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Institute for European Studies
Michael J. Harum Memorial Award for Students of Slavic Languages
Details
The Michael J. Harum Memorial Award for Students of Slavic Languages was established with generous contributions from Michael's family, the Institute for European Studies, and many others who loved and respected this extraordinary man.
The purpose of the award is to support Cornell undergraduates while they continue their language studies in countries where Slavic languages are spoken or while they do research in these countries. In a typical year, funding for this award is used for international summer travel.
Funding Options
- 2-3 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $1,500 - $2,500
- 4-6 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $2,500 - $4,000
Funding will be distributed through bursar accounts to be made available for use in Summer 2025.
Requirements
- Project proposal detailing the applicant's motivation and preparation for language study, or the proposed research
- Detailed budget included in the proposal
- 1 letter of recommendation
- Transcript
Contact IES with questions about this award.
Additional Information
Frederic Conger Wood Research Fellowship
Details
Established in 1993 with a generous bequest from the estate of Cornell alumnus and trustee Frederic Conger Wood, these fellowships support undergraduate research in Europe.
Undergraduates from all colleges are invited to submit applications to pursue independent research projects focused on Europe.
During the summer, Conger Wood fellows spend two to eight weeks pursuing field study in Europe, and upon their return write up the results of their research. These fellowships can be combined with projects tied to attending Cornell summer courses taught in Europe.
Application deadline for winter break travel: December 1, 2025
Application deadline for summer travel: March 1, 2026
Funding Guidelines
- 2-3 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $1,500 - $2,500
- 4-8 week project at 20-40 hours per week = $2,500 - $4,000
Funding will be distributed through bursar accounts.
Requirements
- 4-5 page project proposal (double-spaced) with bibliography
- Budget (identify the level of funding requested using the options above, and list your estimated costs for airfare, lodging, food, etc.)
- 1 letter of recommendation from Cornell faculty
- Transcript
Contact IES with questions about this award.
Additional Information
Abraham and Henrietta Brettschneider Oxford Exchange Fund
Details
The purpose of the Abraham and Henrietta Brettschneider Oxford Exchange Fund is to facilitate academic exchanges between Cornell and Oxford University (UK).
The awards are designed to promote scholarly interchange between Cornell and Oxford colleges, primarily in the social sciences and humanities. Cornell scholars from all colleges are invited to apply.
Eligibility
This fund is available to Cornell faculty, postdocs, students (graduate and undergraduate), and permanent RTE faculty. Priority is given to faculty and PhD students. Students planning to travel to Oxford after graduation or postdocs without an active appointment at the time of travel are not eligible.
Criteria
Successful grant applicants will receive funding to support research stays at Oxford. The award is also open to faculty and faculty-student research teams to travel to Oxford for collaborations and to make use of Oxford’s extensive research and library resources. Appropriate uses of the fund include thesis or dissertation research, workshop participation, and initiating or sustaining research partnerships. Projects that foster ongoing, close collaborations between Cornell and Oxford are given priority.
Requirements
- Four to five-page (double-spaced) research proposal (including bibliography)
- Detailed budget (does not count towards proposal page limit)
- Proposed research timeline (does not count towards proposal page limit)
- One Cornell faculty letter of recommendation (for students and postdocs)
- One Oxford faculty letter of support (for students and postdocs)
- For staff applications, please inquire for requirements at ies@cornell.edu
The online application form requires applicants to provide the names and email addresses of faculty recommenders. The online system automatically generates a notification email to the recommenders with instructions on how to log in and upload a recommendation letter. The submission deadline for the letters of recommendation and support is March 8, 2026. The letters of support from Oxford faculty can be mailed directly to IES Program Manager Patricia Young, pty6@cornell.edu.
Contact IES with questions about this award.
Additional Information
Racism and the Future of Memorials Webinar
IES Director, Esra Akcan, led a relevant discussion regarding the toppling of monuments in Europe.
Recently toppled and removed monuments during the protests in Boston, Virginia, Alabama, Bristol, Antwerp, and other locations motivate us to discuss the future of memorials. What are monuments for? What is next in the ethics of commemoration? We will hear from leading scholars on the history of Confederate monuments and flags from the perspective of today's moment, research on transitional justice memorials around the world, and the physical remnants of black heritage in Harlem, New York.
Panelists:
- Esra Akcan, Michael A. McCarthy Associate Professor of Architectural Theory, Director of European Studies at Einaudi Center for International Studies, Cornell University
- Mwanzaa Brown (M.Arch. '18), architectural designer, Barkow Leibinger
- Manisha Sinha, Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut and the Mellon-Schlesinger Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study, Harvard University
The webinar was held on Monday, July 13, 12:30–2:00 p.m. EDT. - Q & A was moderated by Cornell-NOMAS.
Additional Information
IES Visiting Scholar gives interview with Cornell Government professor
Bryn Rosenfeld and Tamas Ziegler discuss the management of COVID-19 and the crisis of democracy in Hungary.
Tamas Ziegler gave a virtual interview with Bryn Rosenfeld as part of a series of conversations with scholars to discuss the impact of COVID-19 in Europe. The interview was included in "Conversations on European Matters in the Midst of a Pandemic," a webinar held on May 13th, 2020.
Bryn Rosenfeld , Assistant Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University
Tamas Ziegler, Visiting Scholar, Institute for European Studies, Cornell University, Associate Professor, International Relations and European Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Due to Covid-19, his visit has been postponed until next year.
Watch the full interview (37 minutes)
Watch the short interview (13 minutes)
Additional Information
Program
Pandemic: What International Studies Tells Us
June 25, 2020
12:00 pm
Students: Join Einaudi Center regional experts for this #SummerPassport webinar--for all undergraduate and graduate students interested in global thinking and action.
The outbreak of a novel coronavirus may be the most significant world event of our century. It's a pandemic--a Greek word that means "all people." Around the world, all of us are experiencing this shared breakdown of public health, economics, and international cooperation.
Experts representing Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America will discuss the big questions facing our major world regions during this global crisis. What are reforms, new ways of thinking, and new challenges that will emerge out of the pandemic?
Moderator:
Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies
Panelists:
Esra Akcan, 2019-2020 Frieda Miller Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University; Associate Professor, Michael A. McCarthy Professor of Architectural Theory, Department of Architecture, Cornell University; Member, Cornell Institute for Comparative Modernities.
Marcelo Borges, Professor of History; Boyd Lee Spahr Chair in the History of the Americas at Dickinson College, and Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, Nantes.
Expedit Ologou, Founder, Civic Academy for Africa’s Future, and Director of Politics and Governance Programs at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Benin.
Jenny Goldstein, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University, an Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future Faculty Fellow, and a core faculty member of Cornell's Southeast Asian Studies Program at Cornell University.
Co-sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Studies, Nantes.
Register now!
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program
Watch: Democratic Challenges in the Time of COVID: Global Perspectives
Experts on Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America discuss government responses to the pandemic and their implications for democratic rule.
Additional Information
Visiting Scholar Programs
Our robust visiting scholars program is on hold until travel restrictions are lifted.
We will reopen nominations and applications for the Luigi Einaudi Chair in European and International Studies, Regional Visiting Fellows, and self-funded Visiting Scholars when the safety of visitors can be assured.
Additional Information
Program
Featured Event: European Matters
IES hosts talks, panels, workshops, and more to promote academic exchange and scholarship. Events and community building are central to our mission.
European Matters Virtual Symposium
Conversations on European Matters During a Global Crisis—a year-end symposium held virtually on May 13—showcased Sandro Gozi, Italian member of the European Parliament, and Europeanists speaking on the impact of COVID-19.
Interview: Sandro Gozi and Mason Woods
Sandro Gozi
Member of European Parliament, Italy
Mason Woods
IES Student Ambassador, European Studies Minor
Additional Information
Program
Faculty Conversation: Research in the Time of Coronavirus
June 4, 2020
12:00 pm
Across the world, our lives have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. All fields of study are impacted, as our medical, agricultural, economic, political, and cultural systems are challenged. The crisis reinforces the need to think differently and boldly about the world today and the world ahead.
The Einaudi Center invites all Cornell faculty to come together for a conversation about ways forward. Join us to share reflections and identify pathways for collaborative projects and new research agendas.
REGISTER NOW
Each participant will be asked to share brief reflections on three interrelated questions:
1. How has the coronavirus affected your field and/or your research?
2. What are the most urgent questions that you see arising out of this moment?
3. What are the next-generation questions you imagine or the rethinking you see potentially occurring in the next phase, as we move beyond the pandemic?
Particularly when we cannot travel to planned conferences, seminars, research sites, our intellectual community can sustain us and catalyze new individual and collaborative projects with international partners virtually.
We encourage all participants to think about what parts of these questions they would like to take forward and what infrastructure or collaborators would be useful to put together a team with synergistic capacities. Contributions may be worked up into a series of short essays for the Einaudi website, a collective review for publication, and/or grant applications and seed projects.
Moderator: Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies
Please send any questions or suggestions in advance of the conversation to rbeattyriedl@cornell.edu.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
East Asia Program
Southeast Asia Program
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for European Studies
South Asia Program