Students who received a Spanish Kathryn Davis take a picture with Laurie Patton.

The Davis Fellows for Peace fellowships are awarded to 12 languages and cover tuition, room, and board for one summer at any level of study.

The Fellows for Peace are highly competitive, merit-based awards and aim to fulfill the intention of the late philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis. As development of intercultural understanding is essential to reducing conflict, the study of languages has become increasingly important. Mrs. Davis challenged us to “bring about a mindset of preparing for peace instead of preparing for war.”

Successful fellowship applications typically have a strong background in peace work or conflict resolution, broadly construed. They have represented a wide range of professions, from NGO work to government service, journalism to law, medicine to the arts, and so on. Applications should have a plan for future peace work and knowledge of the region and relevant issues. The fellowship committee gives more weight to accomplishments and related future projects than it does to academic qualifications alone.

If you have questions, please contact kdfellowships@middlebury.edu. Students also are encouraged to apply for Middlebury financial aid (awarded on a demonstrated-need basis). The award does not cover travel, books, or incidentals.

Deadline

Applications are due by 11:59 PM EST, December 15.

Application

  1. An online Language Schools application, which includes:

    Once the Language School application is submitted, you will receive a confirmation email in which you will find a link to the application for the Kathryn Davis Fellowship as well as other merit scholarships (check your junk mail.) Please address any questions concerning the Language School application to your school’s assistant director.

    • $75 non-refundable application fee
    • Letter(s) of recommendation (required for the Language Schools application only. Letters of recommendation are not required for the Fellowship application, and will not be reviewed by the Fellowship Committee)
    • Transcript(s)
  2. Online scholarship supplement (After you have submitted your application, you will receive an email with a link to apply for all scholarships.), which includes:
    • Essay (500-600 words): Outline your past experience in contributing to more peaceful relationships between people, institutions, or communities, and highlight how increased proficiency in your language will help you to mediate conflict in the future. Discuss your interest in the region and language as these relate to your proposed peace work.

    • CV or resume

Your Davis Fellows application will not be considered if you are missing any of the above components of the application by the deadline. Mailed items (if needed) should be received by December 15:

Middlebury Language Schools

14 Old Chapel Road

Middlebury, VT 05753

Notification of Fellowship

Students will be notified about the status of the fellowship by email on or around February 1.

Kathryn Davis Fellowship student Michelle Munyikwa

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For the last few years I’ve been working with refugees and asylum seekers who come to Philadelphia, many of whom speak French. If everything goes well, some point in the future I’ll be a professor in both medicine and anthropology. And I’m really interested in how we can teach people who do things like practice medicine or global health to work with different kinds of populations that are different from them.

For me, Middlebury was a great choice. One, because as a turns out in normal life, I am super busy. And I think that that was the main thing that kept me from progressing in my language progress. And also, it was very affordable because I received a Kathryn Davis fellowship which made it possible for me to take time off at school.