The deadline to apply for the Richter Fellowship, as well as other study abroad and SMU-in-Taos scholarships, is Friday.
Students in the University Honors Program who have completed their sophomore year are invited to submit applications to participate in the Richter International Fellowship, which allows students to design an independent research project and carry it out at no cost to them.
The Paul K. and Evelyn E. Cook Richter Memorial Funds award the Richter International Fellowship. Research for the fellowship is normally conducted outside of the United States and should have international or multicultural aspects.
A student who is interested in the program must submit a proposal of an idea that contains a description of the project and a detailed budget. Once all forms have been submitted, a committee consisting of professors and past Richter Fellows judges the proposals “based upon the originality and merit of the topic, the strength of the research methodology and the maturity and competency of the student.”
Most Richter Fellowship projects last from one to four months and are awarded to 25 to 35 students each year. Students work on their projects with a faculty advisor and, although the fellowship is not necessarily used for class credit, students can use their results as part of a thesis.
Dr. David Doyle, director of the University Honors Program, said projects included a trip to Bolivia to study Christian mission groups and gender norms, while other students went to China to study the Internet and communication.
The work done by the former group will be featured in a collection of essays on missionary work. Other Richter Fellows have won the Marshall Fellowship from the UK, which is a scholarship that pays for graduate school.
The university also offers grants that Doyle referred to as “mini-Richters.” They are “smaller grants to go abroad and take a few courses, and then turn in a research paper.”
In addition, SMU has just given students a research option that will allow students to study in Dallas and benefit the city. This scholarship will allow students to get a Richter experience without limiting it to the honors program, while also building community ties between the SMU and Dallas.
The Honors Program sponsors other scholarships for students who wish to study abroad but do not want to take on the intensity of a Richter Fellowship. Doyle says, “They take less time and have more structure than the Richters.”
Study abroad scholarships are available for attending classes in any country that SMU has a study abroad program. However, the SMU-in-Taos program is more restrictive: It is limited to the June term.
Even though these programs are not as detailed, Doyle notes that study abroad programs “ease you into the idea of going somewhere new.” Doyle hopes that the programs will encourage people to think about the possibilities of learning from different cultures.
