Description

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry is pleased to open applications for our one-year dissertation completion fellowships. We invite applications from current Emory graduate students from any humanistic discipline whose research engages with and advances the 2026-2027 theme, habitat, and who are eager to be part of a community of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and students engaged in innovative and interdisciplinary scholarly conversations.

The Fox Center will appoint up to three dissertation completion fellows for the academic year 2026-27. Fellows will participate in a weekly interdisciplinary seminar, presenting their research at one of these meetings; will assist with the Center's thematic programming; and will support our Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellowship program. Fellows, who will normally be in their 6th-year of graduate study during the fellowship year, will receive a 9-month stipend (September-May), 100% subsidy for the Emory University Student Health Insurance Plan (EUSHIP), and shared office space at the Center. The first stipend payment will be at the end of September and the final payment will be at the end of May.

The application deadline for applicants to submit their materials is November 17, 2025 at 11.59 PM ET. The deadline for receipt of letters of recommendation is November 23, 2025 at 11.59 PM ET.

habitat

The concept of habitat connotes both a physical place for living and the necessary conditions for thriving. Heidegger famously argued that to be human is to dwell. But what does it mean to dwell amidst environmental precarity, political displacement, and technological transformation? How have human relationships with the places we inhabit been experienced, negotiated, and imagined across different periods and geographies? How have we made sense of our surroundings and, in turn, formed our notions of home?

Human activity has long left its marks on our world-from the deforestation of medieval Europe to the sweeping planetary impacts of industrialization. At the same time, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes remind us that we are subject to forces beyond our control. As dwellers on Earth, we live not only among built structures and political borders, but also within multispecies and geological systems whose scales of time and complexity often exceed our comprehension. Poet Joy Harjo implores us to "remember the earth whose skin you are." Yet while we are imbricated in these systems, we are also storytellers and meaning-makers, describing, contesting, and reimagining the conditions of our existence.

We anticipate that our Fellows will approach the concept of habitat through diverse lenses on the human experience, including, but not limited to, environmental humanities, science and technology studies, Indigenous and postcolonial studies, and urban studies. Projects may examine moments of rupture and reconfiguration, ecological interdependence, forced migration, multispecies coexistence, or the politics of shelter and space in industrial and post-industrial environments. This year's theme invites inquiry into how we dwell-and what it might mean to dwell well-in a shared and uncertain world.

Qualifications

To be considered for this fellowship, applicants must:

• be full-time students currently enrolled in doctoral degree programs at Emory University's Laney Graduate School;
• be in good standing both in the Laney Graduate School and in their program;
• be in candidacy at the time of application;
• be in their 5th, 6th, or 7th year of graduate study at the time of application;
• not have held an Emory completion fellowship previously;
• be able to complete their dissertation during the fellowship period.

Application Instructions

To complete the online application, you will need to provide the following:

• Dissertation abstract (200 words maximum)
• Project description (1000 words maximum, see instructions below)
• Curriculum vitae
• Unofficial transcript
• E-mail information for three recommenders

Please note that as part of the University's Interfolio system, each applicant is required to complete the Equal Employment Opportunity form. The Fox Center will not have access to the completed form.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

• Recommendation letters: Recommenders are automatically notified via Interfolio to submit/upload their letters to your file. Be sure to leave enough time so that your letters of recommendation are submitted by the deadline.
• Project description: Applicants should describe the specific writing and research planned for the period of the fellowship and the expected output and include a detailed timeline. They should also describe their engagement with the annual theme and how they would benefit from the interdisciplinary environment. Please remember that fellows are expected to be in residence at the Center full-time each semester.

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all required documents are uploaded to Interfolio and submitted. Incomplete applications cannot be considered after the deadline.

ACCEPTANCE PROCEDURES

Upon notification of a Fox Center Dissertation Completion Fellowship award, recipients must agree to:

1. conduct dissertation work in residence full-time at the Fox Center for the academic year;
2. take full responsibility for contributing to and maintaining an environment conducive to academic research while at the Center;
3. complete the dissertation for graduation by the end of the academic year;
4. acknowledge the Fox Center in all work resulting from research and writing done during the Fellowship;
5. attend all fellows' seminar meetings and thematic programming sponsored by the Fox Center during their term of residence;
6. immediately notify the FCHI of any other support or of any conflicts with the restrictions and conditions of this Fellowship Program.

If for any reason a Fellow's circumstances change and the grantee is unable to use the Fellowship (such as the receipt of any grant or award that conflicts with the restrictions and conditions of this Fellowship) during the academic year for which it was granted, the Fellowship will be forfeited.

If the project involves human subjects, approval from the proper Emory Institutional Review Board Committee (IRB) is required before Fellowship funding can be released. For more information, please refer to this website: https://www.irb.emory.edu.

If you have any questions, please contact the Fox Center at [email protected]. The FCHI regrets that it is unable to provide any assessments of unsuccessful applications.

Laney Graduate School: Terms of Fellowship

• Fellows who are awarded and accept the fellowship award agree to commit to the course teaching load or the general hours/week and responsibilities as described in the sections above. Fellows who do not uphold the requirements of the fellowship may have the fellowship revoked and may lose their funding and EUSHIP subsidy for the remainder of the fellowship term.
• Please note that in cases where there are partner units involved, the fellow is responsible for responding to the fellowship director/coordinator in a timely manner and is expected to fulfill the responsibilities as outlined by the original fellowship call. If the student is unable to communicate and respond in a timely manner or is unable to fulfill those responsibilities, their stipend (and EUSHIP subsidy) may be withheld or the fellowship slot may be removed. In some fellowships, the fellow is expected to begin their role around mid/late-August.
• When applicable, this fellowship award replaces other graduate school stipend and scholarship funding* a student may have been scheduled to receive for the fellowship year, and the eligibility for that funding cannot be reserved to be used in a subsequent year. *This does not apply to smaller awards such as WiNS, Centennial, or ARCS Foundation awards.
• All LGS fellows will be required to submit an intake form and an outgoing form as part of this fellowship. These forms will be shared by the LGS PDCP office sometime in late Spring 2026 and 2027, respectively.
• Fellows who receive offers for other awards must contact the Laney Graduate School PDCP Office ([email protected]) to determine whether the two awards may be held concurrently. Please include with this email full details about the other award you may be inquiring about.
• In general, external fellowship awards may not be held concurrently with LGS completion/advanced fellowship awards.
• Please note: Unless indicated otherwise, all LGS fellowships require on-site in-person participation and completion. There are no remote options available unless explicitly indicated.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Emory is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law. Emory University does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training. Students, faculty, and staff are assured of participation in university programs and in the use of facilities without such discrimination. Emory University complies with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Assistance Act, and applicable executive orders, federal and state regulations regarding nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative action (for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities). Inquiries regarding this policy should be directed to the Emory University Department of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance, 201 Dowman Drive, Administration Building, Atlanta, GA 30322. Telephone: 404-727-9867 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD).

Emory University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. To request this document in an alternate format or to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact the Department of Accessibility Services at 404-727-9877 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD). Please note that one week's advance notice is preferred.