Grant Description
Established in 1988 as the result of a generous gift from a distinguished alumna of the college, the Iberian Grant has provided the opportunity for one Pomona College student each summer to pursue an independent research project in Spain or Portugal. As the list of past recipients (scroll down) demonstrates, there are no departmental or disciplinary constraints on the kinds of projects that the grant supports. The point from the very beginning has been to encourage students to apply their knowledges of Castilian, Portuguese, and the other Iberian languages to carry out projects from across the academic spectrum.
Application Procedure
The Iberian Grant committee welcomes applications from Pomona students in their sophomore or junior years. The deadline for applications is the second Friday of March.
The application consists of five parts:
- a research proposal that is as
detailed as possible with regard to the goals and
methodology of your project. It should provide an
itinerary and a list of the resources that you
plan to use. It should include the names of local
contacts that you have made who will be able to
facilitate the execution of your project. Nota
bene: August is not a propitious time to
conduct research in Spain or Portugal, given the
fact that so many "locals" go on vacation that
month. The proposal should also provide an
itemized budget based on estimates of costs
related to travel, lodging, food, etc. The maximum
award amount is currently $4,500.
- a
letter of recommendation from a Pomona faculty
member who is in a position to evaluate your
proposal from a disciplinary and/or methodological
perspective as appropriate.
- written
verification from a qualified language instructor
(normally either a professor at the Claremont
Colleges or a language instructor at one of
Pomona's Study Abroad programs) of your command of
the language(s) in question, with an eye to the
specific linguistic demands of your project.
- a list of all the funds (SURPs, Oldenborg Grants, etc.) for which you are applying in support of this or any other summer project. The Iberian Grant Committee reserves the right to rescind an award and give it to another qualified applicant if the initial winner chooses to accept other funding for this or any other project designed to be pursued in the same summer. The Iberian Grant Committee works closely with other on-campus granting bodies to make sure that funds are distributed in such a way as to maximize the number of students whose summer projects are funded.
The proposals will be evaluated largely on the quality of the proposal and their perceived feasibility. Applicants are encouraged to discuss their ideas and preliminary drafts with a member of the Iberian Grant committee (see below) before submitting their final proposals. It is up to the applicants to show the committee that they have "done their homework" before submitting their applications. The winner will typically be notified within two weeks of the application deadline. At that point the winner will have no more than one week to accept the award. If a successful applicant subsequently receives another college grant in support of summer research, the applicant is expected to report this to the Iberian Grant Committee.
"What do I do if I win the grant?"
At some point during the academic year following summer of the grant, the winner is expected to give a public presentation to the college community based on his/her project. Upon returning from abroad, the student should contact the Director of Oldenborg to arrange for this.
Applications should be e-mailed to Ken Wolf, Department of Classics. Paul Cahill, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, or David Divita, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. Please make certain that all of your supporting materials (recommendation, language evaluation, etc.) arrive via e-mail by that date.
| Iberian Grant Committee members: |
| Ken Wolf, Classics |
| Paul Cahill, Romance Languages |
| David Divita, Romance Languages |
| Nicole Desjardins Gowdy, Study Abroad |
| The previous grant recipient |
Grant Recipients
2024: Frida Navarro Grau -- a study of Iberian bookstore culture in urban centers and towns (Barcelona, Madrid, and adjacent towns)
2023: Isaac Warshaw -- a study of printmaking (Betanzos, Galicia)
2023: Devlin Orlin -- a study of restorative justice practices (Barcelona, Burgos)
2022: no award granted (pandemic)
2021: no award granted (pandemic)
2020: no award granted (pandemic)
2019: Tyler Bunton -- a socio-linguistic study of the Portuguese "sociolect" used by queer Lisboeta youth (Lisbon)
2019: Claire Dwyer -- a study of Alfonso X's Siete Partidas legal code and its relationship to intellectual activity in thirteenth-century Castile (Madrid, Barcelona, Salamanca, Seville, Córdoba)
2018: Anikka Villegas -- a study of modern tertulia culture (Madrid)
2018: Linda Wen -- a study of soccer and Catalan identity (Barcelona)
2017: Paige Pepitone -- a comparative analysis of Muslim Women in Spain (Barcelona)
2016: April Xiaoyi Xu -- a study of Spanish gastronomy in relation to regional identity in a time of globalization (Cádiz, San Sebastián, Barcelona)
2015: Jamila Espinosa -- A study of Brazilian Immigrant Communities and Processes of Cultural Assimilation in Lisboa (Lisbon)
2014: Scott Panek -- a study of recent educational reforms instituted by the Partido Popular limiting the teaching of Catalan (Madrid, Barcelona)
2013: Matthew Karkut -- a study of Spanish youth unemployment through the eyes of affected young adults (Madrid, Barcelona, Salamanca).
2012: Eric Puma -- studied Flamenco guitar techniques at a Flamenco school (Granada).
2011: Justyna Bicz -- a hands-on study of Andalusian ceramic techniques at an alfarería (Úbeda).
2010: Rose Comadurán -- a photo/video study of Spanish cities through the eyes of their own inhabitants. (Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla)
2009: Sasha Bartashnik -- a study of the relationship between the current microfinance landscape in Spain and the debate on the profitability of microcredit organizations. (Madrid, Barcelona)
2008: Elisha Nuchi -- a linguistic study of vowel harmony in Spanish dialects. (Asturias, Andalucia)
2007: Peter Enzminger -- a study of Spanish national and regional identity in the Alcarria, following in the footsteps of Camilo Jose Cela (Alcarria)
2007: Cecilia Viggiano--a study of rural development projects in southern Spain (Andalucia).
2006: Alisher Saydalikhodjayev -- a study of Ukrainian immigrants in Spain. (Madrid, Barcelona)
2005: Marisa Diaz -- a study of social integration and segregation among Latin American immigrant students in the Spanish school system. (Madrid)
2004: Noah Buhayar -- a literary study of the effects of the Prestige oil spill. (Galicia)
2003: Scott Pelletier -- a study of volcanic geology in the Canary Islands (Lanzarote).
2002: Emily George -- a study of Spanish poverty policy combined with a photo essay on poverty (Madrid).
2001: Sutter Wehmeier -- a study of Gaudi's Park Guell and the Olympic Park on Montjuic, comparing the international references of each space and the ideologies of their architects (Barcelona).
2000: David Tenholder -- a study of the origins of the picaresque novel (Salamanca).
1999: no award granted.
1998: Marea Palmer -- a study of regional styles in ceramics (Salamanca and Sevilla).
1997: Eliza Cooney -- a study of bilingual education and multiculturalism in Catalunya and Euskadi (Barcelona and Bilbao).
1996: Benjamin Hidalgo -- a study of drug use among adolescents in Spain (Madrid).
1995: Andrew Fowler -- a study of tile-making in Spain and Portugal (Andalucia and Lisbon).
1994: William Byrd -- a study of the Spanish-wide impact of the ETA abduction of Julio Iglesia Zamorra (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao).
1993: Ian Dobson -- a study of Portuguese music (Lisbon).
1992: Bernardo Mateluna--a study of the auto industry in Spain in terms of theories of National Competitive Advantage (Madrid).
1991: Edward Cerny -- a study of the cultural and economic connections being built between Spain and the US on the eve of the Columbus quincentenary celebration (Madrid).
1990: Roger Fried -- a study of the political and economic changes resulting from Spain's membership in the European Economic Community (Madrid).
1989: Stephanie Hager -- a sociological comparison of the use of public space in four Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Cordoba, Santiago de Compostela).
1988: Sarah Lumbard -- a historical study of the depiction of women in the Spanish press during the Spanish civil war (Madrid)
1988: Mitra Mofid -- an evaluation of the state of medical research in comtemporary Spain (Madrid).