The Claude Beauclair Fellowship celebrates the life and work of French actor Claude Beauclair (1932-2016), pictured above in his one man show as Baudelaire. M. Bauclair trained at the Centre d’Art Dramatique and under actors Maurice Escande and Beatrix Dussane. He made his debut at the Comedie-Francaise in 1950, where he performed in more than 1000 productions until 1957. In addition to multiple European tours and films, Claude formed his own Theatre company, and taught at Middlebury College, University of Kentucky, and The University of Southern Maine. It is in this spirit of artistic and scholarly entrepreneurship that this fellowship is bestowed. M. Beauclair was the beloved husband of Wellesley Professor Catherine Masson.
The Beauclair Fellowship supports an excellent student with strong initiative and the ability to work both independently and under close supervision. The ideal candidate will have displayed in her classes: a strong command of Theatre theory and practice, the ability to devise, closely analyze critical theories, obtain secondary texts, and understand basic theoretical or technical language as appropriate to her chosen area of acting or directing; as well as consistent capacity to respect deadlines and deliver under pressure. The award, in the amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) is to support research, travel, procuring of books, films, or other material, as well as defray living expenses or replace work/study obligations. Receipt of this award does not affect eligibility for other funding or thesis awards.
1. Deadline
Spring prior to the academic year of the proposed project.
2. Eligibility
Declared Theatre Studies majors nominated by prospective advisors (Theatre Studies faculty) at the end of their junior year are eligible for the award. Strong candidates, those who have taken a variety of courses in the Theatre Studies Department, and who have already discussed in detail with their advisor the thesis or independent study they intend to write, perform, and/or produce in their senior year, are eligible to be nominated for the Claude Beauclair Fellowship by their professor. Before nominating the student, the advisor will seek support from at least two other members of the department who have also had this student in their classes or in registered independent work for credit. If no thesis project is eligible for nomination, a THST350 Independent Study may be considered for this fellowship.
3. Application
The student should submit a short proposal (about 2 pages) to her professor based on their conversations. It is understood that this proposal will be representative of the student’s own work under the guidance of her advisor.
4. Calendar
Advisors will circulate the proposal in the Spring prior to the academic year of the proposed thesis or 350 on behalf of the student along with the positive recommendations of at least two other members of the Theatre Studies department. The prize committee for the department will choose the winner. The chair of the Theatre Studies Department will announce the award to the student and advisor, who is responsible for contacting the student and going over the student’s summer research plans. The student is then expected to contact the department chair by the first week of the semester of the proposed work to make arrangements for payment of the award. The student should report to her advisor as arranged between them and carry out promptly any changes to the plans that were agreed upon. The advisor is expected to respond to the student and maintain communication at reasonable intervals over the summer
5. Report and Expenses
The entire amount received by the student should be spent by completion of the devised/directed or performed Theatre piece. In the event the funds are used to defray living expenses, they must be used during the time the work is being completed. The student must submit to her advisor a written report outlining the work that she completed. Any amount that is undocumented and/or unspent by this time reverts to the department. The student must submit original receipts or journal entries documenting all expenditures supported by the award to the department administrative assistant.
