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The Eileen Southern Travel Fund (ESTF) grant program provides travel grants to the AMS Annual Meeting for minority undergraduates and terminal master’s degree candidates interested in exploring careers in musicology. As part of each Eileen Southern Travel Fund grant recipients receive travel, lodging, complimentary registration and a one-year complimentary membership in the AMS. They are also hosted at the annual meeting by the Eileen Southern Travel Fund Committee, which organizes cohort and mentorship activities, including introductions to representatives of graduate programs in musicology from across the country, future colleagues and mentors, exposure to the Society’s many interest groups, and opportunities to attend various annual meeting sessions and programs.
The program is named after longtime AMS member and Board member, Eileen Southern, who is famed for her pathbreaking work on African-American music. Eileen Southern was the first Black scholar to earn a PhD in musicology in the United States and the first Black woman tenured in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard University. For more on the life and work of Eileen Southern, explore Harvard University’s oral history project “Eileen Southern and the Music of Black Americans.”
Eligibility
Applicants must complete the Eileen Southern Travel Fund Application Form and submit a letter of support from a department chair, advisor, or a faculty member.
Application is open to minority undergraduates and terminal master’s degree candidates (Black/African, Asian, Hispanic, Native Americans/Indigenous, or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders). International students who are in the aforementioned minority groups and who are enrolled at U.S. or Canadian universities at the time of the conference are eligible to apply for the award. Funding is available to recipients to assist with travel and lodging expenses. Please note that AMS does not provide airfare from outside the U.S. or Canada.
Frequently Asked Questions
The AMS uses the Submittable platform for fellowship and grant applications. To access the application form, please follow the application link and create a Submittable account. All application materials must be uploaded to Submittable. Start your application process early. You may save an incomplete form and continue later.
You MUST click the ‘Submit’ button at the end of the form to submit your application. Applications not submitted by the deadline cannot be considered. Upon submission of your application form you will receive an email confirmation. You may also check the status of your application by signing into your Submittable account and clicking “My Submissions.”
Your letter must be requested using the reference request feature included in the application form, so please have your recommender’s name and email handy when filling in the form. You may send this letter request at any time, even before you are ready to submit the application.
In addition to funding support for travel to the Annual Meeting, Eileen Southern Scholars are expected to attend special programming at the Annual Meeting and mentorship sessions throughout the following year. Mentorship sessions outside the Annual Meeting will convene over Zoom.
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