New SC Humanities Student Scholarships

SC Humanities is pleased to announce that we have revised and reestablished an opportunity for students who are majoring in or pursuing a masters degree in a humanities discipline. Through the new SC Humanities Student Scholarships, SC Humanities seeks to encourage students to explore humanities fields as they pursue their academic careers.

SC Humanities will offer an annual scholarship for one undergraduate and one graduate student who have declared a major or are enrolled in a Master’s degree program in the humanities. Scholarships are paid in a lump sum as a stipend to the student.  A scholarship recipient may utilize the funds toward tuition; the purchase of books, research materials, specialty software, or supplies; travel for research or presentations; or other purposes in the pursuit of a humanities major, as determined by consultation with the faculty mentor/advisor.

The SC Humanities Scholarship is a re-envisioning of the former Student Research Fellowship, which focused on supporting undergraduate students with the financial costs of an independent research project. The SC Humanities Scholarship offers more flexibility in how awarded funds are used, looking to support the whole student experience rather than a specific, discrete project.

Board Chairman Dr. Tom Mack said, “SC Humanities has revamped its student research fellowship program in favor of offering general scholarships, both undergraduate and graduate, in the humanities.  This change acknowledges recent national enrollment trends.  Since the Great Recession in 2008, the number of students majoring in the traditional humanities disciplines such as history, literature, and philosophy has declined.  The general feeling among students and their parents is that a humanities degree does not guarantee a job, but that perception is false.  Studies show that humanities majors enter the workforce with enhanced reading, writing, and critical thinking skills and that they tend to advance faster in their chosen careers than those with other educational backgrounds.  To encourage more study in the critical humanities disciplines, SC Humanities has created this new scholarship program.”

The Undergraduate Student Scholarship is a $1,500 award, and the first annual application deadline is January 15, 2021. The Graduate Student Scholarship is a $2,000 award, and the first annual application deadline is March 15, 2021. Detailed guidelines and the applications forms are available here: https://schumanities.org/grants/studentscholarships/. For more information, contact T.J. Wallace at 803-771-2477 or tjwallace@schumanities.org.