Humanities Student Conference Grant

This grant reimburses students up to $1,500 to attend conferences or other similar academic meetings related to the humanities. Proposals will be reviewed throughout the academic year at the monthly meetings of the Center for the Humanities Steering Committee until the funds are expended. To be discussed at a meeting, proposals must be submitted by the last working day of the prior month. You may consult the Center's list of monthly deadlines. 

Proposals must be submitted at least a month before the conference occurs. No proposals will be accepted after the conference occurs.

Eligibility

• Any full-time undergraduate student who is majoring or minoring in a humanities discipline may apply. The student either should be presenting their research at the conference or must be able to otherwise demonstrate that attendance at the academic conference will further their current studies (e.g. a senior project) or their future academic plans (e.g. graduate school). 

• The conference may occur at any time during the academic term or during summer, winter, or other breaks, but the CFH will not fund graduating seniors attending a conference after graduation. 

• The conferences must be academic conferences not oriented toward student leadership or student activities. While some student activities may include an academic component, the conference itself should be academic in nature with the focus on research, scholarship or creative work.  
  
  
• Students are strongly encouraged to apply for funding from Education for Life at the same time as the application to the Center. 

Standards for Proposals

Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria: 

• How the student will benefit from the conference in terms of their current education or future academic plans.

• The nature of the student’s participation in the conference. 

• A professor’s endorsement of the proposal (see below). 

• Completeness and accuracy of application proposal.

Procedures 

The proposal, available online, should describe: 

• The name, location, and a description of the conference, including an itemized budget of costs associated with participation. Up to the limit of $1,500, the Center will ordinarily cover all reasonable costs relating to participation in the conference including: conference registration, travel, lodging, and per diem. Students can find information on domestic and foreign per diem rates via the embedded links. 

• How the student will benefit from the conference, including a description of their participation (presenting scholarly or creative work, attending specific sessions, etc.) and an account of how this participation will benefit them in terms of their studies at Loyola or their future academic plans. If the student is presenting their research, the student should briefly discuss the nature and importance of this research in the proposal.  

• How the student will finance that portion of costs associated with participating in the conference not covered by the Center's grant (if applicable).  

• One letter of recommendation from a relevant faculty member describing the ways that the student would benefit from attendance and attesting to the student’s intellectual readiness to attend the conference, their maturity and ability to serve as an ambassador for the University, and (if appropriate) the quality of the student's research. The letter should be no longer than 750 words. 

Final Reports 

• A final report of no more than 2 pages (about 600 words) in which the student describes how they benefited from attending and/or presenting at the conference should be submitted to the CFH within 30 days of attending the conference.