Scholarships

Class of 1945 Scholarship

The Class of 1945 Scholarship provides funding to undergraduate students in good academic standing with a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Preference is given to a member of the Minuteman Marching Band.

Class of 1976 Humanities Scholarship

The Class of 1976 Humanities Scholarship provides funding to undergraduate students in good academic standing with a GPA of 3.7 or higher who intends to continue their education as a Master’s degree candidate in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Ellsworth and Mary Barnard Scholarship

The Ellsworth and Mary Barnard Scholarship provides support to fully matriculated undergraduate students in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts who are in their junior or senior years.

JoAnn Waite Bennett and George Neil Bennett Scholarship

Recognizing the importance of graduate education to the careers pursued by both JoAnn and Neil Bennett, they established this scholarship to provide the most promising applicant to a Master’s or Doctoral degree program in a department within the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Community Scholarship

Community Scholarships support undergraduate student majors in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts with demonstrated financial need. Preference is given to first-generation college students and those who are members of groups generally underrepresented on the UMass Amherst campus.

Allen Davis and Nancy Mainor Social Justice Activism Scholarship

Awarded to a student with demonstrated interest in and activities that address social and economic justice, with a preference for those addressing institutional racism.

Environmental Justice Fund

This scholarship supports undergraduate students with a demonstrated commitment to creating change in the context of environmental racism and related social justice issues. Rising juniors and seniors must have an existing commitment to activism through writing for a public audience and other ways of raising awareness, including through academic, campus, or community involvement. Preference will be for a student in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts with a GPA of 3.5 or more.

Henry and Jean Hall Humanities and Fine Arts Scholarship

This scholarship provides support to undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need, in good academic standing, and with a major within the College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

Humanities and Fine Arts Dean’s Undergraduate Research Fund

Established by former Dean of Humanities and Fine Arts, Julie C. Hayes, this fund supports undergraduate students in any department or program in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts with research grants. Recipients are required to make a compelling case for the scholarly or creative work they wish to undertake.

Humanities and Fine Arts Dean’s Undergraduate Scholarship

The Humanities & Fine Arts Dean’s Undergraduate Scholarship provides support for undergraduate students in any department or program in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts. Recipients of scholarship awards must demonstrate financial need and academic achievement.

Humanities and Fine Arts Opportunity Scholars

The HFA Opportunity Scholarships support first-semester students from an underrepresented population or a first-generation college student in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts or our Exploratory Track. The program promotes personal development, scholarship, leadership, community service, and connection to people, cultural centers, and resources on campus. HFA Opportunity Scholars receive one-on-one mentoring, participate in field trips, academic and social events, explore potential careers, and hear from guest speakers and College alumni. Students who complete this class with a grade point average of 3.00 or better receive a textbook stipend for the following semester.

Humanities and Fine Arts Study Abroad Scholarship

This scholarship is intended to support students in the College of the Humanities and Fine Arts to study their chosen language in a country where it is spoken.

Humanities and Fine Arts Summer Internships

The HFA Summer Internship Scholarship helps students participate in valuable summer internship experiences to further their academic and professional goals or their career exploration.

Ernest Hofer Oxford Summer Program Scholarship

The Ernest Hofer Oxford Summer Program Scholarship provides support to students who have a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average and demonstrated need to participate in the Oxford Summer Seminar Program.

Lewis C. Mainzer Creativity Award

The Lewis C. Mainzer Creativity Award provides support to a junior or senior student in the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration Program (BDIC) whose chosen interdisciplinary course of study reflects a breadth of interests and takes a creative approach in achieving its focus. Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate exceptional thinking in the humanities or political science.

Frank Prentice Rand Scholarship

The Frank Prentice Rand Scholarship provides support for undergraduate or graduate students in Fine Arts or Drama based on exceptional scholarship and financial need.

Maureen Tracy Venti ‘72 Memorial Scholarship

The Maureen Tracy Venti ‘72 Memorial Scholarship was established in 2019 by Edward Venti in honor of his wife. It is awarded to a student whose primary major is in the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, who have high financial need, and who has a record of scholarly achievement combined with community and social involvement.

Art Education Certification/Licensure Support Fund

This fund was established to support Art Ed students to be reimbursed for the two teaching licenses they need to apply for, Visual Arts K-8 and Visual Arts 5-12. The costs incurred may include the required TK20, METL Communication/Literacy test and Visual Arts, and the recommended Sheltered English Immersion test.

Deborah Fennessey Scholarship

The Deborah Fennessey Scholarship provides support to outstanding undergraduate or graduate students enrolled as full-time art majors.

Robert Gordon ‘48 and Nancy Gordon ‘49 Scholarship in the Fine Arts

Established to provide scholarships for undergraduate students entering their senior year and majoring in Painting and Printmaking, Ceramics and Sculpting, or Computer Art and Animation.

Margaret Salamone Polaski Art Scholarship

Established in memory of Margaret Salamone Polaski for her deep passion for art and appreciation for all that Art Education does for the public schools. This award will support an Art Education licensure student with a love of art and commitment to sharing their knowledge with others.

George M. Wardlaw Art Department Scholarship

Established to provide a scholarship to one or more undergraduate or graduate art majors based on demonstrated excellence in the visual arts.

Class of 1940 Creative Writing Award

The Class of 1940 Creative Writing Award provides funding for creative writing achievements by undergraduate students.

Mary McGarry Morris and Margaret C. Chiriaco Scholarship

Established in 1999, by their family in honor of Mary’s enormous accomplishments as one of America’s finest writers and, further, to honor Mary’s mother, Margaret C. Chiriaco, who served as a loving and powerful inspiration to Mary. This scholarship provides support to English majors based on financial need and academic merit. Preference is given to single mothers who have demonstrated an aptitude and a love for creative writing.

Jules Chametzky Translation Prize

Established in honor of emeritus professor, the late Jules Chametzky, this prize is for either an undergraduate or graduate translation published in the Massachusetts Review, thereby encouraging new literary voices in languages other than English. The prize alternates between poetry and prose.

Delaney Fund for the MFA in Creative Writing

The Delaney Fund for the MFA in Creative Writing provides support to non-traditional students pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing. Preference is given to women returning to pursue a graduate degree several years after undergraduate work.

English Department Opportunity Fund

The English Department Opportunity Fund provides grants to undergraduate students to purchase books, computer supplies, and other expenses incurred while studying abroad, interning, or attending conferences. Recipients must have demonstrated need and is chosen based on achievement within the department.

John and Donna Farrelly Scholarships

John (BA History) and Donna (BA English) Farrelly established these scholarships to support students with demonstrated need enrolled in the departments of their respective majors.

James W. Foley Memorial Prize

This prize honors the life and writing of MFA/fiction graduate James Wright Foley. The prize is designed to support the work of current MFA candidates who express a political awareness and sensitivity in their prose, and whose concerns extend beyond the limits of their particular circumstances and home language.

Daniel and Merrily Glosband MFA Fellowship in English/Poetry

This fellowship provides recognition and support for a scholar in the Masters of Fine Arts English/Poetry Program of exceptional merit and promise.

Dennis Goeckel and Karen Skolfield Endowed Poetry Fund

The Karen Skolfield and Dennis Goeckel Poetry Award will be made in even years to a student enrolled to study Poetry, who is in good academic standing with a minimum GPA of 3.2.

Anne Halley Poetry Prize

Established by Professor Jules Chametzky to honor the life and work of Anne Halley by awarding to poetry students and providing public recognition of their work in the Massachusetts Review.

John Hicks Prize

This prize is awarded for the best literary essay involving Shakespeare or his contemporaries 1485-1660 that is not eligible for the Charles Peters Prize.

W. Scott Jeffery Scholarship

This scholarship honors Scott Jeffery’s deeply appreciated and irreplaceable contribution to the English Department’s Professional Writing Program providing support for undergraduate students in the professional writing program.

Celeste M. and John F. Loughman Memorial Scholarship in English

This scholarship supports English majors in their sophomore, junior, or senior years. Scholarship recipients are selected based on academic achievement and financial need.

Mason and Susan Lowance Award

The award established by English faculty, Mason Lowance and his wife Susan Lowance, is given to undergraduate students to help defray the cost of books and other necessary educational expenses.

General John J. & Evangeline W. Maginnis Scholarship

This scholarship provides support to undergraduate English majors with demonstrated financial need.

Moran-Herrington Fellowship in Composition and Rhetoric

This fellowship provides support to incoming graduate students in the Department of English whose special field of study in Composition and Rhetoric and whose pursuit of further study in the field springs from an interest in classroom teaching.

Cleo Zoukis Ploussios Memorial Scholarship

Established in memory of alumnus Cleo Zoukis Ploussios to provide a scholarship to an undergraduate English major, preference is given to a female student.

Frank Prentice Rand Scholarship in English

The Frank Prentice Rand Scholarship in English provides scholarships for undergraduate or graduate students in the Department of English based on exceptional scholarship and financial need.

Meredith B. Raymond Scholarship

The Meredith B. Raymond Scholarship provides support to graduate or undergraduate students specializing in English literature in any period prior to the 20th century with an academic record at the honors level.

Sanderson Prize

The Sanderson Prize is awarded for the best essay on any subject. The essay must have originated from courses taken in the English Department from the current or prior two semesters.

College Shakespearean Club Fund

In memory of Dr. Charles A. Peters, Class of 1897, this fund was established to encourage and aid undergraduate and graduate students with high academic standing specializing in Shakespeare or his contemporaries in the Elizabethan Period.

Deborah Slosberg Memorial Prize

Established in memory of Deborah Slosberg, by her mother, this provides yearly prizes to students who are enrolled in the Master of Fine Arts Program for Poets and Writers.

Betty Steinbugler Fund

The Betty Steinbugler Fund provides a prize for the best essay written by a junior or senior to be awarded annually at Commencement.

Harvey Swados Fund

The Harvey Swados Fund provides an award to the author of the best piece of fiction, whether short story or novel, produced during the academic year.

Walker Gibson Prize

The Walker Gibson prize is awarded for the best essay on a subject in Composition and Rhetoric. Graduate students in English may only submit papers from graduate seminars (excluding independent studies) written for an audience of teachers and scholars in composition studies.

Phyllis Weidig Tutoring Fund

Established to provide awards for students employed at the UMass Amherst Writing Center, who, in the view of its director, have distinguished themselves as tutors.

LeeAnne Smith White Essay Prize in English

An annual prize to graduate students in the Department of English for a well-developed, engaging essay that offers fresh insight to readers on a topic that falls within the broad area of American cultural and literary studies. Areas that align with the honoree’s interests—literature, music, and the visual arts, as well as place, landscape, the environment, and issues of identity—are especially welcome.

Walter Denny Fund

Established in honor of Distinguished Professor Walter Denny of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, to support graduate students of art history as they pursue internships, conferences, and other expenses such as travel that advance their studies.

Anne Mochon Internship

The Anne Mochon Internship was established in honor of Anne Mochon, Professor of Modern Art, to provide financial support to a graduate student or a recent MA graduate of the Art History Program while they are working in an internship.

Class of 1933 Scholarship

The Class of 1933 Scholarship provides funding to third-or fourth-year students majoring in the languages.

Luise Bronner Scholarship

The Luise Bronner Scholarship provides support to students majoring in a foreign language.

Ellert-Brauner Scholarship

The Ellert-Brauner Scholarship provides support to students enrolled in German courses offered Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department. Preference is given to students participating in the Baden-Wuerttemberg Program.

Sumner Greenfield Memorial Scholarship

Established by friends and family in honor of Professor Sumner Greenfield to provide scholarship assistance to graduate students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese studying in Spain for one or more semesters.

David J. Lane German Fund

The David J. Lane German Fund provides support to undergraduate or graduate students studying German language or German history and culture.

Lemanski Family Scholarship

The Lemanski Family Scholarship provides a scholarship to a student from Chicopee, Chicopee Comprehensive, or Cathedral High School taking courses in Polish language, literature and culture while pursuing a degree in government, public health, nursing, education, or political science. In the event a student meeting the initial criteria is not identified, the scholarship may be awarded to an undergraduate honors student pursuing studies with the Amesbury Professor of Polish language, literature, and culture.

French and Italian Fund for Academic Excellence

Established by her husband in loving memory of Kerry Dunn MacKenzie ‘88, this scholarship supports a student with a declared primary or secondary major in French or Italian, with preference given to a female candidate.

Charles Mark Scholarship for the Study of Foreign Languages

This scholarship provides support to UMass Amherst undergraduate and graduate students who are studying a language through the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages.

Sheryl McCormick Asian Studies Scholarship

This scholarship provides support to an undergraduate or graduate student concentrating on Asian Studies.

Priscilla Winquist Kalajian Scholarship in French and Francophone Studies

This scholarship supports students majoring in French and Francophone Studies with preference given to incoming first-year students. Recipients may apply for renewal for a second year. Current student applicants must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 and demonstrate leadership ability in student groups supporting French and Francophone Studies or other campus activities.

Therese Pasquale Maguire Scholarship

The Therese Pasquale Maguire Scholarship provides support for undergraduate students majoring in a foreign language who exhibit interest in expanding language and cultural studies beyond the classroom through activities, such as but not limited to, club or community engagement activities or study abroad.

John G. Robison Graduate Scholarship for Teaching Philosophy

In memory of Professor Emeritus John G. Robison and his tenure as a member of the faculty and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, this scholarship recognizes graduate students who make the most valuable contribution to the Department of Philosophy’s undergraduate teaching mission.

Valuing Humanities Scholarship

The Valuing Humanities Scholarship provides support to rising seniors majoring in Philosophy, or students with another major in the College of the Humanities and Fine Arts with a secondary major in Philosophy, with demonstrated financial need. Preference is given to residents of Massachusetts.

Joyce A. Berkman Endowed Fund

The Joyce A. Berkman Endowed Fund in Women’s History and Women’s Studies for Graduate Students provides support to graduate students in the Departments of History and Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies. These awards may be directed to students in one or both departments to students who demonstrate financial need. Recipients will be graduate students whose research, coursework, and academic interests are focused primarily on female experiences and consciousness.