Friends of the Center Research Awards

About the Scholarships

Friends of the Center Undergraduate and Graduate Awards are designed to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding about religion, conflict, and/or peacebuilding. The awards are made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Center, individuals committed to advancing the research and education mission of the Center.

These awards can fund activities such as:

  • Research for an honor’s thesis, master’s thesis, or doctoral dissertation.

  • Participation in reputable, internationally-oriented training programs in religion, conflict, and peacebuilding.

  • Research activities that advance understanding of the intersections of religion and conflict.

Eligibility and Process

Details

Friends of the Center research scholarships are available to students at all academic levels, and students from all majors and years of study are encouraged to apply.

Scholarship: One or more scholarships of up to $2,500 are awarded each year.

Purpose: Funds may be used for travel or research support to study the dynamics of religion, conflict, and peace.

Timing: All applicants must be enrolled at Arizona State University at the time of application, award, and the semester following the proposed research or program. Since scholarships are typically awarded during the spring semester for research activities in the summer, applicants must be enrolled for the spring and following fall semesters.

Renewal: This scholarship may be renewed, but students must re-apply each year. 

Recipient expectations: Scholarship recipients will present their research findings or program/internship experiences at a Center event upon their return and will become ambassadors of the Center in their future endeavors.

Undergraduate Student Eligibility

Applicants must have a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA and demonstrate the relationship of the selected peacebuilding program or research project to their career development at the time of application and award receipt. Awards will be made based on the following criteria:

  • The proposal has academic merit.
  • The application materials demonstrate an interest in religion, conflict and peace studies.
  • The proposal's relationship to the student’s career goals is clearly outlined.

Travel Requirements
Students requesting travel-related funds must follow all university guidelines. Students traveling internationally are required to register for any university-related international travel. Review the following:

Graduate Student Eligibility

Applicants must be enrolled in a graduate degree program at Arizona State University and be in good standing with their department at the time of application and award receipt. The award must be used to pursue advanced studies or training in some aspect of religion, conflict, and peace studies. Awards will be made based on the following criteria:

  • The scholarly record and promise of the applicant.
  • The significance of the research or training to the study of religion and conflict.
  • The significance of the research or training to the applicant’s program of study.

Travel Requirements
Students requesting travel-related funds must follow all university guidelines. Students traveling internationally are required to register for any university-related international travel. Review the following:

Application Requirements

All applicants should be prepared to provide the following in the form:

  1. In approximately 500 words, describe your plan of research or the peacebuilding training program you propose to attend and its relationship to your career aspirations. Include a brief description of how you would spend the funds and an estimated timeframe. If applicable, include information about the program you propose to attend

  2. Resume or Academic CV

  3. PDF of your transcript (unofficial transcript is acceptable) showing grades from your most recently completed semester and cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.

In addition to the form submission, an ASU faculty letter of recommendation, emailed directly to Matt Correa, must be submitted by the application deadline.

  • If you have questions about this requirement, contact Matt right away.

Application Deadline: April 8, 2024

Questions?

For questions concerning the application process or requirements please email Matt Correa.

Scholarship Recipients

2023 Scholarship Recipients

Jessica Beaudette, doctoral student, Religious Studies

Fatemeh Movahed, doctoral student, Religious Studies

Sydney Tran, Family and Human Development and Psychology

2022 Recipients

Cassidy Claridge, masters student, Public administration
Project: “Counterterrorism in Israel”

Mary Elie, Russian
Project: Second Generation Survivor Stories: Intersections of Authoritarian Religious Cult Beliefs and Authoritarian Politics

Rachel Hess, Political Science and Spanish
Project: The Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics: War and Peace Series: Critical Deliberations on Peacebuilding, Memory, and Narrative (Ansari Travel Scholarship)

Jameel Subhan, Political Science
Project: Muslim Public Affairs Council Internship (Washington D.C.)

2021 Recipients

Blayne Harcey,  doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: “Locating Lumbinī: Transnational Buddhism and the Construction of World Heritage in Nepal”

Chirasree Mukherjee, doctoral student, International Relations
Project: “How Diverse is Religion’s Influence on Conflict Intractability”

Wen Wendt, Political Science
Project: The Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics: War and Peace Series: Critical Deliberations on Peacebuilding, Memory, and Narrative (Ansari Travel Scholarship)

2020 Recipients

Eric Breault, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: “An Icon Of Death: Material Culture And La Santa Muerte”

Taylor R. Genovese, doctoral student, Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology, SFIS
Project: “Dark Cosmism: An Ethnographic Genealogy Of Russo-Soviet and American Techno-Utopianism”

Mario Orospe Hernández, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: “Capitalism As Religion: On The Spiritual Life Of A Commodity Across Secular Bordering”

Pablo Alberto Ortega Poveda, doctoral student, Political Science
Project: “(Un)Usual Suspects: Explaining Violence Against Leaders and Members of Religion-Based Organizations in Non-Religion Civil Conflicts”

Saiarchana Darira, Social and Cultural Analysis; Global Management; Psychology
Project: 2020 Oxpeace Conference

Jaxon Washburn, Religious Studies; History
Project: Internship At The Joseph Smith Papers Project

2019 Recipients

Peyman Asadzadehmamaghani, doctoral student, Politics and Global Studies
Project: Patterns of Participation in Insurgency: Religious versus Leftist Groups

Brett Goldberg, doctoral student, Justice Studies
Project: Building Community in a World on Fire: Transformational Justice Responses to Challenge Rape Culture in the US

Jihye Jung, doctoral student, Political Science
Project: Korean Protestant Church Overseas Missions and Religious Conflicts in Muslim Countries

Ayesha Ashan, Economics, Sociology
Project: 2019 American Institute on Political and Economic Systems (Prague, Czech Republic)

Jeena James, Biological Sciences
Project: The Refugee Crisis in the U.S. and Italy

Katherine Panopoulos, Political Science
Project: Philosophical Underpinnings of Peacebuilding Mechanisms

Irene Rubio, Journalism and Mass Communications
Project: 2019 University of Chicago Data and Policy Summer Scholar Program

Madeline Stull, History
Project: Memories of Guilt and the Conception of Peace in the Former Yugoslavia

2018 Recipients

Leila Asadi, doctoral student, Justice Studies
Project: Dwelling in Possibility: Living as Syrian Refugee Women in the United States

Haroon Atcha, doctoral student, Political Science
Title of project: Religious Rhetoric and Nationalist Violence in Myanmar

Terry Shoemaker, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Dwelling in Possibility: Living as Syrian Refugee Women in the United States

BrieAnna Frank, Journalism; Political Science
Project: Christian Allegiances to Israel in the US and Abroad

2017 Recipients

Kyla Pasha, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Fleeting Utopias: Creating Ritual and Community Space from Queer Muslim Longings

Nathan Tarr, doctoral student, Political Science
Project: Repressing Faith: Repression, Religion, and Variations in Violence

Tiffany Trent, doctoral student, Theatre
Project: Radical Welcome in Youth Performing Arts Spaces on Chicago’s South Side

Alana Vehaba, doctoral student, Justice and Social Inquiry
Project: Harnessed Flames: Analyzing Self-immolation in Tibet and its Impact in Exile

Margaret Tucker, Geography and Political Science
Project: Critical Cartography and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus

2016 Recipients

Michael Bluhm, doctoral student, Journalism and Mass Communication
Project: Tunisia and the Arab Spring: Religion and the Role of Social Media

James Edmonds, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Performing Authoritative Ambiguity: Contemporary Indonesian Islamic Actualities

Terry Shoemaker, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Emerging in the South: The Emerging Church Movement within the Bible Belt Region

Roopa Singh, doctoral student, Justice Studies
Project: Who Gets to Heal: Mapping Religionization and Propertization in Yoga

Mahshid Zandi, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Tehran’s Holy Defense Museum: Mediating Religion, Politics, and Collective Memory

Viviane Linos, Masters Student in Women and Gender Studies
Project: Constructions of Kinship and Female Empowerment: Orthodox Christianity and Domestic Violence in Greece

Catie Carson, Psychology and Barrett, the Honors College
Project: Peacebuilding through Cultural Exchange and Service in Tajikistan

Connor Murphy, Journalism, Political Science, and Barrett, the Honors College
Project: Journalism, Freedom of Speech, and Violence in Pakistani Media

Ryan Schneidewind, Political Science
Project: Turkey’s Refugee Crisis

Jennifer Swicegood, Psychology
Project: Religion and Domestic Violence in Suva, Fiji

2015 Recipients

Farina King, doctoral student, History
Project: The Journey of Diné Students in the Four Directions: Navajo Educational Experiences in the 20th Century

Justin Nadir, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Constructions of Identity and Conflict among Hindu Minorities in Muslim Java, Indonesia

Ashley Brennan, Psychology
Project: Deepening Democracy, Cultivating Community, and Building Peace: Youth Participatory Budgeting in Romania

Brieanna Griffin, Global Studies and Anthropology
Project: American Perceptions of the Muslim World: Seeking Grassroots Solutions

2014 Recipients

Lucia Cash, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: The Role of Religious Leaders in Peace-Building and Reconciliation in Post-Dictatorship Uruguay

Emily Fritcke, English Literature and History
Project: Understanding Religious Conflict: An Investigation of the Tension between the Greek Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church of Romania

A.J. Simmons, doctoral student, School of Politics and Global Studies
Project: Civil War Duration and its Influences

Holly Williamson, doctoral student, School of Politics and Global Studies
Project: The Implications of Gender Asymmetries: Socialization, Religion, and Wartime Rape in Bosnia

2013 Recipients

JoonSik Hwang, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: The Urban Religiosity of Jaipur

Galen Lamphere-Englund, Global Studies
Project: Galway University Summer School in Cinema, Human Rights and Advocacy

Brittany Morris, Journalism
Project: Women’s education and participation in civic society in Kuwait City, Kuwait

2012 Recipients

Gabrielle Filip-Crawford, doctoral student, Psychology
Project: The Effects of Tolerence Messages on Religiously-Infused Conflict

Cheikh Amadou Bamba Seye, Master’s student in Religious Studies
Project: Peacebuilding and Anti-Violence in Mouridism

Brittany Morris, Journalism
Project: Women and the Veil in France under President Nicholas Sarkozy

Rachel Bishop, Global Studies
Project: Quaker’s Alternatives to Violence

2010 Recipients

Danielle Back
Project: Interfaith Peacebuilders Program

Scott Ross
Project: Education and Global Studies major who travelled to Lira, Uganda on a four-month research trip

2009 Recipients

Bennett Furlow, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Religion and Politics in Somalia: The Islamic Union Court

Semiha Topal, doctoral student, Religious Studies
Project: Pious yet Modern Subjects: Turkish Muslim Women in the Public Sphere

Nastja Cijic, Political Science, Global Studies
Project: South African Human Rights and Peacebuilding Program

Leticia Martinez, Justice Studies
Project: South Africa Community Fund—Programs in Peacebuilding

2008 Recipients

Blake Jones, doctoral student, History 
Project: Secular and Religious Influences in Jimmy Carter’s thoughts on Peace, Human Rights and the Global Community

Iona Mateson, doctoral student, Political Science
Project: The Participation of Hamas in a National Unity Government

Whitney Meshay, Barrett Honors College, Political Science, German, Religious Studies
Project: South Africa Community Fund—Programs in Peacebuilding

2007 Recipients

Blake Smith, Masters student in Art Education
Project: South Africa Community Fund—Programs in Peacebuilding

Sandra Afloeri, Journalism
Project: South Africa Community Fund—Programs in Peacebuilding

2006 Recipients

Alex Ginsburg, Barrett Honors College, Religious Studies
Project: Rabbis for Human Rights, Israel

Elizabeth Fritze, Barrett Honors College, English Literature
Project: South Africa Community Fund—Programs in Peacebuilding

*formerly known as the Hardt Scholarships/Fellowships in Religion, Conflict and Peace Studies