellowship
April 2014

Marilyn Solvay
Husson University (Maine)
Topic: Depictions of women in the Old Maid card game
The Strong Research Fellowship
March 2014

Robert Guyker
Pacifica Graduate Institute (California)
Topic: Convergence of myth, play, and video games
The Strong Research Fellowship
January 2014

Douglas Guerra
State University of New York at Oswego
Topic: Game play and representations of agency and practices of social belonging in the 19th century
The Strong Research Fellowship

Rebecca Hernandez-Gerber
New York University
Topic: Issue of "versions" in video game preservation
The Strong Research Fellowship
December 2013

Joshua Unikel
University of Buffalo
Topic: History of Sesame Street
The Strong Research Fellowship

Christopher Darby
Seton Hall University
Topic: Video game industry from 1972 to 1987
The Strong Research Fellowship
August 2013

Sarah Scripps
University of South Carolina
Topic: Formation of youth scientific communities from 1915 to 1960
The Strong Research Fellowship

Jonathan Clemens
University of Minnesota
Topic: Impact of producers, users, and mediators on technological innovation
The Strong Research Fellowship

S. Lynneth Solis
Harvard University
Topic: Role of play in children's development
The Strong Research Fellowship
July 2013

Mirah Kirchner
York University in Toronto
Topic: Dolls and societal norms surrounding childhood
The Strong Research Fellowship

Samuel Tobin
Fitchburg State University (Massachusetts)
Topic: Transformation of the arcade in contemporary culture
The Strong Research Fellowship
June 2013

Brian Beaton
University of Pittsburgh
Topic: Popular attitudes toward the sciences
The Strong Research Fellowship

Frederika Eilers
McGill University (Montreal)
Topic: Dollhouses as architectural toys
The Strong Research Fellowship
May 2013

Kendall Garton
Queens University
Topic: Influence of dolls on Canadian identity
The Strong Research Fellowship
February 2013

Jason Begy
Concordia University (Portland)
Topic: Evolution of train-based games and video games
The Strong Research Fellowship
January 2013

Drew Chappell
California State University at Fullerton
Topic: How board games and roleplaying games define notions of "victory" over time
The Strong Research Fellowship
December 2012

Kristana Textor
Topic: Impact of toys and electronic on the evolution of traditional gender roles
The Strong Research Fellowship