Harvard University Gordon Parks Foundation Scholarship
This annually awarded scholarship supports a Harvard undergraduate or graduate student who is researching a topic that explores the relationship between race and aesthetics, racial equity, social justice, and visual culture in American life toward preparation for a senior thesis project or a doctoral thesis in the B.A. and Ph.D. degree programs offered by the Departments of African and African American Studies and the History of Art and Architecture (separately or jointly). Generally, these funds would be used by an undergraduate during the summer months—to support the research fieldwork of a rising senior—and by a graduate student at any time in the academic year. Proposals to work in the archives of the Gordon Parks Foundation in New York are also welcome.
The scholarship honors the legacy of photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks and acknowledges the importance of visual literacy and the nexus of race and art, fostering new academic inquiry by students registered for degree programs offered by the College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
The Gordon Parks Foundation has generously indicated scholarship support at the level of $7,500 per annum. The full amount will be awarded to one student in each award cycle.
Application:
Applications should comprise: 1. 1,000-word project description; 2. schedule and itinerary (1 p.); 3. budget (1 p.); and, 4. a letter of recommendation about the proposed research project from a faculty adviser and/or professor who has taught the applicant. The 2024 deadline is April 11th with the recipient announced by April 25th. The application should be submitted as a single pdf, with the recommendation letter—sent separately by the recommender—to Marcus Mayo, Undergraduate Coordinator, Department of History of Art and Architecture (marcus_mayo@fas.harvard.edu).
The scholarship-winning student will be featured on the Gordon Parks Foundation website as well as the websites and social media accounts of the Departments of AAAS and HAA.
Alexis Gregory Undergraduate Internship and Travel Fund
Made possible by The Alexis Gregory Foundation
The Alexis Gregory Internship, made possible by The Alexis Gregory Foundation, supports exploration, scholarship, and research in the field of European visual arts, with an emphasis on, but not limited to, the Renaissance. Born in Switzerland to Russian Jewish parents, Alexis Gregory (1936-2000) was educated in the United States but spent time from a young age in Europe. In his twenties he began to collect European art, and throughout his life supported the Harvard Art Museums, as well as other arts and culture organizations. He believed deeply in the study of art to better understand history, culture, and society. He was particularly attached to later Renaissance and Baroque art made in Italy. Gregory’s time as an undergraduate at Harvard (Class of 1957) was foundational. He studied with Professor Sydney J. Freedberg, and as preparation for his Senior Thesis, traveled to Venice, Padua, Florence, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London. The funds for the Alexis Gregory Undergraduate Internship will allow other Harvard undergraduates a similar experience.
The Gregory internship consists of two parts.
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Part One: Spring semester internship opportunity to research the collections at the Harvard Art Museums. The proposed project must make use of the museums’ collections of works created in Europe between 1400 and 1900. Recipients must commit to up to 10 hours a week of paid work, at an hourly rate of $16. Intended to take place in addition to a student’s normal semester classwork, this does not count towards class credit. The Gregory Intern will learn skills associated with work in an art museum, especially curatorial work. They will meet regularly with an assigned supervising curator and with other museum staff, exploring their designated area of interest and planning for the travel part of their internship. The student will also meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History of Art and Architecture to discuss research and travel.
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Part Two: Summer travel. This may focus on the concentrator’s senior thesis project or planned research for the next academic year or relate to research on Harvard’s collections. The Gregory Intern is encouraged to travel widely in Europe, familiarizing themselves with museum collections and, where possible, meeting mentors in the field. Art history is predicated on first-hand interactions with art and curators and scholars: the Gregory fellowship can provide a personal and career-defining experience for the recipient.
The Alexis Gregory Undergraduate Internship and Travel Fund is open to Harvard sophomores, juniors, or seniors, concentrating (jointly, doubly, or fully) in History of Art and Architecture.
Preference will be given to students who are resourceful, mature, and independent and have not traveled extensively in Europe. The Harvard Art Museums value people of diverse backgrounds committed to building a culturally inclusive community.
At the end of their travels, the Gregory Intern must submit a narrative statement (max five pages double spaced) about their research and travel, which may (with their permission) be posted on the websites of the Harvard Art Museums and the Department of History of Art and Architecture or used for other purposes.
To apply, please submit as a single PDF:
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A three-page (max) double-spaced application outlining the student’s desired collection area or areas to explore at the Harvard Art Museums and imagined outcome of that research and an outline of a travel plan for the summer portion of the internship.
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A one-page resume; for how to create this see here.
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A current unofficial transcript (please download from https://my.harvard.edu/)
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The name and contact info for a faculty mentor in the Department of History of Art and Architecture who will help support the student and review travel plans, plus one additional reference.
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A one-page skeleton budget for travel. In general, the Gregory Fellowship will provide $5,000-$10,500 (the amount depends on countries visited) for eight weeks of travel in Europe. Additional funds may be possible. While it is hoped that the applicant can find less expensive accommodation (such as dormitory-style student accommodation), we recognize that using Maximum Lodging Rates set by the US Department of State may be necessary for travel in Europe in the summer months. To determine maximum rates for lodging please consult here.
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You must also identify your destination’s travel risk rating - students may not travel to countries or regions within countries where the risk rating is “high”.
Completed applications should be submitted by February 8, 2024, to Cassandra Albinson (cassandra_albinson@harvard.edu), Division of European and American Art, Harvard Art Museums. The selection committee (comprising Harvard Art Museums curators and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History of Art and Architecture or other HAA faculty) will interview finalists either in person or virtually and announce the recipient by the end of February 2024. The museum portion of the internship will start after spring break.
The Matthew Abramson '96 Prize for Best Senior Thesis in History of Art and Architecture
The
Matthew Abramson '96 Prize is awarded by faculty vote of the Department of History of Art and Architecture to the one student of this department whose thesis has been determined as "Best Senior Thesis" as based primarily upon the combined numerical score of the grades submitted by all readers, with subsequent discussion and vote in the department honors meeting.
In the Academic Year, 1999-2000, The Department of History of Art and Architecture was first able to award a newly endowed departmental prize for senior thesis writing. Matthew Abramson, a History of Art and Architecture Concentrator of the Harvard College Class of '96 felt strongly of the significance and personal reward gained through the research and writing of a Senior Honors Thesis. As a gesture to encourage following concentrators to engage in this endeavor, he established an endowment to provide a prize to be awarded annually to that student whose thesis has been judged 'Best Written' as determined through discussion and vote by the faculty of this department. The decision for this prize is made by the faculty in the final meeting of the year when honors recommendations are discussed.
The Matthew Abramson '96 Traveling Fellowship
An endowed fund established by the Abramson family in honor of the memory of their son, to support travel for thesis research in the Department of History of Art and Architecture. Administered by the Department of History of Art and Architecture.
The Joseph Pulitzer. Jr. '36 Beneficiary Aid Fund
The Pulitzer Fund supports thesis writers in the History of Art and Architecture Department who need to travel during their senior year to complete their thesis research. Administered by the Department of History of Art and Architecture.
The Claire Martin Fairman History of Art and Architecture Undergraduate Thesis Prize
James Sloss Ackerman Senior Thesis Prize in Architecture
The prize is awarded to a senior thesis of the highest merit on a topic in the history, theory, and/or design of architecture.
The award is voted by the Department of History of Art and Architecture faculty at its annual honors meeting. The wide range of subjects and approaches to the study of architecture, across fields and time periods, appropriately reflects the legacy of
Professor James Sloss Ackerman (1919-2016) and his rigorous and innovative scholarship. Ackerman joined the Faculty at Harvard University in 1960, where he taught and advised generations of students and served as the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Fine Arts from 1983 until his retirement in 1990. His methodology situated architecture within the broader contexts of cultural and intellectual history. From the mid-1960s, Ackerman was the most widely read architectural historian in America, and his seminal studies on Michelangelo (1961-64) and Palladio (1964) appealed to both specialists and non-specialists alike. Ackerman’s last book, Origins, Invention, Revision: Studying the History of Art and Architecture (2016), presented essays on diverse topics including reflections on his own interest in architecture which was formed through his military service in Italy in World War II. During his career, Ackerman received many prestigious honors and awards, culminating in 2001 with the Balzan Prize for achievement in architectural history and urbanism and the Paul Kristeller citation of the Renaissance Society of America for lifetime achievement.
The James Sloss Ackerman Senior Thesis Prize in Architecture is supported through a gift made by Ackerman’s family, friends, students, and colleagues.