Predoctoral Fellows

About

The University of Pennsylvania is pleased to invite applications for the 2023-24 Predoctoral Fellowships for Excellence through Diversity. These awards are designed to provide mentorship and access to Penn’s resources for doctoral students in the humanities or social sciences, enrolled in graduate or professional programs at universities other than Penn, as they complete their dissertations. The Fellowships are intended to support scholars from a wide range of backgrounds, who can contribute to the diversity of Penn and the higher education community.

These residential Fellowships support graduate students in the final stages of dissertation research or writing at Penn for an academic year, normally September through August. They offer an opportunity for scholars who plan an academic career to take advantage of Penn programs and faculty expertise and afford access to libraries and the resources of the Philadelphia region. Each scholar will be selected and hosted by a department or school and assigned a faculty mentor. Recipients will be in the stage of advanced dissertation research or writing.

The Fellowship provides a stipend of $41,000, health insurance, library privileges, and a $5,000 research and travel fund. The application deadline is January 17, 2023.

Resources

Readings and Resources for Academics – A list created by Lindsey Cameron, Ph.D.  Professor Cameron is Assistant Professor of Management in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and also a member of the 2017-2018 Penn Predoctoral Fellowships for Excellence Through Diversity cohort.

Qualifications

Candidates for the fellowship must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, enrolled in a PhD program in the humanities or social sciences at an accredited university graduate or professional school other than Penn. Candidates must have passed any PhD qualifying examinations and be in an advanced stage of research and writing on an approved dissertation topic. Candidates must be students of exceptional academic merit, who also belong to a group underrepresented in higher education; come from a socially, culturally, or educationally disadvantaged background or have faced other significant personal obstacles; and/or pursue academic research on cultural, societal, or educational problems as they affect disadvantaged or underrepresented sectors of society.

Application

Applicants should submit:

  • A letter from a Penn faculty member with compatible research interests who you have contacted and who has agreed to act as a mentor for the duration of the fellowship.
  • Two letters of recommendation, signed and on official letter head. One must come from the dissertation advisor, commenting on the student’s performance, potential, and expected time to degree. At least one of the letters must address the applicant’s contribution to diversity in higher education.
  • Official graduate transcript(s).
  • Current curriculum vitae.

Applications will be accepted at https://apply.interfolio.com/117464.

Questions can be addressed to the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty at provost-fac@upenn.edu.

2023-2024 Fellows
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Kennia Coronado

Political Science, School of Arts & Sciences
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Kennia Coronado

Political Science, School of Arts & Sciences

Home institution - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Penn school - School of Arts & Sciences
Penn department - Political Sciences
Penn mentor - Michael Jones-Correa
Dissertation Title - Latinos and Presidential Elections in the Age of Immigration Surveillance: La Participación Política

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Karelle Hall

Anthropology, School of Arts & Sciences
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Karelle Hall

Anthropology, School of Arts & Sciences

Home institution - Rutgers University
Penn school - School of Arts & Sciences
Penn department - Anthropology
Penn mentor - Margaret Bruchac
Dissertation Title - Distributed Sovereignties: Creating Nanticoke and Lenape Traditional Futures

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Wanda Hernández

Africana Studies, School of Arts & Sciences
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Wanda Hernández

Africana Studies, School of Arts & Sciences

Home institution - University of Maryland
Penn school - School of Arts & Sciences
Penn department - Africana Studies
Penn mentor - Keisha-Khan Perry
Dissertation Title - Performing Archives: How Central Americans Perform Race in the Washington Metro Area

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Alé Romero

Graduate School of Education
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Alé Romero

Graduate School of Education

Home institution - Stanford University
Penn school - Graduate School of Education
Penn mentor - Nelson Flores
Dissertation Title - A Genealogy of Racialized Gender in Conceptualizations of the Child from John Locke to James Mark Baldwin

Former PreDoctoral Fellows
Devon Borowski
Music, School of Arts & Sciences

2022-2023 Fellow
Music

Dana Burton
Anthropology, School of Arts & Sciences

2022-2023 Fellow
Anthropology

Christina Thomas
History, School of Arts & Sciences

2022-2023 Fellow
History

Dionte Harris
English, School of Arts & Sciences

2021-2022 Fellow
English

Uchenna Itam
History of Art, School of Arts & Sciences

2021-2022 Fellow
History of Art

Ariel Stevenson
Africana Studies, Annenberg School for Communication

2021-2022 Fellow
Communication Studies

Alexander Sutton

2021-2022 Fellow
Sociology


Moyagaye Bedward
Arts & Sciences

2020-2021  Fellow
History

Eun-Jin Keish Kim

2020-2021 Fellow
Philosophy

Kiana Murphy

2020-2021 Fellow
English Language & Literature

German Pallares
Weitzman School of Design

2020-2021 Fellow
Architecture

Paulina Dela Cruz Inara Rodis
Annenberg School for Communication

2020-2021 Fellow
Sociology


Brandon Alston
Law

2019-2020 Fellow
Sociology

Nyle Fort

2019-2020 Fellow
Religion and African American Studies

Robert Franco

2019-2020 Fellow
History

Peggy Lee

2019-2020 Fellow
Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies

Sara Musaifer

2019-2020 Fellow
Comparative & Intl. Development Educ.


Beatrice Choi

2018-2019 Fellow
Communication Studies

Chinbo Chong

2018-2019 Fellow
Political Science

Deshonay Dozier

2018-2019 Fellow
Environmental Psychology

Adrien Sebro

2018-2019 Fellow
Film & Television Studies

Anjanette Tack

2018-2019 Fellow
Political Science


Yanie Fecu

2017-2018 Fellow
Comparative Literature

Matthew Clair

2017-2018 Fellow
Sociology

Lindsey D. Cameron

2017-2018 Fellow
Management and Organization

Eric Gonzaba

2017-2018 Fellow
American History

David Chandler Hughes

2017-2018 Fellow
Educational Leadership


Mariana Giusti-Rodríguez

2016-2017 Fellow
Political Science

Sandy Placido

2016-2017 Fellow
American Studies

Kaya Williams

2016-2017 Fellow
Socio-Cultural Anthropology


Allison Harris

2015-2016 Fellow
Political Science

Dominick Rolle

2015-2016 Fellow
African Disasporic Literature

Celeste T.V. Sharpe

2015-2016 Fellow
American History


Darius Bost

2013-2014 Fellow
American Studies

Solange Bumbaugh

2013-2014 Fellow
Egyptology

Francisco Ramos

2013-2014 Fellow
History

Grace Sanders

2012-2013 Fellow
American Studies

Nahir Otaño Gracia

2012-2013 Fellow
Comparative Literature

Courtney Carter

2012-2013 Fellow
Sociology