Metropolitan Design Center Undergraduate Travel Fellowships

Congratulations to the 2007 Recipients

  • Fran Doherty, Transit-Oriented Development in Spain and Portugal
  • Erica Eirschele, Urban Design Implications of Traditional Festivals in Spain, Italy, Bosnia, and Croatia
  • Evan Hall, Urban Spaces in Japan
  • John Wade, Housing and Homelessness in Mumbai and Delhi

2006 Recipients

Overview

The 2008 Metropolitan Design Center Undergraduate Travel Fellowships will provide up to three undergraduate students in the College of Design the opportunity for self-directed travel abroad. The fellowships are sponsored by the Metropolitan Design Center with the conviction that exposure to other cultures is essential for reflecting on our own.

Applicants for the Fellowships will identify an urban design issue of concern to the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Urban design is the making of better places for people. It typically operates at a scale larger than a building. It tries to balance many considerations: physical form, functional needs, social issues, economic issues, community values, and environmental sustainability. It is a specialty in several professions: architecture, landscape architecture, and planning.

Possible issues for the Fellowship include, but are not limited to, waterfront development, homelessness, open space, public transportation, suburbanization, green infrastructure, and affordable housing. The proposed foreign destination should be selected for its potential to shed light on our local situation.

Expected outcome

While abroad during the summer, Fellows will be expected to prepare a focused visual essay on the specific issue outlined in their application. The essay should use drawing, photographic and narrative record not merely to document the course of the Fellow's journey, but to also offer insights into the issue at hand. Fellows will present their work in the fall semester 2008 or early spring 2009 in a public presentation to the College of Design and Twin Cities professional communities. A selection of the essays will remain on display in Rapson Hall following the presentation.

Eligibility

The 2008 Metropolitan Design Center Undergraduate Travel Fellowships are open to all undergraduate students in CDes. Applicants must have a minimum of two semesters remaining after their proposed summer travel and before their graduation. Some students, particularly freshmen considering architecture, are applying for admission to the college in May, 2008. These students are eligble to apply but the award would be contingent on their admission to the college before undertaking the summer travel.

Submission Requirements

500-word travel/study proposal

The proposal should include a concise description of the specific urban issue to be studied and its relevance to the Twin Cities. Applicants should describe in detail how the proposed travel itinerary relates to the issue being explored as well as how they intend to approach the proposed subject.

500-word biographical statement

The biographical statement should describe salient information about the student's life ideally including any specific experiences that indicate an ongoing commitment to, or interest in, the proposed topic of study.

Detailed itinerary and budget

The itinerary should outline travel abroad for a minimum of one month and a maximum of three months. All travel must be undertaken in the summer of 2008. The maximum allowable budget per student is $4,500; the actual amount awarded will depend on the duration of the travel and the destination proposed.

Budgets will typically include return airfare, accommodation, meals, and some other justified expenses. Typically the amount for accommodation, meals, and incidentals would be 20% of the State Department's allowance for lodging, meals, and incidentals for that location and listed at: http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/prdm/c16476.htm. However, once awarded, modifications of the budget can occur.

Transcript

Portfolio

The portfolio should include significant examples of creative work and/or scholarship indicating the capacity of the student to undertake the travel/research proposal. All work must be submitted in 8.5 x 11 hardcopy format (with the possible exception of films, which may be submitted on a CD or DVD.) Quality is valued over quantity.

Deadline

All proposals and supporting materials were to be submitted to the Metropolitan Design Center by Monday, February 18, 2008, 5:00 pm. No late applications can be accepted.

Jury

The 2007 Jury was Ann Forsyth (Architecture and Landscape Architecture), Judith Martin (Urban Studies), Pat Nunnally (Landscape Architecture), Leslie Van Duzer (Architecture), and Steven McCarthy (Graphic Design).

Criteria for selection

  • The potential for the propose study to shed light on significant urban issues in the Twin Cities
  • The likely contribution of the presentation and exhibition in fall 2008 to provoke debates about urban design within the College and the Twin Cities professional community
  • The likely quality of the work based on the proposal, itinerary, and portfolio
  • The importance of the travel for the individual based in part on the biographical statement
  • The cost effectiveness of the budget

Awards

The fellowships will be announced on Friday, April 4, 2008. The Center will subsequently work with the winning Fellows to finalize their budgets, not to exceed $4,500 per student. The Center reserves the right to withhold any or all awards in the absence of worthy applications.

Rights

Fellows must agree to allow the Metropolitan Design Center and CDes to reproduce their work (with credit) in publications and publicity material at no charge.

 





1 Ralph Rapson Hall, 89 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455,
Email mdc@umn.edu, Tel. (612) 625-9000, Fax. (612) 626-0600
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer
Copyright Metropolitan Design Center, 2007. All rights reserved.