Description

The Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry is pleased to open applications for our fellowship program for tenured Emory faculty. The program will host up to five fellows (including one non-ECAS fellow) whose work advances our 2026-27 theme, habitat. Fellows will be released from their university teaching and service commitments for the academic year, with the support and approval of their respective department chair/program director and dean.

All faculty fellows enjoy an office at the Fox Center, participate in a weekly works-in-progress seminar, attend thematic programming, and participate in the life of the Center. Fellowships run from August 1, 2026, to May 31, 2027, and provide an additional $3,000 in research funds.

We invite applications from tenured faculty in any humanistic discipline who are eager to be part of a community of scholars engaged in innovative and interdisciplinary research and conversations around our 2026-27 theme, habitat. The application deadline for applicants to submit their materials is December 8, 2025, at 11.59 PM ET. The deadline for receipt of letters of recommendation is December 12, 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

Fellows must be tenured Emory faculty (applicants applying without tenure must receive formal approval of tenure prior to the start of the fellowship). Eligibility is contingent upon leave history as well as the merits of the proposal. Previous funding or released time for a related project may be taken into consideration when the application is reviewed. Fellowship recipients may apply for a subsequent fellowship after an interval of ten years, although the selection committee will prioritize new applicants.

Please note: In accordance with the College leave policy, ECAS faculty fellows are expected to return to Emory after their fellowship and be in residence for three consecutive years. The sabbatical clock for ECAS fellowship recipients will be restarted at the conclusion of their Fox Center fellowship.

Application Instructions

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

• Project description (1000 words maximum, including a timeline for the fellowship year)
• Curriculum vitae
• Title and brief description of a Keyword seminar that you would offer in the year following the fellowship
• E-mail contact information for one non-Emory recommender. Your recommender will be automatically notified via Interfolio to upload their letter to your file. See specific instructions below.
• Email contact information for your department chair. Your department chair will be automatically notified by Interfolio to upload a letter approving your leave.
• Any current and previous project funding information, including other pending applications.
• Previous leave history as well as course releases received during the past 7 years.

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

Project description: Applicants should describe the specific research/writing planned for the period of the fellowship, the expected output, and a detailed timeline. Describe in detail the project's engagement with the annual theme and how this work will benefit from and contribute to the interdisciplinary scholarly environment. Please remember that Fellows are expected to be in residence at the Center full-time each semester.

Keyword proposal: During the year following their fellowship year, Faculty Fellows are expected to offer a four-part "Keyword" seminar. Each faculty member chooses a single concept or idea-encapsulated by a single word, which may be expanded by a subtitle-and explores it from a particular vantage point. Keyword seminars are intended to engage either (1) an interdisciplinary group from within the Emory community (most often faculty and graduate students), or (2) a broader public audience. Keyword Seminars comprise four weekly sessions over the course of a month (generally in the evening for public audiences and during the workday for Emory audiences). All Keywords should aim to attract an interdisciplinary audience. Please be prepared to enter your Keyword's title, description, format, and desired timing (fall/spring 2026-2027). For examples of recent Keywords, see our website: https://fchi.emory.edu/programs/keywords.html

Recommendation letter: Your recommender will be automatically notified via Interfolio to upload their letter to your file. Their letter should be no longer than one page and should describe how your research project engages the Life/Story theme and how it would benefit from a year in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Letter from department chair: Your department chair will be automatically notified via Interfolio to upload their letter to your file. Your chair will be asked to submit a letter which lists any course releases or leaves you have received since your most recent promotion (or your arrival at Emory, if you have not been promoted since) and confirms that they approve the year of leave from teaching and service obligations that receipt of this fellowship would provide.

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 Faculty Fellowship award, recipients must agree to:

1. conduct research and/or writing in residence full-time at the FCHI for the academic year;
2. take full responsibility for contributing to and maintaining an environment conducive to academic research while at the Center;
3. submit a final report of progress to the Director at the end of the Fellowship;
4. acknowledge the FCHI in all work resulting from research and writing done during the Fellowship;
5. offer a Keyword seminar in the year immediately following the Fellowship year;
6. attend all Fellows' seminar meetings and thematic programming sponsored by the FCHI during their terms of residence;
7. immediately notify the FCHI of any other support or of any conflicts with the restrictions and conditions of this Fellowship Program;
8. return to their Emory University positions for three consecutive years immediately following their Fellowship.

Please note: If for any reason a fellow's circumstances change (such as Sabbatical Leave, Leave Without Pay, or the receipt of any grant or award that conflicts with the restrictions and conditions of this fellowship), and the grantee is unable to use the fellowship during the academic year for which it was granted, the Fellowship will be forfeited. If you accept another fellowship before notification about the FCHI program, please inform the FCHI as soon as possible so that alternates can be contacted promptly. 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 the IRB website: www.irb.emory.edu. The FCHI regrets that it is unable to provide any assessments of unsuccessful applications.

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.