The Center for Material Culture Studies is pleased to offer support on a competitive basis for eligible University of Delaware graduate students presenting original material culture research at a conference or other appropriate public venue. Funds may be used to help offset reasonable expenses of travel, lodging, and conference or symposium registration at graduate student rates. Funds may not be used to pay meals, incidentals, or organizational membership fees.
Up to $500 per awardee is available through the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant. A total of two awards will be made in 2023–24. Preference shall be given to students who are advanced in their studies. Awardees agree to submit a one-paragraph report (250 words) within one month of completing their presentation and no later than the end of the academic year in which the grant funds were disbursed.
The deadlines for applications for support for the current academic year are November 1 and March 15. Applications will be accepted one month before the deadlines. To apply, submit the following materials (preferably as a single Word document or PDF) to materialculture@udel.
- a description of your research and presentation, including an explanation of how the presentation venue intersects with material culture studies (250-500 words, double-spaced)
- a detailed budget (please be as specific as possible about anticipated costs, and list other funding sources and amounts you will apply for in support of this work)
- a current CV
- Please arrange to have your advisor send a letter of reference to materialculture@udel.edu.
In accepting a grant the awardee allows CMCS to use any original materials they submit (such as a report and images) for promotional purposes, which could include posting to the website.
- Funding caps: doctoral students are eligible to receive a maximum of $3500 in CMCS awards (excluding DELPHI fellowships) over the duration of their degree programs; masters students are eligible to receive a maximum of $2000 in CMCS awards (excluding DELPHI fellowships) over the duration of their degree programs.
- Acceptance of CMCS awards: awardees are responsible for checking and confirming their eligibility to accept and hold a CMCS award free of conflict, and concurrently with, any other department, program, or university awards.