Description

The Kellogg Fellowship provides highly motivated students engaging in areas of humanistic study with research support for senior work related to their major program of study. The fellowship may be used for travel and research expenses incurred during the summer and academic semesters.

Application Deadline

Application materials must be submitted by March 1, 2024. Faculty support statements are due by March 7. Students will be notified by mid-April.

Applications should be completed to the best of your ability with the understanding that projects or timelines may need to be adjusted due to changes in COVID-19 policies.

Eligibility

Middlebury juniors and junior and senior Febs who meet their departmental requirements for independent senior work and will pursue that work during the following summer and/or academic year (one or more semesters) are eligible to apply.

Proposed projects must “engage in philosophical inquiry in the humanities and areas of humanistic study, broadly defined, including but not limited to philosophy, religion, classics, history, history of art and architecture, film and media culture studies, languages, American studies, and English and American literature.”

How to Apply

Complete the online application by the deadline. You should be discussing your application with your faculty advisor(s) prior to submitting the application. 

Key Online Application Components

  • A project proposal, which includes research questions and how the project engages in humanistic inquiry (1500 words or less)
  • An explanation of your preparation for the proposed project (e.g. courses, past research, specific skills) (750 words or less)
  • An explanation of how the work will provide an important capstone experience for your undergraduate career (750 words or less)
  • Preliminary research plan, including a list of activities and materials involved in the research and anticipated costs (file upload)
  • Advising transcript and current resume (file upload)
  • Names of two faculty who are providing statements of support: (1) your project advisor and (2) a Middlebury faculty member who has taught you or supervised you in a research capacity
  • Name of the department chair who is confirming the project meets the requirements for senior work in your major

Optional budget template to use for the application upload.

Faculty and Chair Statements

Faculty requests for statements of support will be sent through the online application. For the department chair, they will need to certify that this project fulfills the major requirements for senior work. Faculty will receive an email request and can submit through the online portal.

Applicants should have notified faculty well in advance and discussed their application with them, so that they are able to provide their statements or confirmation by the deadline which is soon after the application deadline.

The two support statements are needed. The statement from the faculty advisor for the project (less than 500 words) should explain how the student’s academic work has prepared them for this project and the merits of both the student and project as a capstone experience. The second support statement should be from a faculty member who has taught the student or supervised them in a research context and discuss applicant’s academic strengths and preparedness for independent senior work. The chair confirmation need only be a sentence or two.

Selection of Kellogg Fellows

A selection committee composed of the dean for faculty research and development, the associate dean for fellowships and research, and faculty members drawn from different disciplines will review applications and select fellows.

Award

Kellogg fellows will receive $5,000 to support research expenses (e.g. travel, conference or workshop participation, and equipment required for the project) incurred during the summer and/or academic semesters. Research support will begin during the summer and extend through one or two semesters, depending on the fellow’s senior work plan. The funds will be dispersed at the beginning of the summer. We expect project expenses will vary but the total award amount will be $5000. 

Faculty Advisors to Kellogg fellows will receive $1,000 in support of their own research.

Fellow Requirements

Fellows must enroll in the appropriate senior work courses for their major during their senior year (500 or 700 level courses). Work produced with the support of the Kellogg fellowship will be submitted for the fellows’ senior work. Fellows must give at least one presentation about their work at a campus event (e.g. department presentations, spring student symposium) and are encouraged to also present their work at relevant professional and undergraduate conferences. Fellows enrolled in the spring semester are expected to present at the Spring Student Symposium.

Notes: Kellogg fellows should expect to use their fellowship monies to support conference travel and senior work-related expenses incurred during their senior year, rather than the SRPS and Academic Travel Fund. Fellows remain eligible to apply for relevant departmental funds for additional funding, if available in their department. A portion of the award may be taxable income depending on the amount of documented research expenses.

2023-24 Kellogg Fellows

Communications story about this year’s fellows.

Livia Cohen ’24, a religion and history major, will conduct research at the Esalen Institute, a nonprofit educational retreat center in Big Sur, California. For her project, “Visions of Self and the Sacred: The Esalen Institute 1962– 1982,” Cohen will focus her research specifically on examining Esalen’s shifting notions of the individual during the rise and fall of the counterculture movement and the intensification of the Cold War.

Hannah Ennis ’24, an environmental studies major, will focus her work on the discord surrounding endangered wetlands. For her project, “Within the Impending Flood: What Wetlands Can Teach about Resiliency and Restoration in Community,” Ennis will explore how people living near bodies of water respond after the environment is negatively impacted. She hopes to answer the question “In the wake of a hurricane or a drought, what is the resettling process of the land and the community?” 

Joe Hanlon ’24 will study the work of Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour, who in 1987 boycotted the import of art supplies during the First Intifada. In his project, “Creation Under Occupation: The Art of Sliman Mansour,” Hanlon, a history of art major, will examine Mansour’s use of mud, and other natural mediums, as a politically relevant artistic medium.

Jessica (Zhanqi) Hong ’24, an anthropology major, will conduct research in Longtang village, located in Guizhou Province, where migrant work is the primary source of household income. In her project, “An Emic Study of Village Individuals’ Participation in Tourism Development in Longtang Village, China,” Hong will explore how village members participate in tourism development and how their participation influences Longtang villagers’ lives. 

Chang Ma ’24, for his project, “Non-conceptuality in Mahāyāna Buddhist meditative practices,” will travel to Guangdong Province, China; Kathmandu, Nepal; New York; and Massachusetts, where he will attend meditation retreats and conduct research on Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy. A joint major in philosophy and religion, Ma noted that his work will explore “an indispensable perspective of traditional Asian religion on the contemporary philosophy of mind.” 

Sophia McDermott-Hughes ’24 will conduct her research in Benzú, Spain, and Belyounech, Morocco.  A double major in anthropology and Arabic with a minor in Spanish, McDermott-Hughes will explore the unique case created by this particular postcolonial community. Her project, “Checkpoint Benzú: Identity Formation across the Moroccan-Spanish Border,” will explore various adaptations and means of coping with boundaries imposed on communities.

Arthur Romero da Veiga Martins ’24, a double major in English and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, will travel to São Paulo, Brazil, and New York City for his project, “Meat Markets: Queer Examinations of Grindr.”  He described his project as “an opportunity to tell a story—data driven, creative, and personal—about the struggles for acceptance and of finding a community.”

Tejas Srinivasan ’24, an English major, will spend time in London for his project, “Multiple Londons? Mapping Contemporary British Urban Fiction.” He will explore the geography of London novels published after 1980 when, he noted, there was an increase in the number and diversity of communities portrayed in fiction. “London is presented with meticulous detail in all these novels, as the trends, unspoken rules, and feelings of specific neighborhoods are foundational to the texts,” said Srinivasan. “The city itself becomes somewhat of a character in the novels.”


 

Kellogg Fellow Snapshots

Watch 2020-21 Kellogg Fellows speak about their projects. 

Also, listen to Christine McDow ‘21 being interviewed about her project by NPR station WHQR. (Major(s): Black Studies, Education Studies Project: Listen Witness Amplify North Carolina)

Communications article about the 2022-23 Kellogg Fellows.

Taite Shomo ‘20.5

Major(s): Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, Art History Project: Reception and Redemption: Gender Ideologies in Medieval Pilgrimage Churches
 

Benjamin Beese ‘21.5

Major(s): History Project: Visions of the Future at the 1939 New York World’s Fair
 

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