George Mills Harper Graduate Student Travel Fund Award

Applications will open July 16th, 2026, and close on September 30th, 2026. To apply, please fill out our Global Application for Awards. This award is funded fully by member donations. Donate to the fund through your Ballast account.

In honor of past SAMLA president George Mills Harper, the Harper Fund provides graduate students with travel funds to attend the annual conference.

Professor Harper’s academic career spanned over 50 years, and he provided exceptional leadership and service to the association. From his early years on the family farm in the Ozarks to his matriculation from Culver-Stockton College to UNC-Chapel Hill to his later chairmanship of the English Department at Florida State University, Harper concentrated his writing and research efforts in Irish studies, particularly focusing on W. B. Yeats. In 1981, Dr. Harper received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin in recognition for his critical work in studying Yeats and the occult.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to receive this award, graduate students must: 1) be presenting at the current year’s conference, 2) establish or renew their SAMLA membership, and 3) register for the conference.
Winners of the Harper Fund Award must attend the conference in order to receive award funds. Winners who ultimately cannot attend should notify SAMLA as soon as possible.

SAMLA invites applications in all languages but asks that accompanying English translations are provided so that the entire Committee can review all submitted materials as equably as possible.