Skip to main content

Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities

Faculty Theme Fellowship

2024-25 Faculty Theme Fellows: Emerging Technologies in Human Context: Past, Present, and Future

The THEME

The Robert Penn Warren Center’s theme for 2024-25 is Emerging Technologies in Human Context:  Past, Present, and Future and will explore technological innovation and its impacts on human flourishing and futures across time. From the printing press to the internet, electricity to quantum mechanics, steam engines to AI: What can humanistic inquiry tell us about the complex impacts and legacies of these and other technologies? What do emerging technologies tell us about who we are – and what and who we value (and don’t)?

Current Fellows (2023-2024)

  • Dominique Béhague (Medicine, Health & Society)
  • Jefferson Cowie (History)
  • Nicole Creanza (Biological Sciences)
  • Tasha Rijke-Epstein (Anthropology)
  • Carmine Grimaldi (Cinema & Media Arts)
  • Kimberley D. McKinson (Anthropology)

Learn more about the current fellows

Incoming Fellows (2024-2025)

  • Lydia Conklin (English)
  • Julie Gamble (Gender & Sexuality Studies)
  • Huan He (English)
  • David Hess (Sociology)
  • Laura Stark (History)
  • David Thorstad (Philosophy)

Learn more about the incoming fellows

The Program

Fellows will convene on a regular basis to discuss works-in-progress. The schedule and nature of the meetings will be established collectively by the Fellows, in consultation with the Center Director. At the end of the appointment, Fellows will be expected to have completed a significant research project (such as an article, book chapter, or, for more advanced projects, a book manuscript), a creative/artistic project, a scholarly public engagement project, or a high-impact teaching initiative. Each Fellow will also give a public talk or organize a public event related to their work.

ELIGIBILITY

Faculty from all ranks in Arts & Science, Blair, Peabody, and Divinity are invited to apply. Tenured and tenure-track faculty in A&S are eligible for a 1-1 course release; non-tenure-track faculty are eligible for a one-course reduction. Faculty from other schools are encouraged to consult with their dean. This is a residential fellowship; all fellows, including those on leave, are expected to participate fully, in person, in the collaborative work and scheduled meetings of the group.

To Apply

RPW will solicit applications for 2025-26 fellowships in early 2025. Applications will include a CV, projection description, and statement of interest in collaboration. All materials will be reviewed by the RPW Director and the center’s Faculty Advisory Committee and will be forwarded to the relevant dean of the applicant’s school (A&S, Blair, Peabody, and Divinity). Fellowships may be held only once every four years.

Questions

For all questions, please contact Holly Tucker, Director, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.