Summer Possibilities

In this Issue: today we are talking about the Richter Scholarship (for independent summer study)

I am out of the office today, so this is a pre-post

While many students think of summer as a time for earning money at a job, or earning work experience at an internship, there is a wonderful program that helps students do summer research projects. It is called the Richter Scholarship:

“Follow in the footsteps of musicians, artists, authors, or statesmen; study architecture, ruins, landscapes, or climates; experience cultures, artistry, innovations, or disparities; or conduct experiments, analyses, interviews, or investigations. As a Richter Scholar, you can engage in any of these types of opportunities. The Richter program provides funding for globally-oriented independent research and study that is devised, initiated, and carried out by individual students, with mentorship, guidance and expertise provided by a faculty mentor. Graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to pursue enriching and engaging projects that have the promise of being life-changing.”

If this is something that might interest your student/you, please keep the Richter in mind for future summers. This is something I wish I had done when I was a Wake student. Just look at some of the projects taking place during Summer 2026:

• A Comparative Analysis of Land Use Practices in Copenhagen’s and London’s Urban Management Plans 
• An Investigation into Traditional Indian Therapies and Remedies used in Tribal-Dominated Communities of the Eastern Ghats in India 
• Comparative Bilingual Education Policy: A Case Study of Northern Hills Bilingual School in Argentina and North Carolina 
• Eileen Gray: 20th Century Artistic Life in Paris and the French Riviera 
• Flows of Qi, Flows of Story: Traditional Chinese Medicine and Emotional Healing in Danmei Fan Interpretive Practices
• From Tradition to Stadium: How Baseball Reflects Community, Culture, and History in Korea and Japan 
• Food, Place, and Cultural Meaning: A Comparative Study of Regional Food Traditions in Italy 
• Keeping Dancers Dancing: A Comparative Analysis of Injury Prevention Practices in Elite Dance Training Programs
• Listening to Men’s Health: Circumcision, Social Norms, and Sexual Wellbeing Across the United States and Central/Western Europe   
• Melting Meaning: Glacial Loss and Environmental Discourse in Iceland 
• Missionary Collecting and Cultural Representation: An Archival Study of Missionary Collections in Belgian Museums 
• Silence and Solitude: How Modern Societies Manage Social Pressure Through Everyday Space — A Visual Study in Japan
• Tea Culture in Pottery and Porcelain: A Comparative Study of Sensory, Aesthetic, and Cultural Experiences in Yixing Zisha Teapot and Jingdezhen Gaiwan 
• The Architecture of Multiculturalism in Norman Sicily  
• The Impact of Switzerland’s High-Deductible Insurance Model on Access to Primary Preventive Services 
• The Lost Generation: an International Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of Culture and Chinese Adoptee Identity
• Tourism and Cultural Transformation in Guanacaste, Costa Rica: An Ethnographic Inquiry 
• Wallpaper Groups and Tessellations in Islamic Architectural Design 
• Whose History Is Told? Moroccan Colonialism and Migration in European Museums 

Interested students can look into this more when school resumes in the fall. For now, just keep this in the back of your minds as a viable summer endeavor for future years.