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Scholarships and Prizes

Hira Jain Scholarship

Dr. Hira C. Jain and Mrs. Sunita Jain of Glastonbury, Connecticut established a permanent endowment fund to provide scholarships for academically outstanding incoming or continuing undergraduate or graduate students enrolled full time at UConn. Candidates for the scholarship may but are not required to demonstrate financial need. The amount of the biennial scholarship is at least $500.

The 2017 Hira Jain Scholarship has been awarded to Undergraduates FOTIMA PULATOVA and ZUKHRA PULATOVA with $500 each and to Graduate Student KOYEL KHAN with $1000.

As in previous years, this year’s pool of applicants showcases the extraordinary degree to which the University of Connecticut truly attracts the brightest students academically but also students who are engaged in research or co-curricular activities for the benefit of the common good. The Asian and Asian American Studies Institute will next award the scholarship in Spring of 2019.

2017-Hira-Jain-Scholarship-application-form

Profile of the 2015 Hira Jain Scholar.

 

Fred Ho Prize in Asian American History and Culture

Awarded every other year by the Asian American Studies Institute since 1999, the Fred Ho Prize encourages all University of Connecticut undergraduates, regardless of major, semester standing or enrollment in Asian American Studies courses, to submit a project based on primary research conducted in the Fred Ho Special Collection at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center. The total amount of the biennial prize is usually $500. The winner is announced at the close of Spring Semester.

2016 Fred Ho Prize

  • ZIAEL APONTE, First Prize and $250 for his digital illustration “Music Makes a World” that takes its inspiration from Fred Ho’s music as it contributes to the vibrancy of city life and affects the environment or landscape.
  • KIMBERLY VETEL, Second Prize and $150 for her screen print on fabric/sewing “Vest” that directly transcribes Fred Ho’s words from interviews she read in his collection at the Dodd Center, and also references the late artist’s self-designed and hand-made clothing.
  • BRYAN GUERRA, Third Prize and $75 for 1960s-inspired Fillmore-style poster “Revolutionary Art” that also quotes from Fred Ho’s 2000 book Legacy to Liberation, which in part demands art “must energize and humanize; not pacify, confuse, and desensitize…”

This year’s competition also recognizes HENG ZHANG, Honorable Mention. The 27 art projects submitted for the 2016 Fred Ho Prize showcase a variety of materials and approaches that underscore the political and cultural force and creativity that Fred Ho’s legacy continues to inspire.

The Institute and Center are indebted to Visiting Associate Professor in Art and Art History Rossitza Skortcheva Donesky for guiding the participants through the challenge of primary research in the Fred Ho Collection, with support from the Dodd Center’s Curator for Multimedia Collections Kristin Eshelman.

2014 Fred Ho Prize

The Fred Ho Prize was awarded in 2014, after a long hiatus and as part of a posthumous tribute to the late Fred Ho, whose courageous battle with terminal colon cancer ended on April 12. This long overdue effort was spearheaded by School of Fine Arts Professor of Illustration Cora Lynn Deibler and Lecture in Animation and Illustration Alison Paul, with support and assistance from the Asian American Cultural Center’s Angela Rola and Sheila Kucko, as well as the Dodd Center’s Curator for Multimedia Collections Kristin Eshelman.

First Prize $250 HAYATO JIN KAWAI for his piece “The Incredible Fred Holk”. In his artist statement entitled “The Celestial Green Monster”, Kawai explains his parodied artwork to exaggerate Fred Ho’s powerful impact and contribution to the struggle for Asian and African American rights.

Second Prize $150 MICHELLE HAWRAN for her visual/satirical commentary on the often racist and stereotypical covers of vintage sheet music that she found while researching the Fred Ho Collection.

Third Prize $100 YEN BEI for “Smile, Girl” — which signifies “freedom, freedom for expression, freedom for oneself” and was inspired by research about Fred Ho’s childhood and the pressure of trying to fit in.