MARGO OKAZAWA-REY SUMMER FELLOWSHIP
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: The Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies (IDAAS)
invites applications for its summer fellowship: MARGO OKAZAWA-REY SUMMER FELLOWSHIP.
IDAAS awards at least one Margo Okazawa-Rey Summer Fellowship each year. The awards are given on a
competitive basis for student-initiated, interdisciplinary projects. The project may be creative,
research-oriented, or community "service"/social justice oriented. The amount for one award in 2012 is
up to $3,500.
The stipulations on the awards are:
- The project must integrate concepts central to the field of Asian American Studies.
- The project must be completed by August 15.
- Criteria for evaluation of an application will include the intellectual rationale for the
project, its feasibility, its interdisciplinary focus, and relevant aspects of the student's
background.
- The project must have a sponsor advisor who is an IDAAS faculty/staff member. If an off-
campus professional is the primary advisor on the project, the IDAAS faculty/staff member
should be a secondary advisor.
- The results of the project will be presented to the IDAAS community at an event in the
fall semester organized by the fellow(s). Thus, only students returning to Claremont Colleges
in the following fall are eligible.
- No academic credit will be granted for the project. We invite students to explore receiving
½ course credit and/or summer research stipend at their home college in conjunction with the
project.
The Fellowship is intended to enable individuals to undertake a community-based, creative, or
research project in any context, although work pursued in Asian and Pacific Islander communities
will be prioritized. The project may involve working with an existing organization or may involve
initiating a new effort beside a marginalized community. Projects may focus on any social issue
such as reproductive health, AIDS education, sex-trafficking, peace education, and affordable
housing. Students are encouraged to conceptualize their projects in ways that make the connections
between domestic issues and international/transnational events, trends, and forces.
Background:
Asian American Studies has a tradition of community engagement and working towards a more just
society. As such, the Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies (IDAAS) at the
Claremont Colleges established a fellowship program, the Margo Okazawa-Rey Summer Fellowship.
The Fellowship is designed to encourage outstanding college students to implement community- based,
creative, or research projects that integrate social justice, multi-racial solidarity, and feminism.
The program honors Margo Okazawa-Rey's outstanding work towards social justice. Okazawa-Rey is
among the first generation of mixed-race children born to a Japanese "war bride" and an African-
American soldier. With an Ed.D. in education from Harvard University, she currently is a professor
in the School of Human and Organizational Development at the Fielding Graduate University and a
professor emerita at San Francisco State University. Her work examines the connections between
militarism, economic globalization and impacts on women of color. She is the author of "Amerasian
Children of GI Town: A Legacy of US Militarism in South Korea," and, with Gwyn Kirk, co-editor of
Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives (5th ed., 2009). Her latest publication, "Activist
Scholarship: Antiracism, Feminism, and Social Change," is co-edited with Julia Sudbury. In 2006,
Okazawa-Rey was the Scholar/Practitioner-in-Residence in the Intercollegiate Department of Women
Studies at the Claremont Colleges.
HOW TO APPLY: Click here.
DEADLINE: Friday, April 20, 2012 at noon.
FELLOW(S) ANNOUNCEMENT: The fellow(s) will be announced at the senior presentations on Wednesday,
May 2, 2012, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Aviation Room, Hoch-Shanahan Dining Hall, Harvey Mudd.
