The Kenan Dissertation Fellowship in Ethics is awarded annually to an advanced graduate student writing a dissertation with a substantial focus on ethics. Duke students in all disciplines are eligible: arts, humanities, social, physical, and biological sciences.

The Fellowship award is for nine months beginning in September, with a stipend of $19,450 (2009-2010 level), plus fringe benefits provided. The Kenan Dissertation Fellowship recipient is required to participate in the Kenan Graduate Colloquium in Ethics.

How to Apply

Eligibility and application requirements are as follows:

1. Applicants must be advanced doctoral students with all degree requirements met except the dissertation, and this within sight of completion.

2. Selection criteria include quality of the student’s graduate work as well as quality of the dissertation and its expected contribution to ethics scholarship and the discussion of normative issues; the creative and distinctive nature of the dissertation; and evidence that the dissertation will be completed during the fellowship year. Additional considerations may include whether the dissertation contributes to a diversity of disciplines (in the Colloquium and historically in terms of awards) and whether it shows promise of reaching an educated audience outside of its field.

3. No other award may be held concurrently with this fellowship without permission from the Dean of the Graduate School.

4. Applicants must be nominated by their department, program, or school, and applications submitted by the nominating unit to the Kenan Institute for Ethics. Departments, programs, or schools may nominate more than one student.

5. Applicants must submit four collated copies of the following:

• Cover/Information Sheet (Word document)
• Curriculum vitae
• A summary of the candidate’s dissertation project, including a chapter outline and timetable for completion (maximum eight pages, Palatino Linotype font size 11, double spaced on 8 ½ x 11 paper). This should include a paragraph explaining the contribution of the dissertation to ethical inquiry in the applicant’s discipline and/or to practical efforts to address ethical challenges.
• Matriculation date and expected date of completion of all requirements for the Ph.D, including the dissertation, can be on a separate sheet following the summary if additional space is needed.
• Three letters of recommendation; Note: If an individual is writing a reference letter for both awards they may combine it into one letter indicating that they are writing to support the candidate for both the Fellowship and Instructorship.
• Transcript (one original and three copies)

All submissions must be received no later than 5:00pm on February 15 (in cases where this date falls on a weekend, applications are due by 5:00 pm the following Monday), either in the Kenan Institute for Ethics (West Duke Building, Room 102) or by mail (The Kenan Institute for Ethics, Duke University, Box 90432, Durham NC 27708). No late submissions will be accepted.

Note: Candidates submitting applications for both awards should still submit only four complete copies of the items above for the Fellowship along with a course proposal that includes a description of the major themes of the course, an outline of readings and topics, and a discussion of pedagogies to be employed and of how the course would contribute to the teaching of ethics at Duke (maximum five pages, Palatino Linotype Font size 11, double-spaced on 8 ½ x 11 paper) for the Instructorship.

Past Winners

Recipients of this fellowship to date, listed with their disciplines and dissertation titles, are:

William English (2009-10), Political Science. Social Thought & Social Change: Methodological Dilemmas at the Intersection of Science & Ethics

David McIvor (2008-09), Political Science. Political Theory, Democracy, and the Work of Mourning

Kristina McDonald (2007-08), Psychology. Interpretations and Belief Systems Associated with Revenge Motivations

Matthew DeCamp (2006-07), Philosophy. Global Health: A Normative Analysis of Intellectual Property Rights and Global Distributive Justice

Morela Hernandez (2006-07), Fuqua School of Business. Stewardship: A Theory and Test of Its Antecedents”

Heather Settle (2005-06), Cultural Anthropology. The Revolution Interrupted: Reading the Permanent Crisis in Cuba

Alex Feerst (2004-05), English. Bowery Beautiful: Progressive Slumming and Ghetto Aesthetics, 1880-1930

Kate Crassons (2003-04), English, The Practice of Poverty: Literature, Culture, and Ideology of Late Medieval England

Lisa Hazirjian (2002-03), History, The Daily Struggle: Poverty, Power, and Working-Class Life in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, 1929-1969

Thomas Merrill (2001-02), Political Science, Common Life, the Passions and Justice in Hume’s Political Philosophy

Imke Risopp-Nickelson (2000-01), Political Science, The Politics of Norm Internalization: How the European Convention of Human Rights Influences the Enforcement of International Human Rights Standards in Domestic Courts

Vivasvan Soni (1999-00), Literature, Affecting Happiness: The Emergence of the Modern Political Subject in the Eighteenth Century

Troy Dostert (1998-99), Political Science, Political Liberalism, Moral Pluralism, and Religion

Joel Shuman (1997-98), Religion, Caring for Christ’s Body: Medicine as Theopraxis