Eta Sigma Phi, the national undergraduate honorary society, announces the Rudolph Masciantonio Diversity Outreach Grant. Any active chapter of Eta Sigma Phi is eligible to apply annually for a grant of up to $1000 in order to support the chapter’s efforts to promote the Classics, especially in communities which are limited in their access to the study of the Greco-Roman world. Such communities include: various racially, ethnically, sexually (including LGBTQIA+), physically, and religiously disadvantaged groups; first-generation students (including those from immigrant families); those educated at schools which have abandoned Latin, Greek, and Classics; those for whom misunderstanding or bias has meant lack of prior exposure to the Greco-Roman past; and those for whom narrower definitions of “Classics” have meant denying the importance of other parts of the Mediterranean basin as legitimate parts of the ancient world.
This grant can be used to enable the chapter to purchase teaching materials, book prizes, museum admissions, and other activities (such as field trips) for the outreach group. Grants are made to Eta Sigma Phi chapters, not to their host departments, colleges, or universities.
In order to apply for this grant, a chapter must submit a 500-word description of the project and planned activity along with a budget. The deadline for submitting applications for the 2021-2022 academic year is October 1, 2021. Chapters receiving this grant will be required to submit a follow-up report for the 2022 convention. (Attendance at the convention by a member of the chapter is encouraged but not required. The report can be submitted in absentia.) Failure to submit this follow-up report for the convention will make the chapter ineligible to apply for another Masciantonio Grant for the following year. Grant recipients will also work with the editor of Nuntius in writing an article about the project, accompanied by several photos of participants, for the fall issue.
Chapters receiving this grant are eligible for the Outreach Prize awarded annually at convention to the chapter with the best outreach activity.
Rudolph Masciantonio devoted his teaching career to bringing the Classics to inner-city grade school children in the Philadelphia Public Schools. Rudy was also one of the first recipients of Eta Sigma Phi’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2007). His generous bequest to Eta Sigma Phi funds this Diversity Outreach Award.
Information about the application process will be announced soon. Please contact the executive secretary for further details.
Zeta Beta Chapter’s initiation (12/04/06) (l to r) Carolyn Adams (then Temple’s Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences), Rudolph Masciantonio (initiated as an honorary member of the Zeta Beta Chapter), Dr. Martha A. Davis (Associate Professor Emerita, Temple University), and Charles Myers (Philadelphia-area Latin Teacher)
For more information about Eta Sigma Phi, see www.etasigmaphi.org or contact:
Dr. Katherine Panagakos
Executive Secretary of Eta Sigma Phi
Stockton University
101 Vera King Farris Drive
Galloway, NJ 08205
Office: ((609) 652-4618
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