Postgraduate Traveling Fellowship

DEADLINE:
Applications due: Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 11:59pm

GENERAL INFORMATION:
All of these fellowships provide funds to support a year of purposeful travel and cultural immersion outside the U.S. in the year after graduation. Applications need not be tailored to any of the following fellowships in particular; candidates should put forward one proposal, and will be considered for all available funding.

George Peabody Gardner Fellowship—The goal of this fellowship is to provide its recipients with an opportunity to reflect on their undergraduate life in the context of a wider horizon. Most particularly, it is intended that this fellowship be helpful in opening, rather than narrowing, the range of life-long interests ultimately to be pursued. Recipients of this fellowship demonstrate a curiosity and concern about the history, habitat, and customs of cultures
other than their own.

Henry Russell Shaw Fellowship—Shaw Fellowships are limited to European travel. The purpose of these awards is to make it possible for young [people] to supplement their formal education by broadening and cultivating influence which comes from acquaintance with other countries. The object of these awards is to benefit young [people] who, without necessarily having attained to the highest scholarship in college, have made good use of their opportunities and give promise of success.

Frederick Sheldon Fellowship—The Sheldon Fellowships support students of promise and good academic standing in a year of unrestricted purposeful travel abroad after graduation. The project proposal is critical and should clearly define a goal or purpose for the year’s travel.

Benjamin A. Trustman Fellowship—Trustman Fellowships are intended to further the education of students who show great promise of making important, long-range contributions to society by providing them with the opportunity to travel after graduation. The student’s proposal for the fellowship year is critical and should be planned with the idea of exploration and challenge as a means of personal development and enrichment. The travel proposal should present some well-defined structure to make the fellowship year a rich experience.

Eligibility:
Applicants must be Harvard College seniors of any nationality.

Benefits:  
Approximately 15 fellowships are available each year. Fellowships provide $27,000 which can be used to support one year of travel abroad.

Selection criteria:
These fellowships are largely concerned with character. While specific plans for using the fellowship are important—a well-prepared, feasible plan must be presented in the application—they are not the backbone of the fellowship. The committee’s search is not just for interesting projects, but for interesting people ready to challenge themselves and their own perceptions of the world. Recipients must be able to immerse themselves in a foreign culture, perhaps traveling and living in remote areas of the world. The fellowship, therefore, is for people who are self-reliant, interested in the larger issues of the day, and above all, filled with a spirit of adventure--the fellowship is meant to encourage exploration and adventure as a means of personal growth.

  • Applications due:  Tuesday, February 6, 2024 at 11:59pm
  • Selection Committee interviews: early April

Download URAF Applications