Scholarships Information

DONNE DI DOMANI SCHOLARSHIP

The Donne Di Domani is a local Houston organization of Italian-American women whose mission is to foster an awareness of Italian culture and heritage. As the Houston Chronicle reports in an article dedicated to their activity, the «Donne di Domani is a sorority of Italian women [and] each year, they leave their good jewelry at home, roll up their sleeves and cook» their marinara sauce from a very secret recipe [Kenn Hoffmann. Special Pasta Sauce on the Way. Oct. 12, 2006, 9:22AM]. They sell their sauce exclusively at the Nutcracker Market. The Donne di Domani's tradition of making sauce and taking it to market started 15 years ago, with every penny going to charity. Rice University is lucky to benefit from their kindness and this scholarship, to be used for tuition and books, is awarded to students committed to the study of Italian and it is based on need and merit. Generally the "marinara sauce" awards 3 students per year for an amount of $1000 (ca) each. The application guidelines for the academic year 2008-2009 will be announced and posted in spring 2009.

Donne Di Domani & Ugo di Portanova 2008 winners Photo-Courtesy of E.M. Anderson

UGO DI PORTANOVA LITERARY PRIZE

The Ugo di Portanova foundation is a Houston-based association promoting Italian culture and heritage. In the academic year 2007-2008, the association was pleased to announce an award of $ 8000 in scholarship funding to be equally divided among 3 Rice University students enrolled in Italian courses. The scholarship is for those students who plan to pursue the study of Italian language and culture in well established institutions in Italy or in the US (summer courses, semesters, etc.). The scholarship will be towards tuition, books, lodging and other expenses that students encounter during the enrollment and relocation process. The Premio Letterario di Portanova is a literary prize in which all levels of students of Italian at Rice University - elementary, intermediate, and advanced - are asked to write a short essay demonstrating their knowledge of Italian language and culture. In the academic year 2007-2008 the exceptional quality of the students warranted that the committee award 4 instead of the usual 3 students. The application guidelines for the academic year 2008-2009 will be announced and posted during in spring 2009.