Funding for RC Students: Study Away, Internships, Projects, and Semester in Detroit

●      Need-based (must demonstrate financial need on the current year FAFSA)

●      Domestic or international

●      Internships, study, or projects

Study abroad/away: Students may receive funding whether or not the study away program is through University of Michigan, but the programs must be ‘for-credit’ and the credit must be eligible to transfer to the student’s Michigan record.

Examples: Semester in Detroit, The London School of Economics, University of Ghana, Intensive Chinese Language Program in Beijing, Junior Year in Munich, and the U-M New England Literature Program (NELP).

Internships and projects away: Students who pursue an internship abroad, or domestically, or who design their own research project. Internships and projects may or may not be for University credit, and preference is given to unpaid or lower-paying internships/projects that “give back” to the world.

Examples: overseas intern with the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria; the Quito Project; Michigan in Ottawa; and artist’s assistant/apprenticeship through the Berlin, Germany art collective.

Student-designed projects abroad examples: research in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, London; a student-designed internship with the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg; and research for an Honors Thesis with Sepp Holzer, a leader in permaculture design.

●      Not need-based

●      A project, internship, thesis research, or specific studies that contribute to a student’s major or minor

●      International only; not domestic

This award is used to support international travel for an RC student who proposes a compelling project abroad.

Project proposals must be clearly related to a student’s academic program and must take the student into the world in some meaningful way, for example an internship, senior project or thesis in the student’s field of study. The award is not necessarily given annually, but as student proposals merit consideration.

When completing the application for RC funding, make sure to check either the “an internship or academic project” or “studying away” option to be considered for this award.

An example of a recent Silverman Award winner: A student proposed a case study of the regional language – Breton – of Brittany, France. The student, who pursued a dual degree in LSA RC and also in the Stamps School of Art and Design, saw this project as an interdisciplinary venture to understand the importance of language and culture to identity, and proposed a thesis on the project that resulted in data visualization portraying the roots of the subject language and tracing its cultural renaissance.

●      Not need-based

●      Project or research abroad or domestic

●      Engagement with communities and groups that are socially, economically, and/or politically excluded and marginalized

The recipient of the Honeli Fund is expected to live, spend time, and engage with communities and groups who are socially, economically and/or politically excluded and marginalized.

Through this engagement, it is thought, the recipient would gain a better understanding of the local and global socio-economic dynamics shaping the day-to-day lives of individuals in these communities and groups. The recipient is expected to spend time with the individuals in this community or group and collect material – visual, audio, or any other medium that suits the project - that can then be used to give their lives and concerns a voice in the US and particularly at U-M.

In the year following the experience, the recipient is expected to exhibit, screen, and/or install (as is appropriate to the medium) the final production at the RC, and if possible at other venues on campus and beyond.

To be considered for this award, make sure to check off “An internship or academic project” on your application for RC funding.

An example of a recent Honeli Award winner’s application: At present, I am working on a senior/honors thesis relating to ethnomusicology. I am studying a form of sung liturgical poetry in the Jewish tradition, which is known as piyyut. Being a very diasporic people, the Jews have absorbed multicultural influences everywhere they have lived, and continue to do so. This cultural melding is reflected in its musical traditions, and piyyutim are a great example of this.

Each community (i.e. Persian, Turkish, Syrian, Jerusalemite, Moroccan, and others) has its own renditions of particular piyyutim, sung and performed instrumentally according to whatever classical styles are unique to that particular locale. I want to share my research findings, and perform some of these piyyutim for my family, friends, and others in the RC and university community as a whole.

My performance will be greatly enhanced by the accompaniment of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and other classical musicians. -- The student recipient of the Honeli fund did, in fact, present a performance of piyyutim in the Residential College Keene Theater. 

●      Need-based (must demonstrate financial need on the current year FAFSA)

●      Internships only

●      Domestic or international

●      Social Theory and Practice declared majors or RC students who have declared a Political Science major

●      Michigan Daily writers

This fund prioritizes students who are Social Theory and Practice majors, RC students who have declared a Political Science major, or who write for the Michigan Daily, and are pursuing a credit-bearing internship experience abroad or domestically.

To be considered for this award, make sure to check off “An internship or academic project” on your application for RC funding.