Scholarships
Travel Scholarships
Members of the Women’s Travel Club recognize that the world requires specific know-how and perseverance to meet today’s challenges. Every other year, we are pleased to award Travel Scholarships to women for whom travel is critical for their interests and professional goals. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scholarship Committee elected to cancel the awards for 2020. We were pleased to be able to resume awarding Travel Scholarships in April of 2022. The next awards will be made in April of 2024.
Eligibility
The club selects candidates on the basis of the compelling nature of their projects in all the arts and sciences. There are no restrictions with regard to the interest, destination, or the age of the applicant, but they must identify as women.
2018 Travel Scholars
Recent Travel Scholars included a violinist intending to travel to Russia to study Tuvan music, a PhD candidate traveling to Chile to study the efficacy of recently enacted legislation protecting domestic workers, and a nurse-midwife creating monitoring and evaluation practices for midwives in Lesotho.
Applications
Applications for a 2024 Travel Scholarship should be sent to the Scholarship Committee Chair named below. There is no formal application form. Instead, each applicant should submit the following:
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A one-page proposal that includes a budget and, if it is larger than $5,000, proof of additional funding.
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A one-page account of personal background and travel interest. Exhibits may be included.
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Two supporting letters, emailed directly to the Committee Chair Denise Bienfang <denbien@aol.com>.
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Finalists must appear in person for a personal interview with the committee in April 2024.
Materials must be received no later than February 15, 2024. In March, the Committee will review the applications. In April, it will interview the finalists, and soon afterward, it will make its decisions. The two Scholars selected will meet WTC members at the Club's meeting in May 2024. Also, each Scholar will be required to sign an agreement to give a brief presentation about her completed project at a Club meeting in May of 2025.
All Women’s Travel Club records, including records of Travel Scholars, ultimately reside in the archives of the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
Denise R. Bienfang
Chair, Women’s Travel Club Scholarship Committee