Our Initiatives
SUPPORTING STUDENTS, EMERGING SCHOLARS AND PRACTITIONERS IN THE ARTS, HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
The Sam Femiano Lecture in Men's Studies
The Samuel Femiano Men’s Studies Lecture Fund is an endowment created to support an invited Men’s Studies plenary lecture each year at AMSA’s Annual Men’s Studies Conference. This annual lecture will be titled “The Femiano Lecture in Men’s Studies.” The invited speaker, selected by the AMSA President in consultation with the conference planning committee, is chosen because they are a scholar, teacher, author, clinician or practitioner whose work contributes substantially to the field of Men’s Studies.
The AMSA Board of Directors established an initial goal of $20,000 for this new speaker’s fund in 2010. Out of a deep respect and affection for Sam and in honor of his remarkable legacy of effective organizational stewardship, the Board of Directors also voted to make $5,000 available for this new fund in a dollar for dollar fund raising match (up to $5,000) contributed through April 30, 2010.
In 2015 the Board of Directors announced a new goal of $30,000 for this important lecture fund. Approximately $18,000 has been raised by Dec 1, 2019.
Sam Femiano (1932-2009) was a founding member of AMSA and a mentor and friend to the Board and to those entering the field of Men’s Studies. As a therapist, Sam was a passionate supporter of developing a critical social discourse on men and masculinity. He served two terms as AMSA President and two terms as AMSA Treasurer & Secretary. He also held a seat as an elected member of the AMSA Board of Directors from 1991-2009. Sam contributed immeasurably to the development of AMSA and to its efforts to develop and sustain the critical study of men and masculinities in a rigorous, open-minded, inclusive and mutually supportive manner. This fund is established in honor of Sam and stands as a memorial for Sam and other individuals making significant contributions to the work of the American Men’s Studies Association.
The Loren Frankel Memorial Scholarship
The Board of Directors of the American Men’s Studies Association established the Loren Frankel Student Scholarship Fund in 2005. The fund is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Loren Frankel, a young professor of psychology at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia who died tragically in an automobile accident in 2004. Dr. Frankel was known as an inspiring teacher, an accomplished scholar, and a respected colleague. He presented several papers on adolescent sexuality and male heterosexual identity at AMSA’s annual conferences.
The Scholarship Fund supports students and early career professionals engaged in the critical study of men and masculinities like Dr. Frankel.
After achieving its original goal of $10,000 to provide scholarships of up to $500 each year to a qualified student or students attending and presenting at the annual AMSA Interdisciplinary Conference on Men and Masculinities, the AMSA Board extended the goal to $20,000 and expanded the fund to include initiatives in support of early career academics and professionals.