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The Society for Classical Studies (SCS) and the Women’s Classical Caucus (WCC) would like to announce the creation of the SCS-WCC COVID-19 Relief Fund, a new award fund to support classicists, particularly graduate students and contingent faculty, experiencing precarity as a result of the pandemic. Applicants do not have to be current members of the SCS or WCC but do need to be currently active scholars or graduate students who study the ancient Mediterranean world. We know that what we can offer is unlikely to match the needs arising from the crisis, but we hope that these microgrants can give immediate, unrestricted financial support.

Awards from this fund will be provided to offer quick relief, based on need, in amounts up to $500. Every award recipient will also receive a free one-year membership in the WCC and the SCS. Awards will be disbursed on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to those with the greatest need, particularly those who have lost funding, paid work, or access to essential research resources as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. We anticipate several rounds of grants, but the initial set of COVID-19 Relief Awards will come from a jointly managed SCS-WCC fund with seed money in the amount of $15,000 (previously earmarked to support travel and services related to summer activities and FemCon 2020).

To sustain this fund into the future, we would also gratefully welcome donations to this new fund from more financially secure members of our community and anyone who simply has a little more and would like to support others who have less. If you would like to contribute to this fund, you can click here to donate via SCS or click here to donate via WCC. Your support, in any amount, would be greatly appreciated.

We encourage anybody in need who studies the ancient Mediterranean world and is based in North America to apply, including those working on Classics-related projects. To apply for this funding, please click here to complete a simple form, which will ask for the following information:

  • Your contact information, including a mailing address and your payment preference (mailed check or electronic payment)
  • Your current or most recent institutional affiliation
  • Brief details of your situation, including the following information:
    • Current status and employment (e.g. ABD student, 2nd year graduate student, Visiting Assistant Professor, independent scholar, etc.)
    • Basis of need (e.g. you lost employment or are between jobs; you expected to have free room and board on a summer dig, etc.)
    • Amount requested and intended use (e.g. rent, groceries, babysitting, research material or technology, internet upgrade, convert a project into a digital medium, etc.)
    • Urgency of need (i.e. when the money would be most useful)
    • Other funds available, received, or due to you (e.g. you applied for relief funds through your university but the decision is pending; please include any relevant dates)

A special committee jointly appointed by the SCS and WCC will review applications monthly and start distributing funds as soon as possible. The goal is to distribute awards by the 20th of each month for as many months as needed or until funds run out. All details will be treated as confidential. Payments will be made by check or PayPal, and funds are unrestricted. You may apply more than once, but priority will be given to those in the greatest need who have not yet received an award.

Helen Cullyer Lisl Walsh and Serena Witzke

Executive Director, SCS Co-Chairs, WCC Steering Committee