Sample Lewis Cotlow Fund Proposals

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Sample Lewis N. Cotlow Fund Proposals

Here are a few sample Cotlow proposals that were funded in recent years, posted to give students an idea of what a winning proposal looks like. Some inessential sections have been removed, but the substance is unchanged. They are in PDF format.

Please be aware that none of these proposals received perfect scores in all categories. For the best information on how to write an excellent proposal, students should consult with faculty mentors and read through the Cotlow Workshop slides.

To view all proposals funded in the history of the program, click here.

Year	Recipient, Degree Program	Location	Project Proposal

Undergraduate Proposals: B.A. Candidates

2007	Margaret Artz BA Intl Aff	South Africa (Winterveldt)	Assessment of Youth Theatre as a Force for Social Change in South Africa Since 2003, theatre has been used to create a dialogue about important social problems at the Bokomoso Youth Center in the rural town of Winterveldt, South Africa. By tapping into the rich cultural tradition of performance arts that characterizes this region, theatre provides a mechanism by which youth participants can better communicate about, cope with, and reduce social problems that they experience in everyday life. This proposed study will investigate the perceptions of participants in the theatre program about the value of the program to them. It is based on 4 1/2-6 weeks of participant observation and focused interviews in Winterveldt. The project will contribute to an emerging and important area in performance studies that focuses on social justice and activism. Hide Abstract
2007	Geoffrey Cain BA Anth & Intl Aff	Cambodia (Stung Mean Chey)	Poverty, Free Markets, and the Body as Commodity: Rumors of Transplant Tourism and Organ Stealing in a Phnom Penh Suburb
2006	John Curran BA Anth	United States (Boston)	Ideological Diversity in the Language of Massachusetts Judges’ Jury Instructions: An Ethnography of Legal Discourse
2007	Lauren Deal BA Anth	Argentina (Buenos Aires), United States (Washington, DC)	Doe, a Deer -- A Female Deer: Figurative Language and Vocal Pedagogy in the United States and Argentina
2007	Heather Hwalek BA Intl Aff	Jordan (Amman)	For the Love of Strangers: Food Habits and Hospitality in Jordan
2009	Mark Smith BA Anth	United States (Washington, DC, and New York City)	Human Asexual Marginality: Online Communities, Discourse, and the Shaping of Daily Life in America
2006	Dana Thomson BA Intl Aff	United States (Washington, DC)	Comparative Study of Two HIV/AIDS Care Organizations in Washington, DC
2009	Kristina Zarenko BA Intl Aff & Anth	United States (Washington, DC, & Pittsburgh, PA)	"It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It": Identity Politics in West Coast Swing Dancing and Lindy Hop

Undergraduate Proposals: B.S. Candidates

2009	Helen Alesbury BS Bio Anth & BA Arch	United States (New York City, Washington, DC)	Age at Death Estimation Using the Frontonasal Suture in Human Skeletal Remains
2009	Katherine Schuhmacher BS Bio Anth	Brazil (Piauí)	Influence of Efficient Tool-Use on Social Rank in Two Groups of Tufted Capuchins
2006	Lia Schwartz BS Bio Anth	South Africa (Phalaborwa)	A Behavioral Comparison of Peer Interactions in Orphaned and Non-Orphaned Chacma Baboons

Master's Student Proposals

2009	Hermon Farahi MA Anth	Morocco (Tangier)	Sub-Saharan African Transit Migration: The Fragmented Path to Europe via Morocco
2007	Robin Freeman MA Anth	United States (Virginia)	Language Interrupted: Augmentative Technologies and Cultural Constructions of "Normalcy"
2009	Matthew LeDuc MA Anth	United States (Washington, DC, and Flagstaff, AZ)	Hopi Perspectives on Identity, Traditional Culture, and the Preservation of Intangible Heritage
2009	Maureen Moodie MA Anth	United States (San Francisco)	Progressive Self-Fashioning in the Era of Transnational Social Activism: Fair Trade Organizations in San Francisco
2007	Nadia Rahman MA Anth	Bangladesh (Dhaka)	Authoritative Knowledge and Local Women’s Knowledge: A Focus on the Reproductive Health Initiatives of ICDDR/B
2006	Bonnie Richard MA Anth	India (Delhi & Leh)	The Changing Cultural Outlook on Disability in Ladakh, India
2007	Claire Selsky MA Latin Amer Studies	United States (Washington, DC)	Life, Latinos and the Pursuit of Healthiness: Health Care Experiences of Latinos in Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC
2009	Sophie Thibodeau MA Anth	United States (Annapolis, MD)	Women's Perceptions of Prenatal Education Programs in a Medicalized and Multicultural Context in Maryland

Doctoral Student Proposals

2007	Janine Chalk PhD Hom Paleo	Brazil (Gilbues, Piauí)	Mechanical Properties of Diet in Bearded Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus libidinosus) in Piauí, Brazil
2003	Paul Constantino PhD Hom Paleo	Kenya (Nairobi), United States (Washington, DC)	Comparative Evolutionary Ecomorphology of the Hypertrophic Masticatory Functional Complex
2007	Nicole Griffin PhD Hom Paleo	Belgium (Antwerp)	Hominid Forefoot Kinematics, Kinetics, and Bone Architecture
2006	Catherine Haradon PhD Hom Paleo	South Africa (Florisbad)	Pilot Study of South African Middle Pleistocene Fossil Assemblages
2009	Katherine Schroer PhD Hom Paleo	Germany (Leipzig, Berlin)	Developmental Process of Molarization in Pliocene Hominins