Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative (LAMI)

The Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative (LAMI), which is sponsored by the Leadership Alliance program through a grant from the Mellon Foundation, aims to increase the number of underrepresented students pursuing graduate education and careers in the humanities and social sciences. At UVA, LAMI is an eight-week research internship for rising third and fourth year undergraduate students. LAMI students participate in faculty-mentored, research projects, get training in the use of digital research tools, receive training and support for graduate studies, and present their findings at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS).

Program Benefits
  • Preparation for graduate studies
  • Research stipend
  • Round-trip travel accommodations to Charlottesville, VA
  • Summer housing
  • Travel and lodging accommodations to present at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS)
Eligible Fields of Study
  • Anthropology and Archaeology
  • Area/Cultural/Ethnic/Gender Studies
  • Art History
  • Classics
  • English
  • Film, Cinema and Media Studies (theoretical)
  • Foreign Languages and Literatures
  • Geography and Population Studies
  • History
  • Linguistics
  • Literature
  • Musicology and Ethnomusicology
  • Performance Studies (theoretical focus)
  • Philosophy and Political Theory
  • Religion and Theology
  • Sociology
  • Theater (non-performance focus)
Application Process

LAMI is a sub-program of the Leadership Alliance Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) and uses the sample online application. Please visit https://theleadershipalliance.org/programs/summer-research/apply to start your application.  The application cycle is open November 1st to February 1st of each year.

Prior LAMI Cohorts

2021 LAMI Fellows

Yasmin Mendoza
Institution:  Whittier College
Major: English
LAMI Summer Research Project: Banning Without Bans

Zoe Dudack
Institution:  College of Wooster
Major:  English
LAMI Summer Research Project: Characterizing Transformation in Wayetu Moore’s "She Would Be King" and Nnedi Okorafor’s "Binti"
 

2020 LAMI Fellows

Daniella Efrat
Institution: Los Angeles Valley College
Major: Political Science
LAMI Summer Research Project: Reducing Racial Gaps in Academic Performance: The Role of Relative Self-Efficacy and Sense of Belonging

2019 LAMI Fellows

Paris Godfrey
Institution: Spelman College
Major:
LAMI Summer Research Project:

Lewis Rincon Castano
Institution:
Major:
LAMI Summer Research Project:

Zenab Youssef
Institution:
Major:
LAMI Summer Research Project:

Aleyshka Estevez Quintana
Institution:
Major:
LAMI Summer Research Project:

2018 LAMI Fellows

Emily De Leon
Institution: DePaul University
Major: Latin American and Latino Studies and Spanish Studies
LAMI Summer Research Project: Americans by Fé: Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism and Latino Assimilation

 

2017 LAMI Fellows

2016 LAMI Fellows

2015 LAMI Fellows