Gaines Center Taking New Fellowship Applications
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 14, 2016) — The Gaines Center for the Humanities at the University of Kentucky is seeking new applicants for its undergraduate fellowship program. To find out more about this opportunity, visit an information session scheduled for 4 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday), Nov. 15.
Each year, two-year fellowships are awarded to 12 promising students who will be entering their junior year the following fall semester. Gaines Fellows have the opportunity to travel together (to New York City and sometimes even to China), form a tight-knit community, and have access to more than 300 deeply interesting and talented alumni who are eager to provide informal mentoring to current fellows. The Gaines Fellowship carries a stipend of $2,000 junior year and $3,000 senior year.
The Gaines Center will host an hour long info session on their fellowships beginning 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, in the Commonwealth House, located at 226 E. Maxwell.
Gaines Fellowship course requirements are flexible and manageable. All Gaines Fellows are required to take a specially designed, team-taught, four-credit-hour per semester seminar during both semesters of their junior year. Junior fellows also complete a jury project by planning and optionally carrying out a community involvement project.
Senior fellows must complete and defend a major independent study project under the direction of a faculty committee. The thesis project allows fellows to conduct passionate, mentored research and then to demonstrate in-depth understanding of their research at the defense. The thesis project is typically taken for six credit hours.
Fellows also enjoy the use of the Gaines Center’s three historic buildings on north campus, which include study rooms and a computer lab.
Undergraduate students in all disciplines, from art history and English to biology and chemical engineering, with any intended profession, are given equal consideration. Applicants must have two years of planned undergraduate study remaining and an outstanding academic record. To apply, visit www.uky.edu/academy/gaines-apply. Applications are due by 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, 2017.
Founded in 1984 by a generous gift from John and Joan Gaines, the Gaines Center for the Humanities functions as a laboratory for imaginative and innovative education on UK's campus. The Gaines Center is designed to enrich the study of the humanities as an intellectual activity and as a means to self-betterment. The center offers courses and sponsors activities that appeal to faculty and students in all disciplinary fields.