The Edwin J. Beinecke, Jr. Scholarship for International Studies

As defined by the Foundation, the awardee should be studying such disciplines as international relations, public service, political science, diplomacy, history, the humanities, or related fields. Each eligible department or program may nominate no more than two students. Final selection of the nominee will be made by the Graduate Research Steering Committee; we will then notify the nominee, the nominee’s department, and the Foundation.

Once the award has been confirmed by the Foundation, the awardee may use the funds for travel as early as the summer of 2023 (public health conditions permitting); travel must be initiated no later than May 2024. This broad time period for use of the awards means that two-year master’s programs may nominate students to use the award for internships or other summer study-abroad opportunities between their first and second years. If the Foundation follows its practice of past years, payment of the award will be available at the beginning of summer 2023.

Nomination Process:  Each graduate program is allowed up to two nominations. Required materials to be submitted as one PDF document include:

1. A three to five page statement, double-spaced from the student describing the foreign study that the award would support, the proposed study plan and methodology, and the award’s importance to the student’s research project and degree completion. Note that the Foundation also wishes to support students with the potential for a meaningful public service career or contribution to international studies or service.
2. Georgetown transcript (unofficial copies are accepted)
3. Two letters of recommendation, one from the student’s adviser, the other from either the director of graduate studies or the department or program chair.

Additional Requirement for Non U.S. Citizens:  Non-U.S. citizens are eligible, but the Foundation stipulates that “International students applying for scholarships must intend to return to their home countries after concluding their studies in the United States.”

Nominations should be submitted via this form by the Director of Graduate Studies or or designated faculty or staff member submitting on behalf of the program.

Deadline: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 

Please note: The 2023 competition has closed. Check back in Spring for 2024 deadlines.

2023-2024

Sopanit Angsusingha is a PhD student in History. Her dissertation investigates the influence of American missionaries’ involvement in Iraqi education, particularly its impact on Iraqi youth identity formation and exposure to American socio-cultural values. The Beinecke scholarship will provide Sopanit with the means to support her archival research in the United Kingdom, Lebanon, and Israel over two months in the summer of 2023. After graduating from Georgetown, she plans to return to her native country of Thailand, where she is poised to serve as the only Middle East historian in the country.

2022-23

Olivia Shoemaker is a master’s candidate in the Securities Studies Program (SSP) in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Her mixed-methods research focuses on the role of gender identity in the operationalization of Boko Haram’s terrorism and the effectiveness of Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) processes in Northeastern Nigeria. The Beinecke Scholarship allowed her to conduct first-hand interviews and provide policy recommendations based on lessons learned regarding gender, terrorism, and DDR processes.

2021-22

Casey Donahue is a dual master’s candidate in History and Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His project will examine youth history education in Liberia, Northern Ireland, and the United States. His research focuses on curricular and narrative techniques that educators use to teach children about their nations’ civil conflicts. With this comparative study, Casey hopes to identify cross-cultural patterns in how children learn about painful historical events, as well as investigate new modes of international dialogue and resource sharing among youth history educators.

2020-21 

Jonas Heering is a first-year master’s student in the Master of Arts in German and European Studies program. His project, which will form the basis for his Master’s capstone, will consist of independent research on the impact of foreign electoral interference on democratic processes in the European Union, focusing particularly on interference operations conducted by Russia. His research has the potential to contribute to our understanding of how democracies can shield their democratic institutions and processes from foreign electoral interference.

2019-20

Jessica Spanswick, a student in the M.A. in Latin American Studies Program, is the recipient of The Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation’s 2019-20 Edwin J. Beinecke, Jr. Scholarship in International Affairs. Her research project examines public opinion on democracy, specifically that of Venezuelan migrants living in the border city of Cucuta, Colombia, along the 1,400 mile-long border with Venezuela. Once completed, her research has the potential to contribute to our understanding of migrants/refugees and their perceptions on democracy; the challenges they face in leaving their homes and acclimating to a new social and physical environment; and the humanitarian demands placed on countries like Colombia who accept refugees.

2018-19

Thomas Lloyd, Ph.D. in History, for research in Tanzania, Ghana, and the United Kingdom

2017-18

Anthony Eames, Ph.D. candidate in History, for research in the United Kingdom

2016-17

Gregory Brew, Ph.D. candidate in History, for research in the United Kingdom

2015-16

Douglas McRae, Ph.D. candidate in History, for research in Brazil