AU Summer Scholars and Artists Fellowship Program
2016
OVERVIEW
Advanced undergraduates are invited to apply for an American University Summer Scholars & Artists
Fellowship for 2016. Undergraduate Scholars will be awarded $4,000 to conduct full-time summer
scholarship that leads to a significant scholarly or creative work.
The intention of this program is to give talented students an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest
in depth and at length. The eight weeks of scholarly or artistic activity is understood to be the beginning
of process that might take six months or a year from conception to final product. Their project might find
its final form in an independent study in the following year as the student’s thinking matures. The
selection committee will need to keep such issues in mind as they decide which projects to fund.
Scholars will work closely with faculty mentors in ways that enhance faculty scholarship or creativity.
Faculty mentors will receive a $1,000 in their research fund to guide students through their scholarship
apprenticeship.
The faculty member must actively mentor the Scholar throughout the application process, scholarly
endeavor, and final presentation. They will aid students in all phases of development, design,
implementation, analysis/interpretation and presentation of the scholarly or creative work. During the
summer, they will remain in frequent contact with students and provide timely feedback. Finally, faculty
will help students find appropriate venues for sharing the results of their scholarship.
Projects may be conducted jointly with professors or with other students, but the project must show
evidence of significant original work by the Scholar. For example, if the Scholar or Artist is directly
involved in a faculty research project, they must have their own area of intellectual inquiry to investigate
and participate in all phases of design, development, execution, analysis, and conclusions. In essence, the
relationship would be one of apprenticeship rather than research assistance.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
Awardees are required to work full-time on their scholarly or artistic activity for a designated period of
eight weeks in the summer. Any summer session courses taken by an awardee must fall outside the eight
weeks identified as their scholarship period.
Fellows must be undergraduates. Their fall 2016 classes can be at AU or at AU Abroad. At the end of the
registration period in April, the Office for Undergraduate Studies will check to ensure that fellows are
indeed registered for fall 2016 classes. All applications must include:
• a cover page with the title of the project, the names and email addresses of the student and faculty
mentor, and the student’s primary major; if applicable include secondary majors and minors.
• an abstract (300 word maximum) and a short list of key words.
• the proposal itself, limited to 1,000 words (not including references). Describe the project
(exactly what you will do), explain the project’s significance in terms of your field, and provide
information regarding the academic training that will enable you to undertake this proposed
activity.
• a timeline for completion.
• a letter of support from the intended faculty mentor.
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AU Summer Scholars and Artists Fellowship Program
2016
CONDITIONS OF THE AWARD
Awardees are required to file final report, co-signed by their faculty sponsor, within 30 days of
completing their scholarly activity.
All Fellowship awardees will be expected to publically present their completed work. For instance, they
might incorporate their work into a senior or honors capstone; they might present their work at a
conference at AU or elsewhere; at the CAS Robin Rafferty Mattias Conference, or they might publish,
display, or perform their work on or off campus.
In cases in which events prevent students or mentors from starting or completing the project, both the
student and the faculty member must return the funds to the College of Arts and Sciences. The Vice
Provost’s office may place a stop on the student’s account while awaiting reimbursement.
Scholars and artists are encouraged to participate in workshops on scholarship sponsored by the
University Honors program, CTRL, the Academic Support Center, or the University Library— and may
be asked to attend information sessions or workshops after receiving the award.
SELECTION PROCESS
The committee will be composed of the CAS Associate Dean of Research, the CAS Research Committee
and possibly faculty representatives drawn from the academic units. The representatives will be appointed
by the respective Dean or designee.
The committee will make four awards, one in each of the CAS clusters: Arts, Humanities, Natural
Sciences and Social Sciences. In the last 2 weeks of February, finalists will give a presentation of
their proposal to the selection committee, followed by a question and answer session. Awards will be
based on the quality of the proposal, presentation and answers to questions posed by the committee.
DISBURSAL
All funds need to be disbursed to the awardee by April 30, 2016
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND PUBLICITY
Summer Scholars, Artists and their mentors will be acknowledged in the spring at a College event. The
American University Office for Undergraduate Studies will notify various university and other
publications about the winners, both in the spring after the awards and in the fall after the symposium.
Applications should be submitted to the Associate Dean of Research of the College of Arts and
Sciences at casresearch@american.edu by February 7, 2016.
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