Contact: Vicente Partida, 979-209-0122, vince.partida@tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – The H.G. Buffett Foundation Chair on Conflict and Development at Texas A&M University is now accepting proposals for the 2013 Student Media Grants Program.
The grants program is an annual photojournalism grant awarded to students interested in using innovative methods to research and chronicle issues facing fragile and conflict-affected nations. This year, for the very first time, the program is open to undergraduate and graduate students from accredited universities worldwide.
“The first time I really understood the human side of conflict was during my first trip abroad as a teenager, when I lived with a family in what was then Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia,” said Howard G. Buffett. “It is critically important for more young people to experience and document first-hand the people living with conflict if we ever want to live in a world free of it. I hope the student media grants program is a first step towards achieving that goal.”
Students should submit proposals that will describe their expected travel, research and photographic subjects. They should choose an international development area that reflects issues of food insecurity, health, education, land tenure, poverty or other issues facing people in fragile and conflict-affected nations.
During their experience, students will be required to accomplish the following:
– Show three-month engagement (minimum) with international development issues through Extension activities, internships, student research, etc.
– Write a series of blog postings for the ConDev Blog during their experience, and document their chosen subjects through photo and/or video journalism that draws attention to conflict and development issues.
– Publish or exhibit the results of their work in a form of refereed media with the possibility of publishing with Texas A&M University Press.
Students are encouraged to use the book and associated photographic art from ”Fragile: the Human Condition” as an example of both engagement and documenting issues at the nexus of conflict and development.
Interested students should submit a proposal by September 23, 2013, that outlines their intended use of grant funds, with details about locations to be visited, issues to be studied, how the funds will be used and any special needs. Proposals should not exceed four 8.5×11 pages typed in 12 point Times New Roman font.
Proposals must include:
– A cover sheet with their personal contact details (comma) including academic year and academic department with at least two faculty or staff references.
– Thematic focus.
– Motivation for doing this work (½ to 1 page).
– Planned activities over a 3-month period.
– Plans for blogging.
– Target media for publication.
– Timeline.
– Budget.
– Travel dates.
Proposals should be submitted to condev@tamu.edu with “#SMGP 2013: [Name of Student]” as the subject line, and only one proposal can be submitted per student. Awards can be used during the 2013-2014 academic year. An award is not expected to exceed $5,000 per awardee and will be made at the discretion of the Chair.
Each applicant must show evidence of good health and medical insurance that is valid in the area to which the student is expected to travel and can be included as part of the budget. Each student must register his or her emergency contact information with the Study Abroad Programs Office. A letter signed by the student’s supervising professor must accompany the application.
The program is open for both undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate students may not travel to a country where there is a U.S. Department of State travel warning in place. A second round may be required that will consist of individual interviews.
All work produced by Fellows will be used by the Chair and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to advance advocacy and public awareness of critical issues facing international development. Information about the #SMGP grantees and their associated projects will be presented annually to the Board of Advisors of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation Chair on Conflict & Development and the H. G. Buffett Foundation.
There will be unrestricted access and use of published materials by these entities to advance mutual goals. Fellows will sign a release granting these permissions.
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