Proposals now due: February 9, 2015, Noon
Open to students from any class year as well as individuals or groups of students, the Davis Project for Peace grant seeks to fund student initiative, innovation, and entrepreneurship that focuses on conflict prevention, resolution, peacebuilding, or reconciliation in the U.S. and around the world.
Questions? Contact Jennifer Magee (jmagee1).
Just a reminder that the deadline for applications for Davis Projects for Peace funding is coming up January 28, 2014?
Davis Projects for Peace is an initiative for all students at the Davis United World College Scholars Program partner schools (of which Swarthmore College is one!) to design grassroots projects for the summer of 2014 – anywhere in the world – which promote peace and address the root causes of conflict among parties. Through a competition on over 90 campuses, projects will be selected for funding at $10,000 each. Davis Projects for Peace has been funded by Kathryn W. Davis, a renown internationalist and philanthropist.
Eligibility
First years, sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible to apply. Groups of students from the same campus, as well as individual students, may submit proposals.
Important Dates
The proposal deadline is Tuesday, January 28, 2014. Final decisions will be rendered by Davis UWC Scholars office to campus officials in mid-March, with funds released in early – mid April. Projects should be completed during summer of 2014, with final reports due September 1, 2014.
Selection Process @ Swat
There will be a two-stage selection process: proposal and, if selected, interview.
1. PROPOSAL
To be considered, a student (or group of students) must prepare a written statement which describes the project (who, what, where, how) including expected outcomes and prospects for future impact (not to exceed two pages) as well as a budget (one separate page). Proposals should include pre-approval (in the form of a letter or letters of support) of all involved parties and organizations involved in the project. The two-page proposal and one-page budget should be submitted electronically as a .doc to Jennifer Magee (jmagee1@swarthmore.edu) by Tuesday, January 28, 2014.
2. INTERVIEW
The selection committee will invite select applicants to interview. The interviews will be held during the first week(s) of February, exact date, time and location is TBD. Then the selection committee will recommend proposal(s) – a first choice and an alternate – to Davis UWC Scholars office for their review and ultimate selection.
What do you mean by “projects for peace”?
The funder hopes to encourage student initiative, innovation and entrepreneurship focusing on conflict prevention, resolution or reconciliation. Applicants are encouraged to use their creativity to design projects and employ innovative techniques for engaging project participants in ways that focus on conflict resolution, reconciliation, building understanding and breaking down barriers which cause conflict, and finding solutions for resolving conflict and maintaining peace. Some of the most compelling projects to date have reflected one or more of the following characteristics:
In general, projects should be building blocks for a sustainable peace. Specific projects may be undertaken anywhere in the world, including in the U.S.
To learn more…
1. Attend an information session on Thursday, December 12, 2-3 PM at the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility.
2. Read past recipients’ project reports. Email jmagee1 to obtain electronic copies.
3. Contact Jennifer Magee (jmagee1) with questions.
4. Visit Davis Projects for Peace website. **Please note: Communication between students and the Davis UWC Scholar Program is prohibited.**
For examples of past successful projects, visit http://bit.ly/19VrRKf
Congratulations to Nimesh Ghimire ‘15 for winning a Davis Project for Peace Award. Here is the organization’s press release:
106-year-old philanthropist renews Projects for Peace grants for college students
Swarthmore College Student Project to Provide a Wireless Internet Network and Runs a Week long ‘Peace Innovation Camp’ in Rural Nepal
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – College students across the country are once again being challenged to design and undertake “Projects for Peace” around the world, thanks to philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis. Now 106 years “young” Davis launched Projects for Peace on the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2007 and has renewed her commitment every year since. In 2013, over $1.20 million will be awarded in $10,000 grants to students submitting the winning proposals for projects to be completed over the summer of 2013.
Davis is eager for motivated young people to come up with effective building blocks for peace-building in the world, and she is providing the money to make their plans a reality. Projects that address conflict resolution and reconciliation, foster understanding, provide opportunity, and build community are among the many successful endeavors to date.
Undergraduates at 90 partner schools of the Davis United World College Scholars Program (see www.davisuwcscholars.org), as well as those at International Houses Worldwide, Future Generations, the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and the University of Maine are invited annually to submit plans for Projects for Peace. Winning proposals selected from competitions at all these campuses are funded through Davis’ generosity.
“Competition is keen and we congratulate the students whose projects have been selected for funding in 2013,” said Philip O. Geier, executive director of the Davis United World College Scholars Program, which administers Projects for Peace. “Kathryn Davis feels a great urgency about advancing the cause of peace in the world, and she is investing in motivated youth and their ideas in order to accelerate efforts for peace in the 21st century.”
Swarthmore College student, Nimesh Ghimire ‘15 proposes to use the Davis Projects for Peace grant to direct and establish a wireless internet network and run a week long ‘Peace Innovation Camp’ at Shree Gyanodaya Higher Secondary School in Sahilitar, a rural village of Lamjung district in western Nepal. The wireless network project will introduce a new world of technology to the village and the Peace Innovation Camp will allow the students with the creative freedom to design new, interesting projects to solve local peace-building challenges in their local communities. Both programs of the project will also strengthen the recently started Peace Innovation Lab (www.tinyurl.com/peaceinnovationlab) – Nepal’s first local peace innovation hub, located at the proposed school – as a resource hub to create, promote and sustain inclusive peace building efforts in Sahilitar village in Lamjung district. The project will start at the beginning of June and conclude in August, 2013.
“I want to use my birthday to once again help young people launch some initiatives that will bring new energy and ideas to the prospects of peace in the world,” said Davis. “My many years have taught me that there will always be conflict. It’s part of human nature. But love, kindness and support are also part of human nature, and my challenge to these young people is to bring about a mindset of preparing for peace instead of preparing for war.”
For more information on Projects for Peace, see www.davisprojectsforpeace.org.