The Olivia James Traveling Fellowship will be awarded for travel and study to be conducted between July 1 of the award year and the following June 30. Preference will be given to projects of at least a half-year's duration. The award is to be used for travel and study in Greece (the modern state), Cyprus, the Aegean Islands, Sicily, southern Italy (that is, the Italian provinces of Campania, Molise, Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria), Asia Minor (Turkey) or Mesopotamia (that is, the territory between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, that is modern Iraq and parts of northern Syria and eastern Turkey). Although the proposal may require travel outside these areas, the majority of travel proposed must be within them. The award is not intended to support field excavation projects. Applicants must be current AIA members at the graduate or professional level. Preference will be given to individuals engaged in dissertation research or to those who received their PhD within five years of the application deadline. Recipients may not hold other major fellowships during the requested tenure of the Olivia James award. Applicants are required to submit two letters of reference from persons familiar with them and their work, including their affiliated institution, address, and email address. The Fellowships Committee attaches the greatest importance to the applicant's detailed statement of the proposed project. It is important to define the questions being explored and to state the goals and methodology as well as the relationship between the two. The committee is also looking for evidence of the scholarly significance and feasibility of the proposal. Additionally, the committee is interested in the itinerary and it is helpful to include background information outlining the reasons for visiting these locations in the summary statement. It is also important for applicants to indicate that they have begun to seek the necessary permissions required by many countries and museums to work with their materials. Please visit the fellowship's website or contact the Archaeological Institute of America for more information.