Clarence S. Stein Institute Grant Application Period Opens January 15

Historic marker sign for Greenbelt, Maryland, with a street behind it and trees in bloom
Plaque commemorating the establishment of Greenbelt in 1937. photo / The Cultural Landscape Foundation
brick apartment buildings with trees and two people walking along the sidewalk
The Lathrop Homes in on the north side of Chicago are the site of research complete by a Stein grant recipient in 2018. photo / Alan Scott Walker from Wikipedia Commons
Plaque commemorating the establishment of Greenbelt in 1937. photo / The Cultural Landscape Foundation The Lathrop Homes in on the north side of Chicago are the site of research complete by a Stein grant recipient in 2018. photo / Alan Scott Walker from Wikipedia Commons
News
December 21, 2018

The Clarence S. Stein Institute for Urban and Landscape Studies at Cornell AAP will open the 2019 grant funding application period on January 15. Grant funding is intended to support scholarship in the fields of urban and regional planning, historic preservation, landscape architecture, and urban design.

"For almost 25 years, the Clarence Stein Institute has supported cutting-edge research in the history and theory of planning, architecture, and landscape architecture related to Stein's work and ideas," says Jeffrey Chusid, chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning where the Stein Institute is housed. "It is hard to overstate Stein's own contributions to modernist visions for housing, green communities, and regional planning. The breadth of Stein's interests has allowed the institute to fund projects from symposia to exhibitions to books, by students and advanced scholars from around the world, on a wide range of important issues."

The Stein Institute, created in 1994 with an endowment provided by Stein's widow, Aline MacMahon Stein, was revamped in early 2018. Programming changes included increasing the number of grant categories from three to four and adding a graduate student fellowship and an annual named lecture. The inaugural Clarence Stein Lecture was presented in March 2018 by Damon Rich of the design firm Hector. Rich, a recent MacArthur Fellow, along with partner Jae Shin, also critiqued work from several urban and community design classes and Cornell’s winning Urban Land Institute Gerald D. Hines Student Competition team.

The 2018 grant cycle awarded more than $100,000 in grants to studies of Irvine, California; new towns in Morocco; Tennessee Valley Authority landscapes; the work of landscape architect Warren Manning; access to school, food, and healthcare along an urban/rural gradient; Lathrop Homes in Chicago; and the preparation of historical documentation for the HABS/HAER/CRGIS programs for the Garden Cities of Clarence Stein.

Grant Categories

Applicants are invited to apply to one of the four funding categories:

  • Category A: Support for Senior Scholarly Research: Grants support scholarly research by faculty and advanced doctoral students from any academic institution as well as independent scholars with an advanced degree. Proposals should substantively address the work and/or ideas of Clarence Stein as expressed in his book, Toward New Towns for America. The maximum grant under category A is $20,000.
  • Category B: Support for Student Research: Grants support research by undergraduate and graduate students from any academic institution around the world. These grants can also be used to support collaborative research between faculty, students, and outside experts in urban and landscape studies. Proposals should substantively address the work and/or ideas of Clarence Stein as expressed in his book, Toward New Towns for America. The maximum grant under category B is $10,000.
  • Category C: Support for Modernist Sites: Grants support the preservation and functionality of buildings or communities either designed by Clarence Stein or strongly utilizing his ideas; or for short courses or training workshops at/or about Stein sites based on his ideas or pressing preservation issues. Applications from educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, as well as individuals with an affiliation with existing modernist sites, are welcome under this category. The maximum grant under category C is $10,000; a cash or in-kind match is encouraged.
  • Graduate Fellowship Support for a Prospective Student: Each year, one individual who is applying to the Master of Regional Planning (M.R.P.) program at Cornell will be offered a graduate fellowship. The student is required to apply to the M.R.P. program through the graduate school website and the fellowship is an award that is part of the admission package. The fellow's responsibilities include research and administrative support for the Stein Institute and its programs. The fellowship will total approximately $15,000 in stipend, health benefits, and tuition support for one year.

The application period will end on March 15, and all applications must be submitted online. Please contact steininstitute@cornell.edu with any application questions or concerns.

By Rebecca Bowes

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