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McGregor Undergraduate Research Program for the Humanities and Social Sciences

In 1998, Calvin College received a grant from the Detroit-based McGregor Fund to establish a program of student fellowships for summer research with faculty in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The resulting McGregor Fellowship program has funded collaborative student-faculty research since 1999. Although the original McGregor investment has been exhausted, the program operates with the generous support of private donors and continues to attract Calvin's "best and brightest" students and faculty to collaborative research projects.

Now accepting Faculty Proposals for summer 2013

McGregor-funded projects in News & Stories:

2012 - McGregor Fellows listen to Refugee's Stories

2011 - Q&A with Amy Patterson: Researching in Africa

2011 - The King, his ring and the temple

2011 - Researching the CRC's work with Cuban refugees

2011 - The economic impact of year-round schooling

2010 - The Forgotten Woman's Bible

2010 - Researching race in GR

The McGregor Program process:

Faculty proposals are due January 20. A selection committee comprised of deans and representatives from the honors program will decide on the set of faculty projects to be funded. (The selected faculty will be designated as McGregor Faculty Mentors and will receive a stipend of $1000 each.) If student travel is anticipated, please also consider applying for an Alumni Grant.

NOTE for Faculty mentors: As you consider encouraging a student (or students) to apply for your project, please read through the Guide for Faculty Mentors in Undergraduate Research.

Descriptions of the selected projects, along with application forms, will be posted online for the students by February 1.

Student applications are due February 17. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 is required. Individual students may not apply to more than three projects. McGregor Student Fellows will earn a stipend of $3,300 for nine weeks of full-time work. Each student is expected to present research results at a professional presentation determined by the faculty mentor and student fellow.

Each McGregor Faculty Mentor will review the applications submitted for her/his project and will select a student awardee and two alternates. The dean for research and scholarship will meet with the McGregor Faculty Mentors and the project selection committee in early March to approve the final student awardees. This meeting will also be an initial orientation meeting for the group and a time for the McGregor Director, Steve McMullen, to make announcements and answer questions.

Fellowships will be announced before spring break.

Summer Schedule: Between June 3 and August 2, 2013 McGregor scholars and their faculty mentors will work closely together on their specific projects. In addition, scholars will attend twice-weekly lunchtime seminars. The Monday series (led by the McGregor faculty mentors) is designed to introduce students to the life of a scholar, ranging from what to expect in graduate school, to the meaning of Christian scholarship, to specific research methodologies. On Wednesdays, students will meet with director Steve McMullen for an informal discussion of readings related to Christian life in the academy. Faculty mentors are encouraged to join these discussions. There will be also be a couple of social events for students and faculty over the course of the summer.

Previous Fellows/Faculty:

2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999

Other Resources
McGregor program director responsibilities