Circumnavigators Club Foundation Around-the-World
Travel-Study Grant Program

2010 Award Winner

SESP student Meixi Ng is the 2010 Circumnavigator Travel-Study Grant recipient.  This summer she will travel the globe on her project “Education as Transformation: The Power of Schools.”  She will visit schools that are focusing on transformative education in marginalized communities, seeking to find best practices and guiding principles that can then be shared in a broader context.  Her current itinerary includes spending time at the Miguel Angel Asturias Academy in Guatemala, the Roma Scouts Association in Slovakia, the SOS-Hermann Gmeiner International College in Ghana, the African Leadership Academy in South Africa, the Northlight School in Singapore, and the St. Andrew’s Cathedral School in Australia, before bringing her new-found knowledge back to the Howard Area Leadership Academy.

About the 2010 Award

This year the Circumnavigators Club Foundation will award a fellowship worth up to $9000 for an around-the-world travel research project over the three-month period between the junior and senior year. The winner will prepare for the research project during the second semester of his or her junior year and spend the three summer months in actual travel and on-the-scene study. At the completion of the summer and upon return to the United States, the winner will submit a paper on the project and will speak to at least two Circumnavigators Foundation banquets during the succeeding nine months.

There will be an informational session on Tuesday, October 20th at 5:00 in the Fellowships Office (1940 Sheridan Road) for anyone interested in learning more.

2010 Application Deadline

All interested Northwestern University juniors are invited to submit an application for this grant by 5:00 P.M., Wednesday, December 2, 2009. Applications must be submitted to the Office of the Provost, c/o Associate Provost Ron Braeutigam, Room 1-114, Rebecca Crown Center, by 5:00 PM.  No late applications will be accepted. The application must contain:

• a proposal describing the intended research project
• a resume
• an official academic transcript
• two faculty letters of recommendation

Eligibility

Any enrolled Northwestern junior is eligible to apply.

Application Materials

The proposal may be no more than four pages, double spaced in length and must include a description of the project, a rationale for why this would be an interesting or important project to undertake, a proposed itinerary, and an explanation of the relationship of the proposed stops to the overall project purpose.

The trip itinerary must circumnavigate the globe and include stays in at least six countries on three continents. The research project must have substantive content in each of the countries, including wherever possible interactions with local people and groups. Examples of study projects include: youth movements; the death penalty; freedom of the press; care for the aged; the uses of technology in the elementary grades.

Both the school and the Circumnavigators Foundation are looking for interesting, pertinent, and globally-based topics, by persons who can easily think on their feet in any situation they might encounter abroad. Final selection will further be based on a number of factors, including: (a) merit of the subject to be studied, (b) student's academic record, (c) poise, maturity and communication skills, and (d) inherent discipline and enthusiasm of the candidates. Three finalists will be chosen by Northwestern University to be interviewed by the Chicago Circumnavigators Club Selection Committee, who will select the winner, and notify the University and the International Foundation in New York.

Interview and Selection process

Finalists MUST be available for an on-campus interview on Friday, January 8, 2010, from 6 to 10 pm.

Northwestern and the local Chapter will work closely with the grantee to finalize project priorities, and recommend suitable ports of call. They also want to ensure that the travel and research project will be safe for the chosen candidate. Therefore, some countries are off-limits. The final itinerary will be forwarded for approval to the International Foundation and the U.S. State Department. Contacts are then established with American Embassies en route, and Chapter members worldwide.

If you have any questions regarding the fellowship, contact Peter Civetta, Assistant to the Associate Provost at urg@northwestern.edu.

If you are off campus and cannot submit a hard copy of the application, please email your resume and proposal to urg@northwestern.edu, and ensure that your transcript and two letters of recommendation are delivered to the Office of the Provost.

Past Recipients

Complete photo galleries and dispatches from past Circumnavigators Foundation award winners are available online. Please see the web pages for Sam McAleese (2009), Harris Sockel (2008), Christopher Ahern (2007), Alex Robins (2006), Susannah Cunningham (2005) and Sarah Graber (2004).

For more information on past award recipients and their projects, visit the Circumnavigators Club Chicago Chapter Foundation Scholars page.