Monastic Studies Grant

ABA members are invited to apply for funds to support projects which foster the objectives of the American Benedictine Academy: "to cultivate, support and transmit the Benedictine heritage within contemporary culture." Grant support may be used for research, travel, or other modes of exploring and promoting the Benedictine heritage. It may also be used for travel expenses and registration fees for the purpose of presenting a scholarly paper on a monastic topic related to the Benedictine heritage at a scholarly convention. A total of $3,000 is available to fund these grants.

Applicants, who must be members of the ABA, will be selected on the basis of:

* The quality of their proposal (originality, feasibility, clarity of purpose)
* Potential benefit for monastics, and
* Relevance to the purposes of the Academy

Recipients of grants support must be willing to submit a report on the use of the grant and/or brief summary of the topic of the scholarly paper to the ABA Board of Directors within one year from the completion of the project/ presentation of the paper for which the grant was given.

Applications must be received by December 31, 1999. Recipients will be chosen by the ABA Awards Committee and approved by the ABA Board of Directors at their winter meeting (January 2000) and announced immediately thereafter.

To apply for a grant you may either supply the following information listed or write for an application form. Applications should include:

Name
Address
Phone
Religious or Academic Affiliation (if any)

Proposed Project:
Goal
Description of Project

Budget (Please itemize):
1. Total cost of project
2. Sources of funding other than the ABA
3. Sum requested from the ABA

Completed grant applications or requests for application forms should be sent to the following address:

Junior Essay Competition

Purpose

- To foster use of local archives in monastic communities

- To develop interest in local history and tradition

- To acquaint young monastics with the history of the community, the purposes and personalities of its founders, significant events, developments, and challenges in the community

- To encourage the collection of personal memoirs

- To stimulate interest in and study of monastic history

Project Requirements

The essay must be an historical or biographical study centered in the junior monastic's own monastery and utilizing archival material. The paper should be 2,000-2,500 words in length, typewritten or computer generated, double-spaced.

PRIZE

The winner of the Junior Essay Competition will be awarded:

A two-year membership in ABA

A waiver of registration and hospitality fees for the 2000 ABA Convention

A book of interest to monastics

Information to Accompany Essay

Name

Community name, address, phone and fax numbers

Personal address (if different from above)

Current status (pre-novitiate, novitiate, temporarily professed)

Title of essay

All essays must be received by Monday, March 6, 2000. The winner will be announced by April 15, 2000.

How to Participate

Send essay and the above information to the address below:

Placid Solari, OSB
Belmont Abbey
Belmont, NC 28012
Phone: (704) 825-6728; Fax: (704) 825-6670
E-mail: placid@crusader.bac.edu

ABA Convention 2000

"The Good News of Monastic Life:
Reading the Signs of the Times"

August 10-13, 2000

St. Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, IN