Kellogg Fellowship

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, 2023. 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.

2022-23 Kellogg Fellows

Communications story about this year’s fellows.

Katie Barton ‘23  (Religion, Anthropology)
Identity Without Place: Diasporic Hindus in Burlington, Vermont

Yardena Gerwin’2.5 (Independent Scholar)
Why Misdiagnosis Never Goes Out of Fashion: Notions of Believability in our Medical System and Beyond

Rain Ji ‘23 (International and Global Studies - Middle East and North Africa)
Hitting Below the Belt? Official and Youth Perceptions of the Belt and Road Initiative in Jordan

Ivonne Maricarmen Juarez Serna ‘23 (Environmental Studies - Environmental Justice, Political Science)
Green Gold, Cartels and Water Wars: The Political Ecology of Mexico’s Avocado Agribusiness

Olivia Pintair ‘22.5 (Environmental Studies - Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment, Education Studies - Elementary)
Non/Extinction: Buddhist Teachings as a Raft Amid Rising Waters

Katrina Rowe ‘23 (History, Political Science)
Assessing the Nature of Early 17th Century British Imperialism; A Comparative Analysis of Founding

Halsey Smith ‘23  (History of Art and Architecture, Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies)
Shazia Sikander: Queering Tradition in Mughal Painting

Mira Vance ‘22.5 (International and Global Studies - Gender and Sexuality)
The Body of a Nation: Ableism and Constructions of Masculinity Through Primary School Education in Modern China