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Cater Society of Junior Fellows

About the Society

Presentation

The Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows is the College's flagship academic enrichment program—one that rewards creativity, initiative and intellectual curiosity with competitive grants to support self-directed undergraduate research and scholarship anywhere in the world. The intent is to bring together the best and brightest in what founder Douglass Cater called "a companionship of learning."

Requiring a grade point average of 3.6 or better, membership in the Cater Society is offered to students who achieve distinction among the school's top scholars. At Society meetings—open to the entire student body and to faculty and staff—Junior Fellows who have completed their independent projects funded by the Society give short presentations about their experiences. The Cater Society of Junior Fellows also sponsors several social events throughout the year.

Junior Fellows grants are highly competitive. To receive project funding, applicants are expected to prepare well-crafted proposals for consideration by the Junior Fellows Advisory Council, comprising the Provost and Dean of the College, the Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs, the Chairs of the three Divisions (or their designates), the Curator, and the Student President and Vice President of the Society.

Among recent projects funded by the Cater Society of Junior Fellows have been:

  • A Study of the Evolution of Civil Society in Cambodia
  • Internship with the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC
  • Internship with British Museum
  • Internship with Hansard Scholars Program in London
  • Internship with New York Stage and Film
  • Researching Youth Well-Bring with an Aboriginal Controlled Agency in Australia
  • Internship with National Endowment of the Arts
  • Launching a Pilot Program to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap in Schools
  • Dramaturgy internship with Philadelphia Theatre Company
  • Internship with International Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland
  • Internship with St. Jude Medical Center
  • Volunteer Projects in South Africa and Cambodia
  • Study of the Saami People of Northern Fennoscandia
  • Assessment of genetic variation among natural population of Rhododenum Atlanticum
  • Analysis of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Debate
  • Ecological studies at Bermuda Biological Research Station
  • Ecological studies on Mount Desert Island, Maine
  • Study of Globalization in Ecuador
  • Independent research concerning the economy and social welfare in South Africa
  • Internship with Fence Magazine/Fence Books in Albany, New York
  • Presentation of research at annual meeting of American Chemical Society
  • Studies of Documentary Photography and Visual Anthropology in Mexico
  • Visions in Action community development and technology projects
  • Volunteer efforts with Kent County Health Department Pediatric Immunization Program and Communicable Disease Division
  • Summer research focusing on restorative neuroscience, conducted at Institute in Experimental Psychology, University of South Carolina

For more information, e-mail Curator Austin Lobo.