The Innovation Hub invites you to participate in the Projects for Peace program. They will be hosting three informal information sessions October 3rd, October 9th, and October 18th at 4:30 in their conference room, located at 118 South Main Street. Innovation Hub staff will discuss previous funded projects and answer any questions interested students may have. Applications are due Friday, December 1st, 2017 to lscott@middlebury.edu. If you have questions before then, please email Lucy Scott.
Now in its eleventh year, this program honors Kathryn Wasserman Davis, an international philanthropist who was interested in finding new ways to advance world peace. The Projects for Peace program is an invitation to undergraduates at the American colleges and universities in the Davis United World College Scholars Program to design grassroots projects that they will implement during the summer of 2018. The project judged to be the most promising and feasible will be funded at $10,000.
Undergraduate students at more than 90 college campuses across the United States, including those of you who will graduate this academic year, are eligible to design and submit proposals that address the goal of improving the prospects for peace in the 21st century. The top submissions from the participating campuses, including at least one from Middlebury, will receive funding of $10,000 with which to initiate projects anywhere in the world during the summer of 2018.
Upon the occasion of her 100th birthday, Kathryn W. Davis chose to celebrate by committing $1 million to Projects for Peace. The Projects for Peace continue to support and encourage today’s motivated youth to create and test their own ideas for building peace. We continue to mourn the passing of Mrs. Davis in 2013, but celebrate her extraordinary legacy and appreciate that her family has committed to the program for another year.
This is an initiative for all undergraduates, and not those solely interested in politics, the social sciences, or international studies. None of you should feel there are disciplinary boundaries that prevent you from finding ways to tie your skills and talents into a good proposal related to world peace. Even if you never thought about the prospects for world peace to pursue this initiative, it is this very unique creativity that Middlebury seeks to identify and support in implementing this program as you reflect on ways to link your individual strengths to the challenges of world peace.
A successful proposal for Middlebury students will require you to consider and articulate the following in your proposals: 1) What differentiates you from others who may be applying for this grant in terms of your skills and talents?; 2) How will you translate those skills and talents into a project related to world peace?; and 3) How will you draw on the expertise of faculty, staff, and your fellow students here at Middlebury, as well as on networks of relevant people off-campus, including alumni, to develop a project that is both practical and can be implemented within the budget of $10,000?
For more information about applying, including the proposal guidelines, click here.
For answers to frequently asked questions, click here.