Anthropology masters' candidates receiving awards include Stephan Lenik, who will spend June on the Caribbean island of St. Croix excavating a slave cemetery to study the cultural significance of the funeral ceremonies and cemeteries of enslaved Africans; Jennifer Wendeln, who will conduct fieldwork in West Africa analyzing the production and marketing of shea butter as a reflection of rural women's economy in Ghana; and Audrey Dawson, whose thesis research will take her to Guadeloupe for a second summer studying the establishment of plantations and the creation of a cultural landscape in the French West Indies.

History doctoral students receiving awards are Jonathan Wes Gantt, who will travel to conduct dissertation research focusing on the impact of Irish terrorism on American international relations between the Civil War and World War I; and

Melissa Jane Taylor, who will use her funding to participate in a tour of Jewish cultural heritage and Holocaust sites in Eastern Europe for background on her dissertation on Jewish immigration to the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.

Government and international studies doctoral candidate Sam-Sang Jo will use his award to interview government officials in the European Union and the various national governments of Europe as part of his dissertation studying crisis resolution and the decision-making process in the EU.

Marine science undergraduates Brandy Glett and Laurel Stanko will use their awards to study Russian language and culture as part of their participation in an ongoing USC research project on the Lena River delta in the Russian Arctic.

Competitions are held by the institute for three different student grants and awards: the Ceny Walker Graduate Research Fellowship for field research for Ph.D. or master's candidates; the Ceny Walker Undergraduate Fellowship to defray the cost of tuition and books for a rising senior who demonstrates a commitment to international study; and the Walker Institute of International Studies International Experience Award, which funds research into international and cross-cultural issues by undergraduates and graduate students.

The Ceny Walker Awards are given each spring. The International Experience Awards, a new award category this year, will be awarded during both the fall and spring semesters in future years. For information on the awards visit the institute's Web site at www.cla.sc.edu/IIS/index.html.

04/03