Undergraduate Grants
Student Excellence Awards in Jewish Studies
Offered for the first time in academic year 2023-24, the Center’s Student Excellence Awards in Jewish Studies will recognize Carolina graduate students, and advanced undergraduates, that are doing exemplary work in a subfield of Jewish studies and are active participants in the Center’s programming. (Including participation with the Grad Student Network, attending lectures, lunch seminars and Jewish Studies Seminars, teaching or serving as a TA for courses cross-listed with JWST, serving as Uhlman Fellows in Jewish Studies Public Humanities, conducting independent undergraduate research, participating in a related undergraduate Study Abroad program, etc.) Each award amount is up to $2,000. Nominations from affiliated faculty members are due January 28, 2025. Undergraduates may not self nominate and should instead contact an affiliated faculty member to discuss a possible nomination. (Details and nomination form.) The Center is offering four awards, named in honor of two former faculty directors and two retired faculty members:
- The Jonathan M. Hess Student Excellence Award in Jewish Studies
- The Ruth von Bernuth Student Excellence Award in Jewish Studies
- The Christopher Browning Student Excellence Award in Jewish Studies
- The Marcie Cohen Ferris Student Excellence Award in Jewish Studies
Guidelines for Undergraduate Student Grants and Awards 2024-2025
Thanks to generous private support, the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies is able to offer several grants supporting undergraduate student research and travel.
There are three types of grants available:
- UNC study abroad grants,
- Jewish language instruction grants, and
- research and travel grants [listed below] for independent/non-Study Abroad projects.
Eligibility: Applicants must be full-time Carolina undergraduate students. All students who receive grants from the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies will be expected to complete a brief follow-up report.
NOTE for UNC study abroad participants: If you are participating a program through UNC Study Abroad, you must apply for our grant through Study Abroad.
Please make note that we have set up an email account for our grants program. The email account is: grants_jewishstudies@unc.edu.
Research and travel grants (award amounts: $500-3,000)
Deadline: February 24, 2025 at 5:00pm.
All non-Study Abroad research and travel grants will require a single application. By submitting this one application, the faculty review committee will consider your materials for all appropriate research and travel grants. With these grants, the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies supports undergraduate student research and/or travel, including travel to present papers at scholarly meetings. These grants can be used to reimburse travel costs pertaining to research or academic projects and/or costs for materials required for research, as well as to reimburse costs for travel, room, board, and registration costs at domestic or international conferences. Applicants must be Carolina students working on a topic in Jewish Studies. Students applying for grants to present at a conference must already have a paper on a Jewish Studies topic accepted for delivery at an academic conference. Please note that for scholarly meetings, the maximum amount of support is $1,000 for a domestic conference and $2,000 for an international conference.
Applications for Research and Travel Grants must be submitted through the online application. The application site opens December 1 and closes February 24, 5:00pm. Questions should be emailed to: grants_jewishstudies@unc.edu.
*The Center’s research and travel grants using the same application include:
Carolina Center for Jewish Studies Research and Travel grants. Award amount: $500-3,000. For undergrad and grad student research and travel, for any subfield of Jewish studies.
Frances Carol Eizenstat Student Travel grant. Award amount: up to $3,000. With this grant, the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies supports undergraduate and graduate student travel to sites in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and around the world that are significant for understanding modern Jewish history. Note: for 2021, travel is not required.
Philip L. and Melinda R. Kirstein Research and Travel grant. Award amount: up to $2,500. With this grant, the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies supports undergraduate and graduate student research and travel in Jewish Studies with a preference for work on the Jewish experience in the American South.
Elsie Kaplan “Mother” Shapiro ZBT Undergraduate Student Research and Travel Grant. Award amount varies. For Carolina Undergraduates only. For undergrad student research and travel, for any subfield of Jewish studies.
Jewish language instruction: undergraduates interested in a Jewish language that is not offered at Carolina may apply for grants to cover costs for other courses/workshops. Details and application can be found under the listing for grad students. Note: we cannot provide funding for courses offered at Carolina or for courses taken elsewhere but are available at Carolina.
UNC Study Abroad grants: (award amounts: $500-3,000)
With these grants, the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies supports undergraduate student study abroad travel that relates to the field of Jewish Studies. These grants can be used only for UNC study abroad programs. Deadline for grant applications for summer study is typically early February. Applicants must be Carolina students working on a topic in Jewish Studies. Visit UNC Study Abroad for program information.
Application Form: Applications for grants for study abroad programs must be submitted to the UNC Study Abroad office.