Undergraduate Fellowship Program

The HRC Undergraduate Fellowships are awarded competitively to outstanding undergraduates who have demonstrated strong potential within the humanities and who are interested in working on interdisciplinary research projects. The HRC has granted 69 undergraduate fellowships thus far, and competition for them has become more intense each year.

This year brings a new opportunity to undergraduate fellows to shape a new curriculum. In collaboration with the Cultures of Energy group, funded by the HRC Faculty Innovation Fund, fellows will participate in a series of lectures by visiting faculty and focus groups with an emphasis on the ways that humanities and energy inform policy and research. Working closely with faculty and graduate students, the undergraduate fellows will explore and discuss humanistic themes in energy, culminating in the development of a syllabus for the Cultures of Energy undergraduate course which they can then take in 2012-13. Follow their work here: http://www.culturesofenergy.com 

HRC Undergraduate Fellows Nadia Khalid, Tommy Mitchell, Michelle Phillips, and Mark Seraydarian presented a poster at the Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium in April 2011.  Click the image below to see a larger view. .

Andy Miller, a former undergraduate fellow from the Bioengineering department says of the program: "The fellowship opportunity was truly transformational as it allowed me to work with a brilliant professor. We tackled complex issues in great depth and I was able to learn a lot about other fields within the Humanities".

2011-12 Fellows

(junior, English) will work with the Humanities Research Center on “Cultures of Energy.”

Carolyn Branecky (junior, philosophy and earth science) will work with Casey O’Callaghan, Rice associate professor of philosophy, on his project, “Philosophical Issues in the Characterization of Mental Illness.”

Parker Eudy (sophomore, religious studies) will work with Jeffrey Kripal, Rice J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought and department chair, on his project, “Comparing Religions: A Textbook Initiation.”

Kay Fukui (senior, English) will work with the Humanities Research Center on “Cultures of Energy.”

Katherine Jenson (senior, history and political science) will work with Kenneth Loiselle from Trinity University, on his project, “History of Freemasonry in France.”

Allison Korinek (senior, history and linguistics) will work with Alida Metcalf, Harris Masterson, Jr. Professor of History on her project, “Images from Rio.”

Erika Kwee (senior, English and policy studies) will work with Diane Wolfthal, Rice David and Caroline Minter Professor of Art History and department chair, on her project, “Corpus of Fifteenth-Century Painting in the Southern Netherlands and the Principality of Liège: Early Netherlandish Paintings in Los Angeles.”

Sunkyo Lee (junior, history) will work with Nicole Waligora-Davis, assistant professor of English, on her project, “Personal Injury and Liability Cases in African-Americans.”

Dylan McNally (senior, Hispanic studies and political science) will work with Gisela Heffes, assistant professor of Hispanic studies on her project, “Environmental Narratives in Latin America.”

Christine Pao (senior, English and psychology) will work with Nicole Waligora-Davis on her project, “Personal Injury and Liability Cases in African-Americans.”

Anne Parker (junior, English) will work with Anne Klein, professor of religious studies, on her project, “Knowing Body.”

Jarvis Sam (senior, history) will work with Caleb McDaniel, assistant professor of history, on his project, “Dick Dowling and the Civil War.”

Marielle Schweickart (senior, history) will work with Kairn Klieman from University of Houston, on her project, “Before the ‘Curse’: Petroleum, Politics, and Transnational Oil Companies in the Gulf of Guinea, Africa, 1890's-1980's.”

Eli Spector (sophomore, philosophy and history) will work with the Humanities Research Center on “Cultures of Energy.”

Krisina Zuniga (senior, philosophy and policy studies) will work with Casey O’Callaghan, Rice associate professor of philosophy, on his project, “Philosophical Issues in the Characterization of Mental Illness.”

Click here to see a list of previous fellows and programs

The HRC Undergraduate Fellowship program is made possible through the generous support of Nancy and Don Mafrige, John Paul Beltran, Charles and Jane Szalkowski, and John and Annette Eldridge. The HRC especially wishes to thank Nancy Packer Carlson ’80 and Clint Carlson '79 for an endowed gift that will sustain the program into the future.