Travel Awards submissions are now being accepted!

The Southwest Popular/American Culture Association (SWPACA) is pleased to offer travel awards for students and contingent faculty. For other funding opportunities, see our Graduate Student Paper Awards.

Heldrich-Dvorak Student Travel Awards

Travel awards are given in honor of our late Executive Director, Phil Heldrich, and previous Treasurer, Ken Dvorak, whose tireless efforts to the SWPACA made it a conference dedicated to the professional development and support of graduate students. The award supports participation in this professional conference by assisting in the conference expenses of graduate students and undergraduate students who have demonstrated their commitment to present their own scholarly research (many for the first time) at our conference.

For the 2024 Conference, SWPACA will offer a limited number of student travel assistance awards; each award includes free registration and one hotel night at the Marriott Albuquerque where the conference takes place.

Student Travel Awards Application Guidelines

• Applicants must enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate degree granting program at an institution of higher education at the time of the conference.
• Applicants must have a proposal accepted for presentation at the SWPACA conference.
• As part of the application, students will be required to provide contact information for a reference (professor, department chair, graduate studies coordinator, academic advisor, etc.) who can attest to that person’s status at their university or college and any additional department funding the applicant may be receiving for conference expenses.
  
• Graduate students who have applied for a paper award are also eligible to apply for a travel fellowship, though they may only win one award.
• Applications for these awards are due December 15, 2023.
• As a condition of award acceptance, winners of the travel assistance awards must attend the conference’s Awards Ceremony where the Peter C. Rollins Book Award, Graduate Student Paper Awards, and Travel Awards will be announced. The travel award winners will be notified on or shortly after January 1, 2024.

Karen Dvorak Memorial Travel Award for Contingent Faculty

An inaugural award will be given for contingent faculty in honor of Karen Dvorak, who was a champion of helping others. Karen’s long work history includes 30 years of service in the Air National Guard, as well as with the New Mexico’s Office of the Public Defender.
Karen was a long-time support of the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association, in conjunction with her husband Ken, who served as Secretary/Treasurer for the organization for many years.

For the 2024 Conference, SWPACA will offer one contingent faculty travel assistance award, which includes free registration and one hotel night at the Marriott Albuquerque where the conference takes place.

Contingent Faculty Travel Award Application Guidelines

• Applicants must be in a part-time or full-time non-tenured track teaching role at an institution of higher education on a limited or short-term commitment of one year or less
• Applicants cannot be a graduate student at the time of the conference.
• Applicants must have a proposal accepted for presentation at the SWPACA conference.
• As part of the application, applicants will be required to provide contact information for a reference (department administrator) who can attest to that person’s status at their university or college and any additional department funding the applicant may be receiving for conference expenses.
• Applications for this award are due December 15, 2023.
• As a condition of award acceptance, the winner of the travel assistance award must attend the conference’s Awards Ceremony where the Peter C. Rollins Book Award, Graduate Student Paper Awards, and Travel Awards will be announced. The travel award winner will be notified on or shortly after January 1, 2024.

Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau Travel Award

Made possible through a generous donation from the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau, this travel award is available to contingent faculty who apply for the Karen Dvorak Travel Award as well as graduate and undergraduate students who apply for a Heldrich-Dvorak Travel Award. In the spirit of our adopted home, the recipient of this award will be a scholar whose accepted proposal focuses on some aspect of the American Southwest.

Questions:

Kathleen Lacey
Area Chair, Professional Development, & Awards Coordinator, SWPACA
klacey@southwestpca.org