UMaine Offering Canadian Studies Fellowships
Contact: Karen Boucias, (207) 581-3433, or Betsy Arntzen, (207) 581-4225
ORONO — A new scholarship program fostering Canadian studies is being offered through the University of Maine’s Canadian-American Center and the Office of International Programs.
The first round of applications for Killam Fellowships, providing up to $5,000 per semester in direct financial aid for undergraduate students to study in Canada with additional funds for health insurance and travel within Canada, will be due in February 2009. Students from any department or program, with a minimum 3.6 grade point average, can apply for a semester or academic year at a Canadian partner institution.
“We are very pleased to be able to offer this internationally recognized scholarship to UMaine students,” says Betsy Arntzen, Canadian Studies outreach coordinator at the Canadian-American Center. “When the Killam Fellowship Program concluded its five-year pilot phase and sought to expand, they contacted us to consider offering the program at UMaine because of our large Canadian Studies program. Needless to say, we jumped at the chance.”
The Killam fellowships are designed to enhance study-abroad opportunities for UMaine students. Modeled much like the Fulbright award, the Killam Fellowship includes a fall orientation in Ottawa, a spring seminar in Washington, D.C., and boasts a very active alumni group.
The Killam Fellowship Program, which is administered by the Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States of America, is supported by the American Killam Trusts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, and the Foundation.
The fellowship program “will be the single largest scholarship our study abroad program offers to qualified students,” adds Karen Boucias, director of International Programs. “It is a prestigious award to offer our students.”
The Canadian-American Center and the UMaine Office of International Programs are administering the university’s participation in the program. For more information please contact Karen Boucias, director of international programs, at (207) 581-3433, or Arntzen, coordinator of Canada Year at (207) 581-4225.
By the end of this summer, the Killam Fellowship program will have supported 82 exceptional young men and women from a variety of backgrounds and a range of academic disciplines at some 21 colleges and universities in the U.S.