Oregon Humanities

$2,000 humanities grants offered to Oregon high school sophomores

Oregon students have the chance to apply for 12 summer grants awarded by the Oregon Council of Humanities' Young Scholars program.

14 March 2007 | Permalink

While most of their peers spend the summer watching movies or going to camp, 12 Oregon teenagers will have the opportunity to work on a humanities project like exploring the heady Northwest grunge era or creating a documentary film about immigration.
For the sixth year in a row, the Oregon Council for the Humanities (OCH) will award $2,000 Young Scholars grants to 12 Oregon sophomores. These grants will allow students to complete humanities research projects of their own design. Interested students can download application forms from the OCH website (http://www.oregonhum.org) or call (503) 241-0543 / (800) 735-0543 to receive a copy by mail. Applications are due April 20, 2007.
“It was hard, it was painful, it was time consuming. But looking back, I would do it for free. It was educating, it was fun, it was confidence raising—it was life changing,” said Rosie Pazdral, a Deadwood teenager who created a documentary on community last year.
Young Scholar Grants offer Oregon sophomores the opportunity to spend a summer working on a humanities research project. The humanities comprise everything from film and literature, to ethics and archaeology, offering a wealth of fascinating topics to pursue. As Young Scholars explore their own questions, they transform their experience from being cultural consumers into becoming cultural producers, observers, and creators. Each Young Scholar will spend 20 hours per week working on their chosen project.
The 2006 Young Scholar grant recipients came from Neskowin, Philomath, Pendleton, Deadwood, and the Portland area. Their projects included a community poetry anthology, several documentary film projects, an analysis of the grunge music subculture, literary studies, and a project exploring how interior design affects healing. Last summer’s projects are posted on the Young Scholars webpage.