Judith Lee Stronach Undergraduate Traveling Scholarship

Upload the following as a single PDF file using the application form:

1. Narrative (No more than 1000 words)

• Title of your project
• Project Abstract (approx. 100 words): Describe the purpose of your project and its connection to social and environmental responsibility
• Personal Background: Describe your personal and intellectual journey, with an emphasis on your experience with service-learning, and relevant preparation for this project
• Travel itinerary summary: In brief, where are you going, how long will you be traveling, and what is your interest in and/or proficiency with the local language?  (A detailed itinerary is requested later)
• Organization(s): What organization(s) will you be working with, what is their approach to service-learning, and what is the status of your acceptance?
• Research questions: What questions are you asking?  What do you want to learn? How are these research questions related to, and expanded from, the organization’s mission?
• Methodology: What methods will you be using to try to answer your research questions? To what extent are they based on methods you’ve learned in classes or other activities?  How are these methods related to, and expanded from, the organization’s activities?

2. Travel Budget Worksheet
Fill out and submit the travel budget worksheet. Please include documentation (can be screen shots) of airfare and program costs (if applicable).

3. Travel Itinerary
Include a detailed schedule of your travel plans.

4. CV
Include your CV or resume, outlining relevant academic, co-curricular, and employment experiences.

5. Transcript
CalCentral unofficial transcript printouts are acceptable.

Service-Learning and Purpose
A faculty committee will judge the service-learning focus of each proposal. The committee will favor proposals that explicit connect travel to service learning.

Preparation
The narrative, budget, and itinerary will be used to judge preparation and feasibility of the proposed travel. The committee will favor articulate, inquisitive itineraries that demonstrate knowledge of the travel topic as well as realistic and well researched travel expenses and logistics.

Academic Abilities and Achievements
The committee will look to the applicant’s GPA and completed courses to determine their current academic achievements and courses that prepare the student for the topic of their proposal.

• Scholarship funding decisions may be different than the requested budget and will be based on the specifics of the individual applications.
• By agreeing to receive a JLS Travel Scholarship, you commit to submitting a one-page summary of your experience and 10 images by the first day of the spring 2025 semester (for winter travel or first day of the fall 2025 semester (summer travel).
• Travel to state department Level 4 (Do Not Travel) locations is not permitted. The University considers this scholarship travel to be non-essential and you can find more information about UC Berkeley’s travel protocol here.
• Scholarship applications to the JLS Travel Scholarship will be reviewed by a committee of CED faculty members.

Please note: Federal financial aid regulations require that all awards received by a student cannot exceed their financial aid need as determined by a congressional formula. It is possible, therefore, that the cash award for a Prize could reduce some component of a needy student’s package of financial aid awards. In these cases, the Financial Aid Office attempts first to reduce loan or work aid; fellowships, grants or scholarships are only reduced as a last resort. Regardless of your financial aid situation, the IRS views fellowships, grants or scholarships that are not directly applied to tuition or other educational expenses as taxable income.

A writer, poet, journalist, and educator, Judith Lee Stronach gave her time, energy, and financial resources unstintingly to those causes she cared most deeply about, including peace and social justice, and to environmental and arts organizations regarding issues ranging from ending homelessness in her own community to advocacy for human rights in troubled areas around the globe.

Her passionate commitment to non-violence led her to serve on the executive board of Amnesty International, work as an interpreter for the Guatemalan Office of Human Rights, and serve as benefactor for the Center for Justice and Accountability for victims of torture, among others. In honor of her tremendous support, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law created The Judith Stronach Women’s Rights Fellowship. She was active in the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and wrote articles and essays on peace and reconciliation, both domestically and internationally. She was also a published poet.

Stronach was also a scholar who loved art and literature, clearly believing that the written word could help change people’s lives and make the world a better place. She founded the Judith Stronach Prize for Poetry and Prose for re-entering students at the University of California, Berkeley and sponsored the V-World Poetry Contest, an international competition that is part of Eve Ensler’s V-Day campaign to end violence around the world.

She taught children about poetry and environmental and social justice in schools and at the Berkeley Friends Meeting. The Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lectures on the teaching of poetry are an annual event at the University of California, Berkeley.