Community hub
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world.
Established in 1902, it is one of the oldest graduate scholarships in the world and one of the most prestigious international scholarship programmes. Its founder, Cecil John Rhodes, wanted to promote unity among English-speaking nations and instil a sense of civic-minded leadership and moral fortitude in future leaders, irrespective of their chosen career paths.
The scholarship committee selects candidates based on a combination of literary and academic achievements, athletic involvement, character traits like truth and courage, and leadership potential, originally assessed on a 200-point scale. In 2018, the criteria were revised to emphasize using one's talents and caring for others. The American Rhodes Scholarship is highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of around four percent in recent years, while other countries have varying rates. Scholars can study full-time postgraduate courses at Oxford for one to three years, receiving financial support for tuition and living expenses, along with access to Rhodes House facilities.
The Rhodes Scholarship has faced controversies since its inception, primarily concerning the exclusion of women and Black Africans. Initially, the scholarship was limited to male students within the Commonwealth of Nations, Germany, and the United States, a restriction that only changed in 1977 following the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act. Protests for the inclusion of non-white scholars began in the 1970s, but it was not until 1991 that Black South Africans were awarded the scholarship due to the political changes in the country. Additionally, criticism of Cecil Rhodes's colonialist legacy has spurred movements calling for a reevaluation of the scholarship and its ties to Rhodes's views. Critics have also highlighted the tendency of recipients to pursue careers in business rather than public service, diverging from the scholarship's original intent.
Numerous international scholarship programmes were very much underway by 1900. Since the 1880s, governments, universities, and individuals in the settler colonies had been establishing travelling scholarships to home universities. By 1900, the travelling scholarship had become an important part of settler universities' educational visions. It served as a crucial mechanism by which they sought to claim their citizenship of what they saw as the expansive British academic world. The Rhodes programme was a copy of others that soon became the best-known version. The Rhodes Trust established the scholarships in 1902 under the terms laid out in the eighth and final will of Cecil John Rhodes, dated 1 July 1899 and appended by several codicils through March 1902.
The scholarships were founded for two reasons: to promote unity within the British empire, and to strengthen diplomatic ties between Britain and the United States of America. In Rhodes's own words, "I…desire to encourage and foster an appreciation of the advantages which I implicitly believe will result from the union of the English-speaking peoples throughout the world and to encourage in the students from North America who would benefit from the American Scholarships." Rhodes also bequeathed scholarships to German students in the hope that, "a good understanding between England, Germany and the United States of America will secure the peace of the world."
Rhodes, who attended Oriel College, Oxford, believed the university's residential colleges would be the best venue to nurture diplomatic ties between future world leaders.
To this day, controversies persist over Rhodes's Anglo-supremacist beliefs, most of which date back to his 1877 confession of faith. However, such convictions did not play a part in the final vision for the scholarship.[citation needed] The scholarships are based on Rhodes's final will and testament, which states that "no student shall be qualified or disqualified for election…on account of his race or religious opinions".
Hub AI
Rhodes Scholarship AI simulator
(@Rhodes Scholarship_simulator)
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world.
Established in 1902, it is one of the oldest graduate scholarships in the world and one of the most prestigious international scholarship programmes. Its founder, Cecil John Rhodes, wanted to promote unity among English-speaking nations and instil a sense of civic-minded leadership and moral fortitude in future leaders, irrespective of their chosen career paths.
The scholarship committee selects candidates based on a combination of literary and academic achievements, athletic involvement, character traits like truth and courage, and leadership potential, originally assessed on a 200-point scale. In 2018, the criteria were revised to emphasize using one's talents and caring for others. The American Rhodes Scholarship is highly competitive, with an acceptance rate of around four percent in recent years, while other countries have varying rates. Scholars can study full-time postgraduate courses at Oxford for one to three years, receiving financial support for tuition and living expenses, along with access to Rhodes House facilities.
The Rhodes Scholarship has faced controversies since its inception, primarily concerning the exclusion of women and Black Africans. Initially, the scholarship was limited to male students within the Commonwealth of Nations, Germany, and the United States, a restriction that only changed in 1977 following the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act. Protests for the inclusion of non-white scholars began in the 1970s, but it was not until 1991 that Black South Africans were awarded the scholarship due to the political changes in the country. Additionally, criticism of Cecil Rhodes's colonialist legacy has spurred movements calling for a reevaluation of the scholarship and its ties to Rhodes's views. Critics have also highlighted the tendency of recipients to pursue careers in business rather than public service, diverging from the scholarship's original intent.
Numerous international scholarship programmes were very much underway by 1900. Since the 1880s, governments, universities, and individuals in the settler colonies had been establishing travelling scholarships to home universities. By 1900, the travelling scholarship had become an important part of settler universities' educational visions. It served as a crucial mechanism by which they sought to claim their citizenship of what they saw as the expansive British academic world. The Rhodes programme was a copy of others that soon became the best-known version. The Rhodes Trust established the scholarships in 1902 under the terms laid out in the eighth and final will of Cecil John Rhodes, dated 1 July 1899 and appended by several codicils through March 1902.
The scholarships were founded for two reasons: to promote unity within the British empire, and to strengthen diplomatic ties between Britain and the United States of America. In Rhodes's own words, "I…desire to encourage and foster an appreciation of the advantages which I implicitly believe will result from the union of the English-speaking peoples throughout the world and to encourage in the students from North America who would benefit from the American Scholarships." Rhodes also bequeathed scholarships to German students in the hope that, "a good understanding between England, Germany and the United States of America will secure the peace of the world."
Rhodes, who attended Oriel College, Oxford, believed the university's residential colleges would be the best venue to nurture diplomatic ties between future world leaders.
To this day, controversies persist over Rhodes's Anglo-supremacist beliefs, most of which date back to his 1877 confession of faith. However, such convictions did not play a part in the final vision for the scholarship.[citation needed] The scholarships are based on Rhodes's final will and testament, which states that "no student shall be qualified or disqualified for election…on account of his race or religious opinions".