Rising seniors, alumni, graduate and professional students at UW are encouraged to apply for the Luce Scholars Program (http://www.hluce.org/lsprogram.aspx).
This is a great opportunity for those with little or no prior
experience in, or education about, Asian countries to add this valuable
perspective to their future career interests!
UW is able to nominate 3 students per year to
compete nationally for the opportunity to spend 12 months in Asia. The
program provides stipends, language training and individualized
professional placement in Asia for fifteen to eighteen
young Americans each year.
During the current application cycle for the
2016-17 program, applicants must be American citizens who, by July 1,
2016, will have received at least a bachelor's degree and will not have
reached their 30th birthday. Applicants should have
a record of high achievement, outstanding leadership ability, and a
clearly defined career interest with evidence of potential for
professional accomplishment. Those who already have significant
experience in Asia or Asian studies are
not eligible for the Luce Scholars Program. (Eligibility criteria
are set by the Henry Luce Foundation; additional details are provided
in the Program Summary below.)
Information sessions covering the program basics, application and nomination process will be held:
Tuesday, May 19, 4:30-5:30, Mary Gates 171
Wednesday, May 27, 1:30-2:30, Mary Gates 171
RSVP to attend at either session at
https://expo.uw.edu/expo/rsvp/event/234
Campus application deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015
UW application and information at: http://expd.washington.edu/scholarships/search/search-results.html?page_stub=luce
Luce Scholars Program Advisers at UW:
For graduate students or alumni - Marilyn Gray,
megray@uw.edu, G-1 Communications
Program Summary:
The Luce Scholars Program represents a major effort
by the Henry Luce Foundation to provide an awareness of Asia among
potential leaders in American society. Launched in 1974, the Luce
Scholars Program is aimed at a group of highly qualified
young Americans in a variety of professional fields. It is unique among
American-Asian exchanges in that it is intended for young leaders who
have had limited experience of Asia and who might not otherwise have an
opportunity in the normal course of their
careers to come to know Asia.
Luce Scholars have backgrounds in virtually any
field other than Asian studies, including but hardly limited to medicine
and public health, the arts, law, science, environmental studies,
international development, and journalism.
Placements can be made in the following countries or regions in East and Southeast Asia:
Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia,
Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,
Thailand, and Vietnam.
In spite of its name, the Luce Scholars Program is
experiential rather than academic in nature. Some Scholars have been
attached to Asian universities in teaching or research capacities, but
none of the participants is formally enrolled
as a student in a college or university and no academic credit is
extended. Past placements have included an architect’s atelier in Tokyo;
a public health program in Banda Aceh; a Gobi regional initiative in
Ulaanbaatar; a dance theatre in Kuala Lumpur; an
agricultural and environmental center in Hanoi; a human rights
commission in Seoul; a pediatric hospital in Bangkok; a TV network in
Beijing; a national museum in Siem Reap; an international arbitration
centre in Singapore; and English-language newspapers,
local governmental agencies and NGOs in diverse fields throughout East
and Southeast Asia.
Professional placements are arranged for each
Scholar on the basis of his or her individual interest, background,
qualifications, and experience. Each Scholar spends July and August
studying the language of the placement country, and the
work assignments run for approximately ten months from September until
July of the following year. The placements are intended primarily as
learning opportunities for the Scholars. Certainly it is hoped that a
Scholar will be able to make a professional contribution
to the host organization, but equally important is a willingness to
learn some of the many things that Asia has to teach.
UW's recent Luce Scholars:
2015 UW graduate Varsha Govindaraju has been
selected for the 2015-16 grant and will spend next year in Cambodia as a
Luce Scholar. Read the UAA article about Varsha at
http://www.washington.edu/uaa/2015/03/18/robinson-center-student-varsha-govindaraju-selected-for-prestigious-luce-scholarship/.
2013 UW graduate Genevieve Gebhart was selected in
2013 and spent 2013-14 in Laos as a Luce Scholar. Read the UAA article
and Q&A with Gennie at
http://www.washington.edu/uaa/2013/03/15/honors-student-genevieve-gebhart-selected-for-luce-scholarship/.
