The Maes Travel Scholarship

a beautiful hillside topped with a European castle next to a river

a view of Mt Fuji in Japan with traditional red pagoda building in foreground

a bird's eye view of a European capital city with old buildings and narrow streets

What should my application look like?

Applicants should submit a narrative describing the travel plan and the language and cultural objectives for the trip.

Your narrative should answer questions like:

What is your destination? Why did you choose it?
What do you hope to gain from this experience?
What is the length of your proposed travel? (10-14 days recommended)
Which specific places and sites will you visit, and when? What will you do there?

You should also include a preliminary budget that includes the estimated costs for travel, meals, lodging, and project-specific expenses for the duration of the travel. - please save a copy, fill out, and submit a PDF of your completed budget with your application.
Be sure you also upload a copy of your most recent grade report (official transcript not required).

Where and when should I send my application?

Please fill out this by Friday, March 5, 2027. Please note that incomplete applications will NOT be considered.

What else do I need to know?

Funds allow only one or two awards per year for 10-14 days of travel. Please plan and budget accordingly.

The scholarship is competitive, but don�t let that stop you from applying!

Funding for successful applications is contingent upon clearance from the International Programs Office. Find more details and samples of successful applications.

Upon return, awardees are expected to share photos and videos from their trip, as well as a short reflection on their experiences. If possible, former awardees may also be invited to speak on campus about their travels.

What if I have more questions?

Feel free to email the committee chair at lopezmartin@oxy.edu.

Student Testimonials

Discovering Ancient Greece

By Anna Beatty

Majors: Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture, Chinese Studies Minor: linguistics

A female 91�� student poses near the ruins of an ancient Greek temple

When I began my studies at Occidental, I did not imagine myself so easily swept up and enthralled by the richness and complexity of Ancient Greek language and culture. Already fluent in Mandarin, I assumed my studies and focus in the Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture (CSLC) Department would be centered around Chinese. However, after taking Elementary Greek, I immediately knew I wanted to dedicate the rest of my time at 91�� studying the Ancient Greeks.

Courtesy of generous funds from The Maes Travel Scholarship, I had the opportunity to travel to Greece to visit cultural landmarks and archeological sites I studied in my CSLC classes.

A female 91�� student stands in front of the ruins of an ancient Greek temple

The most significant ruin I had the privilege of seeing was The Archaeological Site of Delphi. About three hours northwest of Athens, Delphi was considered the �navel� � ὀμφᾰλός � of Earth. Standing at the foot of the Temple of Apollo in 90-degree heat, even thousands of years later, I felt the wrath of the gods and goddesses I had so closely read in Homer Iliad and Odyssey.

Outside the temple, an inscription read, �ΔΕΛΦΟΙ ΕΔΩΚΑΝ ΧΙΟΙΣ ΠΡΟΜΑΝΤΕΙΗΝ,� (Delphoi edokan Chiois promanteien), stating that the people of Delphi had granted the people of the island Chios the privilege of consulting the oracle first. It felt as if I was walking amongst the most influential gods and political figures of the ancient West.

Overlooking Athens from the Acropolis, or what remains of it, I stood mesmerized by a city that seamlessly blends the ancient and modern worlds. At this point, I was emotional, reflecting on my time at 91��. As my eyes fixated on the same wine-red sea Odysseus braves in The Odyssey, I could not help but be thankful for my own journeys I had taken to get to that moment. If I had not taken a chance on Classics and the Ancient Greeks, I would not have been able to open my world and heart to Greece.

A female 91�� student stands smiling in front of an ancient theater in Greece

Theater, History, and Politics in Berlin

By Pika Whitman

Major: Theater & Performance Studies Minors: German, Religious Studies

The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a historic neoclassical monument, stands tall against a clear blue sky

With support from the Emma Maes Scholarship, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in Berlin theatrical and cultural life, exploring how performance can connect historical memory with contemporary political questions. As a Theater major with a double minor in German and Religious Studies, I was especially interested in how Berlin theater scene could mirror Germany current political landscape. The art around us shapes our collective identity, and strong art challenges learned narratives and invites audiences to reconsider their relationship with themselves and the past. This experience was also personal, as my mother is German, and traveling through Berlin gave me an opportunity to engage more deeply with the culture and history that have shaped my upbringing.

A theatrical stage lined with actors in colorful clothing. Sign above stage reads "Kit Kat Klub"

One of the most memorable parts of my trip was seeing Cabaret performed in Berlin. Set during the final years of the Weimar Republic, as the Nazi Party was gaining power, the musical explores political instability, artistic and sexual freedom, and the gradual normalization of extremism. Watching this story in Germany, amid the electoral rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), gave the production particular resonance. Although present day Germany is distinct from Weimar Germany, I reflected on how theater can illuminate the past. The performance reminded me that history is not simply something we study retrospectively as it can provide a framework for examining the choices societies face today.

A historic US Army checkpoint in the city of Berlin, featuring a plaque

I was particularly struck by the production linguistic choices. Most of the musical was performed in German, while the opening number, �Willkommen,� and songs like �Money� and �Mein Herr� remained in English. As a German student, I found this contrast fascinating. The German dialogue grounded the performance in the language of the city where the story unfolds, while Cliff, the main character, is American. This created an uncanny effect, as many of the show themes revolve around isolation and otherness. While the English language songs created moments of familiarity within an otherwise different linguistic experience, they felt out of place. Which audience was this production catering to? I began thinking about translation as an artistic choice; what changes when a work crosses linguistic boundaries, and what remains recognizable? Language shapes an audience relationship to a story. I could understand a fair amount of German, but wondered how the experience would land for an English speaker. Seeing Cabaret in Berlin allowed me to reflect on translation not simply as an exchange of words, but as a theatrical decision that can reshape meaning. My Religious Studies coursework also informed my perspective. Studying how communities construct identities and preserve traditions encouraged me to think critically about the stories societies tell about themselves.

Ultimately, the Emma Maes Scholarship allowed me to connect my academic interests with direct cultural experience. Seeing theater in Berlin deepened my understanding of performance as a means of engaging with history, language, and politics. The experience strengthened my desire to create and participate in theater that challenges audiences to examine their world, while giving me a richer understanding of German cultural history that connects my studies with my own background.

From Page to Place: Walking through Ireland Stories

By Julia Carrigan

Major: Media Arts & Culture minors: mathematics, Comparative Studies in Literature & Culture

On a windy July afternoon this Summer, I took a ferry to Dublin, Ireland, thinking of my great-great-grandmother who once crossed the other way. She fled from famine; I rushed to the joyful culmination of years of study. I�ve never known so many centuries to fit into two weeks. I felt very young and very old.

Swept into the power of the long Irish literary tradition that I studied at 91��, I began walking into the stories I�d once only read. Encounters felt plagiarized from a page. I stepped over �the loose cellar-flap of number seventyfive,� fitting my feet into Leopold Bloom fictional footprints. I bouldered up the wall of an abandoned castle in a town that bears my family name. I walked past the very potholes of my favorite poem by Seamus Heaney so I could sit by his grave. I saw landscapes out of Martin McDonough movies, a wacky production of The Importance of Being Earnest, a painting by Jack Yeats that looked like me. I thought a lot about Jesus (peace be upon him) and I spoke with many of him: a church caretaker who loves our American president, a Korean tourist insistent on my assent to various Christian creeds, a houseless woman who sang me a song she wrote about him.

It wasn�t all sun & roses. In fact, it was cold and rained a lot, but that didn�t seem to bother anyone. Now that I�m finally back in LA, I relish our immutable weather but feel wary of our immutable present: people here trying so hard to be new. And you can count me amongst them� turning those old Irish ideas into a spangly screenplay, eating my vegan cake too.

I felt Irish. I felt American. I felt, almost embarrassingly, like an archetype of 91�� global citizen. But mostly I felt like a person in time; in Seamus� words: �a hurry through which known and strange things pass.�

Peace, Environmental Stewardship and Pura Vida Ethos in Costa Rica

By Julián Villa

Majors: Diplomacy & World Affairs, Spanish Studies

With support from the Emma Maes Scholarship, I had the opportunity to explore Costa Rica pura vida culture, including its legacy as one of the few countries in the world without a standing army. As a Diplomacy and World Affairs major, I was especially drawn to apply my Spanish skills and learn about Costa Rica unique example of peace and pura vida as a form of norm entrepreneurship on the world stage. One of the most memorable parts of my trip was visiting the Museo Nacional in San José, which is housed in the former army barracks decommissioned after Costa Rica abolished its military in 1948.

color composite image of eight artworks cropped to fit a long rectangle — Public display of a 1986 speech from President Jose Figueres Ferrer �in commemoration of the abolition of Costa Rica military.� Across San José, encounters with art and signage offered natural opportunities to practice Spanish in public-facing contexts.

In the Museo Nacional, the chance to walk through both fortress tunnels and gallery rooms brought the country historical trajectory vividly to life. For me, standing in the same building where President José Figueres Ferrer symbolically tore down a wall of the army barracks illustrated how spaces of militarism can be transformed into places of culture, memory, and learning. I spoke with an archivist in the museum library � who generously gave me a translated copy of Ernest Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea in order to practice my Spanish-language reading � and later exchanged stories with a local man outside the museum about history and politics. In addition to applying my language skills, these conversations gave me a deeper appreciation of how Costa Rica normative path of peace is remembered and lived today.

In previous studies, I�ve learned about the subtle yet significant distinction between negative peace, or the absence of physical conflict, and positive peace, which emphasizes the presence of conditions for societal well-being and harmony. This framework helped me understand my travels in Costa Rica: the country is defined not only by what it lacks (an army) but on what it chooses to prioritize, such as education, healthcare, and environmental protection.

The pura vida ethos also came alive through Costa Rica commitment to environmental stewardship. Guided forest walks with a biologist, visits with eco-reserves for wildlife conservation, and encounters with protected natural wonders like volcanoes and waterfalls all reflected how sustainability is woven into national culture. At the same time, my Spanish proficiency deepened through constant practice in markets, museums, and everyday conversations. As another takeaway, this trip gave me a new point of reference for understanding peace as a lived practice abroad, not only as an abstract policy goal. Ultimately, the Emma Maes Scholarship gave me the chance to elevate my Spanish through travelling abroad, deepen my academic studies with real-world experience, and witness firsthand how history, culture, and language can intertwine in the pursuit of peace.

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