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Godfrey Kearns MA Bursary Appeal

 

Manchester American Studies is pleased to announce the launch of a campaign to raise funds for a Masters Bursary named in honour of Godfrey Kearns, lynchpin of the programme for 40 years. Through this bursary, we will support outstanding but financially hard-pressed students to study for an MA in American Studies.

 

Ever since Manchester became the first UK university to have a Chair in American Studies in 1947-8, the programme has tried to welcome students from a wide range of backgrounds. The stories of Janice Silo and Paul Quin in this issue of M*A*S*T offer examples of high-calibre, non-traditional entrants to the programme who have gone on to pursue distinguished careers. This tradition has been complemented by a socially inclusive teaching curriculum, spearheaded by the likes of Lou Kushnick. We want to build on this record through the launch of the Godfrey Kearns MA Bursary.

 

There are currently very limited funds for the support of postgraduate study. This means that many of our most promising undergraduates are not in a position to pursue American Studies at postgraduate level. With debt levels on graduation rising each year, the disincentive to continue study can be very strong. We want to make our American Studies postgraduate degree programme possible for outstanding students, irrespective of their financial circumstances.

 

If you feel that you are also in a position to help individual students from the new generation, we would be delighted if you would consider contributing to our fund. We are hopeful that the generosity of our alumni, former colleagues and other friends of the programme will enable us to support at least one American Studies MA student each year.

 

If you would like to choose to support the Godfrey Kearns MA Bursary fund, please click here.

 

Typically, alumni and friends who wish to give opt either to make regular donations on a monthly basis or to give single gifts. We can add 28% to the value of your gift through Gift Aid and, thanks to a new UK Government matched funding scheme for donations to higher education, we can increase the value of your gift by an additional 33%.

 

In future editions of M*A*S*T  we will report back on the progress of the MA Bursary scheme, and look forward to relating the stories of individual student beneficiaries.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Professor Brian Ward and MAST