Judith Lee Stronach Undergraduate Traveling Scholarship
The Judith Lee Stronach Undergraduate Travel Scholarship is open to undergraduates in all departments at the College of Environmental Design (CED) and is meant to encourage the study of new places, cultures, and people, as well as a commitment to social responsibility. All travel should have a service-learning focus, combining educational goals and community service in a way that enhances student growth as well as the common good. Service-learning travel experiences can be in the context of volunteer work, a structured study-abroad program, self-directed senior thesis research, or independent research. Prize is awarded to 4–6 students, each, during each award cycle.
March 5, 2024 | 11:59pm
Up to $6,000 per student (depending on budget)
Eligible students are undergraduates majoring in architecture, landscape architecture, urban studies, or sustainable environmental design at CED. Applicants must have at least one semester remaining before graduation upon completion of the proposed travel.
Upload the following as a single PDF file using the application form:
- Scholarship Proposal
Write a short essay (500 words) describing your personal and intellectual journey, explaining how this particular experience, through service-learning, community development practice, or social projects, fits into it. In your brief essay, please reflect on the approach to service-learning assumed by your organization or planned trip. - Declaration of Interest
Compose a declaration of interest (no more than 500 words) describing your topic of study, your research questions, and your proposed methods of research. Applicants are highly advised to collaborate with a local NGO or non-profit organization with expertise in their proposed site and/or topic of research. - 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). - Travel Itinerary
- CV
Include a detailed CV or resume outlining relevant academic, co-curricular, and employment experiences. - Transcript
CalCentral unofficial transcript printouts are acceptable.
- 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 fall 2024 semester.
- 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.
In addition, the Judith Lee Stronach Baccalaureate Prize is open to all UC Berkeley undergraduates. The Berkeley Prize Essay is open to undergraduate students of architecture worldwide.