Travel Pizes

The department offers two annual travel prizes that enable rising seniors to pursue art historical research and study abroad, enriching their academic experience through firsthand engagement with art and culture.

The Stark Travel Prize

This prize supports travel exclusively within Europe, funded through the generosity of the Stark family. It encourages students to deepen their understanding of European art and cultural heritage through direct experience. Preference goes to those who have not traveled extensively overseas.

Art History Travel Prize

This prize supports travel anywhere in the world, thanks to generous support from Art History alumni. Students may propose research, fieldwork, or museum studies that align with their academic interests, expanding their engagement with art and cultural heritage beyond Europe.

Application Guidelines 

  • Essay (one to two pages, double-spaced): Describe your planned research project. Build on material studied in a Fordham art history course. Explain how travel will deepen your understanding. Include a detailed itinerary, specifying sites and museums you plan to visit, and outline your timeline.

  • Budget: Estimate roundtrip airfare, local transportation, lodging, and daily food expenses.

Calls for proposals go out in December. Students use the funds during spring break or summer. The application deadline for the 2026 award is February 31, 2026. For a sample essay, email Angela Michalski.

  • 2025 Hannah Darnell, FCRH '26
    2023 Annika Suderburg, FCLC '24
    2020 Mina Marciano, FCRH '21 and Liam Otero, FCRH '21
    2019 Shannon Zipfel, FCRH '21
    2018 Hannah Lawson, FCLC '20
    2017 Alayna Putterman, FCRH '18
    2016 Gabriella Costa, FCRH '17
    2015 Allison Burns, FCRH '16
    2014 Elizabeth Zhangi, FCRH ‘15
    2013 Kathleen Emerson, FCRH ‘14
    2012 Janine Vicente, FCLC ‘13
    2011 Rebecca Decker, FCLC ‘12 and Mechella Yezernitskaya, FCLC ‘12
    2010 Karolina Chojnowska, FCLC ‘11
    2009 Simone Mitton , FCLC ‘10
    2008 Christina Healy, FCRH ‘09
    2007 Michaela Ward , FCRH ‘08
    2006 Michelle Pastor, FCRH ‘07
    2005 Stephanie Luther, FCRH ‘06
    2004 Martha Clippinger, FCRH ‘05
    2003 Kerin Sulock, FCRH ‘03 (Fall)
    2002 Erin G. O'Donnell, FCRH ‘02
    2000 Jennifer Godlewski, FCRH ‘01
    1999 Keira Dillon, FCRH ’00
    1997 Dan Favata, FCRH ’98
    1996 Otto Luna, FCRH ’97
    1995 Jane Haag, FCRH ’96

  • 2025 Walker Harris, FCLC '26
    2024 Victoria Waller, FCLC '25
    2023 Alivia Chinsio, FCLC '24

Stark Prize Benefactors

Portrait of Werner and Kate Stark, benefactors of the Stark Prize. Their generous support established the award to advance student scholarship in the arts.
Werner Stark (1909-1985) was born in Marienbad, Bohemia, then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now the Czech Republic). He received his higher education at the University of Hamburg, writing his doctoral thesis on Economics and Sociology. Kate Stark (née Franck) (1908-1992) was born in Hamburg, Germany. Kate was unusual for the times in that she also enrolled at the University and wrote a doctoral thesis on French history. Werner and Kate met as students, married in 1933, and settled in Prague, where Werner was a lecturer at the Prague School of Political Science and also worked for the Bohemian Union Bank as an historian of agriculture. When Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and began the persecution of Jews, Werner and Kate realized that they had to leave. Werner applied for help from a private English foundation, the Society for the Protection Of Science and Learning, an organization founded in 1933 to assist academics who were forced to flee Nazi regimes in Europe. The Society obtained a visa for him and awarded a minimal grant for living expenses. He arrived in England in late July 1939, just before the start of WW2.  Kate followed him a few weeks later, escaping on the last train crossing Germany for the channel ports just as the war began. Werner had university appointments at Cambridge, Edinburgh and Manchester. During the war, Werner was in the British army, serving as an intelligence officer interrogating German POWs. While in Cambridge,  Kate and Werner converted to Catholicism. In Cambridge, he met J.M. Keynes, who counseled Werner on developing his manuscript submissions to academic journals. His scholarly publications on social and political theory became known to Fr. Joseph Fitzpatrick, S.J., who invited Werner to come to Fordham, where he was appointed to a professorship in the Sociology department from 1962-75. At Fordham, the Starks found a congenial academic atmosphere and were welcomed warmly by the community. Werner continued his prolific scholarship and authorship of works in classic Sociology-inter alia- The Sociology of Religion (5 vols., 1966–72) and The Social Bond (6 vols., 1976–87) and mentored a diverse group of graduate students. The Starks had an abiding interest in and knowledge of classic European Art and became friends with Irma Jaffe, the founding chairman of the Art History department. One of their greatest pleasures was visiting museums and churches wherever their travels took them. The Starks’ gratitude to Fordham, their love of art, and their desire to encourage young scholars in the field of art history led to the establishment of the Stark Prize. After Werner's retirement from Fordham, the Starks moved to Salzburg, Austria, where Werner was given an honorary appointment at the University and a small office. They were welcomed and esteemed by the Sociology faculty and the community there, and that is where they were laid to rest.