Travel Funds For History Majors

The History Department is pleased to offer the opportunity for all history majors to apply for the Evalyn Clark Memorial Travel Fellowship. The fellowship was established in 2002 by Vassar alumnae to honor the memory of their mentor and friend Evalyn Clark, a distinguished historian who taught in the Vassar History Department from 1938 until her retirement three decades later. The fellowship’s purpose is to offer grants that will support domestic and international travel for students who wish to conduct historical research or personally experience a region of historical interest.

We fund approximately 9–12 Fellowships annually. Over the years, students have used Clark Fellowship funds to travel not only throughout the United States but also to Argentina, Britain, Cambodia, China, Chile, France, Russia, and Turkey, among other countries. Many Fellows conduct archival research; some visit museums, battlefields, and monuments, or interview knowledgeable locals; most do some combination of these. Topics have ranged from Leningrad during WWII and the fall of democracy in Chile to the LGBTQA community in San Francisco and a U.S. Supreme Court case during Reconstruction. While applicants often have full-fledged thesis projects, we emphasize that students can also use this Fellowship to come up with trips and plans that are not connected to the thesis or any other academic work.

All applications should clearly state how the proposed documents, sites, interviews, and/or museums are connected to your project and will help address your historical inquiries. Please provide an itinerary, including a discussion of how you plan to structure your trip in terms of where you hope to go, people you would like to meet, and events you plan on attending. It is advisable that, before you submit your application, you contact the relevant archivists, librarians, or other personnel who can assist you in achieving your goals. This communication will give you an idea of the necessary length of your proposed trip and the overall feasibility of what you might accomplish.

The application link for the Clark Fellowship will be made available to all majors in the first few weeks of each semester. Please feel free to speak to your advisors as you prepare to apply for the fellowship.

We look forward to receiving your application!