The deadline for this year’s Coffin Fellowship, which supports travel abroad for secondary school Latin teachers, is Friday, February 26, 2021 (5PM EST) . The amount of the fellowship this year is $3,500. Applicants do not have to be SCS members and the fellowship winner will be able to defer use of the fellowship until 2022 if necessary.
In 2021 the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) will again award the David D. and Rosemary H. Coffin Fellowship for study and travel in classical lands. The Fellowship was established in 2004 by the friends and students of David and Rosemary Coffin to honor the skill, devotion, learning, and kindness with which they educated students at Phillips Exeter Academy for more than thirty years.
The Fellowship is intended to recognize secondary-school teachers of Greek or Latin who are as dedicated to their students as the Coffins themselves by giving them the opportunity to enrich their teaching and their lives through direct acquaintance with the classical world. It will support study in classical lands (not limited to Greece and Italy); the recipient may use it to attend an educational program in (e.g. American Academy, American School) or to undertake an individual plan of study or research. It may be used either for summer study or during a sabbatical leave, and it may be used to supplement other awards or prizes. Because of the pandemic, the fellowship winner in 2021 will be allowed to defer the award if necessary.
Candidates for the Fellowship must have been teaching Latin or Ancient Greek at the secondary level (grades 9-12) in North America as a significant part of their academic responsibilities for three years out of the five prior to the award. Membership in the SCS is not a requirement for application, although it is expected that applicants will have demonstrated an active interest in the profession and in their own professional development. Selection will be made on the basis of written applications by the Coffin Fellowship Committee. The amount of the award for 2021 will be $3,500. Recipients of the award will be expected to file a written report on their use of the Fellowship, which the Society may include in one of its publications. Please also note that until further notice, proposals to attend programs run by the Paideia Institute will not be eligible.
Applications should consist of a) a curriculum vitae; b) a statement of how the Fellowship will be used and how it will further the applicant’s teaching; c) three letters of recommendation, at least one of them from the applicant’s chair or principal, and at least one from a former student. All application materials should be sent as e-mail attachments to the Executive Director of the SCS, Dr. Helen Cullyer at xd@classicalstudies.org. The Subject line of each e-mail message should read as follows: “Coffin Fellowship Application – [Name of Candidate]”. The applicant should submit the curriculum vitae and statement; the three referees should submit their letters directly. All materials must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Friday, February 26, 2021.