Latin American Studies

Graduate Funding Opportunities

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Graduate Funding Opportunities

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships

Undergraduates in any program at Penn State are eligible to apply for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships to study Portuguese in Brazil. Awards are available for both summer and academic-year programs. FLAS fellowships are administered by the U.S. Department of Education, and are awarded through the Penn State Center for Global Studies. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. For more information, consult the School of Global Languages, Literatures, and Cultures website

The Latin American Studies Research and Travel Award

Penn State’s Latin American Studies Program will award up to five awards of up to $500 each to second-year MA or ABD doctoral students minoring in Latin American Studies to support research travel or conference attendance, with consideration given to projects requiring time in Latin America.

Applications will be assessed by a committee of Latin American Studies faculty, which will assess the scholarly significance of the research project, the feasibility of the proposed activities during the research trip, or the significance of the conference to the student’s career development. Special consideration will also be given to projects that make a contribution to the field of Latin American Studies.

Requirements

To be eligible, applicants can be at any stage from second-year MA students through ABD Ph.D. candidates at Penn State (University Park) at the time of application, and be registered in the Latin American Studies Program’s minor (or show intent to register). Successful applicants will identify a specific research trip they will use the award to fund, or a specific conference they have attended or will attend (with evidence of participation or other rationale for attendance). While strong priority will be given to projects that require time in Latin America, applicants may also propose trips to archives that have significant holdings on Latin America not available elsewhere.

Application

Applications should be submitted via email to Prof. Matthew Restall, Director of the Latin American Studies Program: mxr40@psu.edu

Application materials should include:

•• Cover page with applicant’s name, contact information (including campus address), and MA thesis, doctoral project title, or dissertation title.

•• If it is a research trip application: A one-page description of the research trip the award will fund, including: (1) significance of the project, especially its relevance to Latin American studies; (2) context of the trip in relation to applicant’s dissertation and research (e.g. expected outcome); and (3) timetable for project’s completion

•• If it is a conference application: A one-page description of the conference whose attendance the award will fund, including: (1) nature of participation (e.g. copy of the program, showing applicant’s name) or (2) rationale for attendance

•• Itemized budget describing specifically how grant funds will be used; applicants should also note other sources from which funding has been received or solicited (include amounts)

•• Curriculum vitae of relevant work (not to exceed four pages)

•• A confidential statement of support from an advisor (this can take the form of a brief email or a copy of a formal letter written for another, similar grant)

Deadline: February 15, 2016

Application materials may be submitted and will be reviewed starting December 1, 2015, and will continue to be accepted until 5pm on Monday, February 15, 2016. Applicants will be notified of the committee’s decision by 5pm on March 7. The committee may issue a second call for applications in March, but only if funding permits. The committee also reserves the right to make fewer awards of amounts over $500. Recipients of this award will be honored at the Latin American Studies Program’s reception in the spring that will highlight graduate student and faculty research.