Announcements

A Letter of Intent is required for those of you - individuals or teams - who plan to submit a proposal for undertaking a Project for Peace. The letter of intent is due on January 14, 2008. Keep in mind that this is DURING Tufts' winter break! An accompanying Letter of Commitment from all organizations that will function as partners in the implementation of the proposed project must also be submitted. For more information on how to write these requirements, check out these guidelines.

About

Tufts University is proud to take part in Kathryn Wasserman Davis' 100 Projects for Peace program for 2008. Undergraduates at the 76 colleges and universities around the country who are part of the Davis United World College Scholars Program are being asked to design grassroots projects for peace, each of which will be funded with $10,000.

As the 100 Projects for Peace website puts it, the objective is to encourage and support today’s motivated youth to create and tryout their own ideas for building peace in the 21st century.

Each proposed project will be submited to a local review committee. Each participating university will nominate its first choice, which will then receive $10,000 of funding from the national program after confirmation by the Davis World College Scholars Program. Tufts will also be forwarding the second and third ranked proposals which will compete for the remaining 24 awards.

Students interested in competing for the $10,000 funding need to prepare a short project proposal. The proposal must include no more than two pages of narrative, plus a one-page budget. Proposals may be submitted by individuals or by groups. They may be conducted with or without a community partner. Proposals are due January 22, 2008.

The winning peace projects will be carried out during the summer of 2008, and a final report on those projects will be due on September 15, 2008.

What constitutes a peace project?

The best way to answer this question is to review the successful peace projects from the 2007 competition. For Tufts' winning project, see www.therisingtidekiribati.org, and click here to download the proposal. Additional information and inspiration can be found on the resource page.

Interested in making a project proposal? These are the selection criteria for proposals:

• a clear description of the project (who, what, where, how?);
• an explanation of how the project contributes to peace;
• an explanation of how the project meets a clearly specified need;
• the qualifications and resources of the individual/group submitting the project;
• a clear description of expected outcomes and means of self-assessment as the project proceeds;
• any project involving an outside party or organization(s) should attach a letter of commitment from that organization.

Writing such an extensive proposal in only two pages is certainly a challenge. In order to facilitate the process, Tufts has created a Development Committee for students. Assistant Director of the Peace and Justice Studies program Dale Bryan and Assistant Director of International Relations Kirk Lange will co-chair the committee.

For more advice on how to write a proposal, check out the resource page.

How will the proposals be evaluated?

The first stage of proposal review will be conducted anonymously. Proposals should be submitted with a cover sheet which will be detached from the proposals before review. In the second stage, the Tufts Selection Committee will interview the selected finalists in early February.

The members of the Tufts Selection Committee are Nancy Wilson (Tisch College), Professor Modhumita Roy (English/Women's Studies), Sherman Teichman (Institute for Global Leadership), Jennifer Simons (Admissions), Laura Rotolo (Tufts Alumna) and Professor Paul Joseph (Sociology/Peace and Justice Studies). Please do not ask any member of this committee for advice as you develop your proposal.

Questions? Visit the 100 Projects for Peace website or e-mail pjs@tufts.edu. You can also check out the FAQ section of the 100 Projects for Peace website here.

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