The Department of is now accepting applications for the Freedman Award for Undergraduate Research in . The Freedman Award is designed to support undergraduate majors wishing to undertake anthropological research either independently or in collaboration with an existing program of ethnographic or archaeological research. Our first priority is to support students who propose to collect original data in preparation for writing honors theses, but proposals for non-thesis oriented research are also welcome. Awards will be from $200-500 and are to be used for research in the spring or summer of 2016.
Examples of research-related activities that will be funded include, but are not limited to:
- Research travel
- Acquisition of documents, reports, and books
- Photocopying expenses
- Purchase of research related software or other specialized equipment
- The award may also be used to offset the cost of an archaeological or ethnographic field school.
To be eligible, applicants must be:
- Majors or Minors, with preference for majors;
- Full time students at Cornell University at both the time of application and the proposed use of the funds;
- Sophomores or Juniors at the time of application
- In good academic standing, with a GPA of 3.0 or better
The application packet must include:
· A 2-3 page (double-spaced) proposal that addresses the following:
- The purpose of the research project
- A discussion and justification of the methods you will use to collect the data or documentation for your project
- A budget, including a brief narrative description of how the research funds will be used
· A copy of the applicant's most recent transcript, along with a short statement about career objectives
· A letter of support from a faculty member familiar with the student and the project, who will agree to serve as an advisor during the course of the research
Deadline: December 4, 2015.
To be eligible for consideration, all supporting documents must be complete and submitted by the deadline to: Margaret Rolfe (mr37@cornell.edu) Department of *261 McGraw Hall* 255- 5137. For more information, contact Nerissa Russell (nr29@cornell.edu), the Director of Undergraduate Affairs.
This award was made possible by a gift from Randy ’75 and Howard ’74, MBA ’75, Freedman.
“My hope would be that we help students who, after their research, go make a difference in other people’s lives through acceptance, respect or inclusion,” Randy Freedman said, “regardless of what profession they choose.”
Randy Freedman studied anthropology and archaeology at Cornell, and earned an MBA in human resource management from the University of Colorado. She said that her training as an anthropologist has become very relevant in her career.
Nerissa Russell, chair of the anthropology department, said the Freedmans’ gift will help to support a department goal of increasing research opportunities for students. “We are a fieldwork-based discipline, so students need involvement in some kind of research project to learn what anthropology is all about,” Russell said. “Students who undertake independent research projects learn a lot about their topic, anthropology and themselves – and it really sticks in a way that lectures may not.”
