Students Vie for Free Travel Fellowships in Photo Contest

Students hoping to travel the world had to first travel across the University’s campuses for “Where in the World is Harvard?” contest, which offered two international travel fellowships as its grand prizes.

Part of Harvard’s first-ever Worldwide Week, the contest invited students to identify where a series of travel photographs—placed around Harvard’s buildings in Cambridge, Allston, and Boston—were taken. At stake: a fully-funded summer international travel fellowship for one undergraduate student and a $2,000 fellowship for one graduate student, plus a selection of Square business gift cards for the runners-up.

“We wanted to think of ways to get people excited about Worldwide Week, so we thought the contest might create some excitement and buzz for students,” said Todd Washburn, senior assistant provost for international affairs.

While no winners have been chosen yet, the odds are good: just 10 graduate and 25 College students submitted entries, according to the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs. Winners of the contest will have until early February to arrange details of their study abroad program, internship, or public service opportunity and submit a written plan for review.

The photographs were displayed through Wednesday at locations on campus including Lamont Library and the Semitic Museum, as well as at the i-Lab in Allston and a School of Public Health building in Boston.

“We purposefully placed the photos in locations that people may not normally visit because one of the themes of global work and international travel is forcing yourself outside your comfort zone and that can be a really enriching, growing experience,” Washburn said.

The Harvard Office of International Education, which is located on 77 Dunster St. By Kaitlyn M. Rabinovitz

Camila Nardozzi, director for the Office of International Education, said the OIE helped to curate photos for the travel contest using images Harvard students had taken during summer study abroad programs.

“Our students who went abroad in the past had already taken these photos, so our office thought it would be great to showcase some of them around campus through this contest,” Nardozzi said.

Mark C. Elliott, Harvard’s vice provost for international affairs, said he hopes to see more students engaging in meaningful study abroad experiences, whether through summer schools, volunteer work, internships, or research.

“I firmly believe that even two weeks abroad, if the program or the experience is structured thoughtfully, is plenty to get somebody a meaningful experience,” Elliott said. “To be in a foreign environment where you don’t understand everything that’s going on and the cars are coming at you from the wrong direction can be disorienting. It’s good to be disoriented.”

—Staff writer Sonia Kim can be reached at sonia.kim@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @soniakim211.