Seidel Scholars Grant 2021 Application
Seidel Scholars Grant Application
Description:
You came to UChicago for the ‘Life of the Mind.’ You have found an intellectual passion in your major. This summer, take whatever you love about your major, and do nothing else. See where your dreams and experiences take you.
Thanks to a generous donation from Larry R. and Kathleen Gilles Seidel, the Seidel Scholars Grant funds four $4,000 awards giving students the opportunity to spend 8-10 weeks during the summer exploring a career-related, individual project connected to their academic passion. Students officially declared as a major in one of the following departments (Anthropology, Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Classical Studies, Comparative Human Development, Comparative Literature, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, Creative Writing, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English Language and Literature, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Germanic Studies, History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Linguistics, Medieval Studies, Music, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Religious Studies, Philosophy/Allied Fields, Psychology, Political Science, Romance Languages and Literatures, Russian and Eastern European Studies, Sociology, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Theater and Performance Studies, Visual Arts) are eligible to apply for the Seidel Scholars Grant.
The grant sponsors innovative and novel professional experiences designed by the applicant, essentially allowing students to create their own “non-traditional internship”. Each professional experience should result in a tangible final project. This project should creatively put some aspect of the student’s major (methodologies, research interests, etc.) into practice. Some previous examples of Seidel projects include writing novels, curating museum exhibits, filming documentaries, and researching family histories. The grant does not fund unpaid internships, classes or projects that are exclusively academic (students may partake in an apprenticeship for the beginning half of the summer if additional knowledge is necessary in order to successfully complete the final project). All grant recipients will be required to complete a post-experience reflection essay and submit a copy of their final project.
The deadline for the 2021 Seidel Scholars Grant is Friday, April 16, 2021 at 11:55pm. Professional Mentor Agreement Forms can be submitted using the wufoo form below.
1. Cover Sheet (please use standard document provided in the posting) & Project Proposal
· Project proposals should be 2 pages single-spaced maximum, will be judged as a writing sample.
· Please read through the detailed proposal guide provided in the posting for instructions on how to create a successful proposal!
2. Resume
3. Unofficial Transcript
4. Professional Mentor Agreement Form: please have mentor submit this mentor form by April 16, 2021 https://careeradvancement.wufoo.com/forms/zssw4c51v8yv5s/
5. Declaration of Intent to Major Form (first years only): https://careeradvancement.wufoo.com/forms/z1pxq6d50mn3kup
Optional Application Addition:
Optional Work Sample (not required, but highly encouraged)
· If you would like to submit a brief sample of your work either written (2 page maximum), audio (under 5 min), or visual, submissions should be sent directly to Melissa Ross (mahross@uchicago.edu) on or before the application deadline (11:55pm on April 16, 2021)
Additional Guidelines:
- First, second, and third year students in the College may apply
- Proposed projects must be related to the student’s major and professional goals. Students should not be based in an academic setting and should not exclusively be pursuing a structured internship, travel or volunteer program (students cannot receive pay for any shadowing or intern work completed).
- Applicants who accept a Metcalf Internship for the 2021 summer are not eligible to receive a Seidel Scholars Grant.
- It is recommended that application materials be reviewed by a member of the Career Advancement Staff.
Please note that current University guidelines restrict international travel. If a student is awarded a Seidel stipend for an on-site internship outside the U.S., they must successfully petition the University for an exemption to this policy in order to receive their funding. All petitions will be reviewed by the Study Abroad Risk and Security Assessment Committee (SARSAC).
SARSAC will only give exemptions to students who had existing travel plans to return to their home countries/countries where they have long-term residence permits, and have now secured an internship there. Students will need to indicate as well that they will not need to apply for a work permit in such situations. Exemptions will not be given for new trips. As part of the petition, students will be required to submit a budget worksheet indicating that any grant stipend they receive will not be used to travel to the site of an internship outside the U.S.
If an exemption is given, students may not use University funds to purchase international airfare or other international travel arrangements.
For questions regarding the petition process, please contact Eugene Chan, Senior Assistant Director, International Careers at eugenechan@uchicago.edu.
For country-specific information, the U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories can be found at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html/, the CDC website can be found at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices and the International SOS ratings can be found at http://internationalsos.com where one can log in with UChicago’s membership number: 11BCAS084635.
Questions? Please contact: Melissa Ross at mahross@uchicago.edu.
Applicants MUST Have Declared One of the Following Majors:
Anthropology, Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Classical Studies, Comparative Human Development, Comparative Literature, Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, Creative Writing, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, English Language and Literature, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Germanic Studies, History, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, Jewish Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Linguistics, Medieval Studies, Music, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Religious Studies, Philosophy/Allied Fields, Psychology, Political Science, Romance Languages and Literatures, Russian and Eastern European Studies, Sociology, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, Theater and Performance Studies, Visual Arts