Awards

Congratulations to the recipients of the following awards:

Peter Awn Undergraduate Paper Prize

2020 Winner:

• Grace Holleman (BC’21) paper is titled “Imperio, Impressibility, and Imperialism: Mesmerism and Social Control,” and was written in Professor Matthew Engelke’s Spring 2019 course “Magic and Modernity."  

Alan Segal Student Research Fund:

2020 Winners:

• Pamela Liu, for book purchases related to research on contemporary “foreigner” churches in China created by green-card holders and foreign citizens

• Mona Villesvik, for travel to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo to explore the shrine’s role in Japanese culture, religion, and nationalism

2018/2019 Winners:

• Nina Havivi, for a multi-site trip to Christian museums for a project on religion and museum education.
• Athena Abadilla, for a trip to Hawaii for a project on indigenous Muslim communities of the Philippines.

Rennert Senior Thesis or Essay Prize:

2020 Winner:

• Avital Leff, for her senior thesis in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: “‘You Are All Victories’: A Queer and Feminist Critique of Reproductive Futurity in Early Childhood Holocaust Education”

2018/2019 Winner:

• Kayla Levy for her senior thesis in Urban Studies on the Jewish community of Harlem.

Rennert Research Fund in Jewish Women’s Studies:

2018/2019 Winners

• Pamela Brenner, a Yiddish Studies major, who will be traveling to Belarus and Israel in order to do research on the Yiddish and Hebrew writer whose pen name was "Shomer." Pammy will be visiting libraries, archives, and scholars in Jerusalem and in Minsk, Belarus.
• Kara Fleishhacker, Religion major,  who will be making a research trip to Charleston, SC, where she will be visiting libraries, historical societies, and synagogues in order to study 19th-century Jewish life in Charleston (which she plans to compare to Jewish life in the same period in San Francisco).   

The Alan Segal Student Research Fund
Call for Proposals in 2019-2020

Fall Deadline: November 15, 2019
Spring Deadline: April 1, 2020

The Alan Segal Student Research Fund can provide limited financial support for junior and senior Barnard Religion majors to pursue projects related to their research, especially senior theses. We welcome requests relating to travel and lodging, the acquisition or copying of books and other materials, fees for conferences, entrance to collections, performances, and the like. The Religion Department faculty considers these requests once in the fall and once in the spring.

To apply for a grant from the Segal Fund, please prepare a brief (1-2 page) statement describing your request and how it fits into your broader project. The proposal should include a clear statement about your research methodology. In addition, please include a formal, itemized budget. It is likely that the Segal Fund will only be able to provide partial support for your request. Please let us know how you might be able to supplement the Segal Fund grant to meet the full budget of your request (e.g., a Tow Travel Grant from the College; other grants; personal funds). If you have already incurred the expenses, these may be reimbursable. All reimbursements require original receipts.

Applications are due by 5pm on Friday, November 15, 2019 for the fall competition and Wednesday, April 1, 2020 for the spring competition. Please send your application with an itemized budget to Beth Berkowitz (bberkowi@barnard.edu), Religion Department Chair.

If you have any questions about the process or what might be covered by the Segal Fund, please discuss your proposal with your academic advisor in the department. 

Deadline: March 1, 2020.

A $5,000 prize will be awarded to a graduating Barnard senior who displays the highest standards of scholarship in Jewish Studies, followed by a public presentation of the research by the student and a celebratory reception. Professor Berkowitz is collecting senior thesis and essay submissions, due by March 1, 2020. Senior theses do not need to be complete in order to submit them. Please send submissions to bberkowi@barnard.edu. The recipient will be selected by Professor Berkowitz and the Rennert Advisory Board and will be formally announced in mid-March. The award presentation and reception will take place on campus on April 1, 2020. In addition to the recipient and her guests, invitees include Barnard’s senior administration, Board of Trustees, and select faculty, including faculty members from the Rennert Advisory Board.

Deadline: March 1, 2020

This fund will support travel and research-related expenses to support promising research for the senior thesis. Candidates are being encouraged to apply in the spring of their junior year to seek support for travel that will take place during the summer between the junior and senior years. The awards will range from $2,500–$7,500. Please submit a proposal of no more than 500 words to bberkowi@barnard.edu. Describe the research project and the purpose to which you plan to put the fund, and include an anticipated budget of expenses. The recipient(s) will be selected by Professor Berkowitz and the Rennert Advisory Board and will be recognized at the senior thesis prize reception mentioned above.   

The Peter Awn Undergraduate Paper Prize was established by the Department of Religion in 2019, to honor our colleague and his commitment to undergraduate education, and is awarded annually.