Mike Grigoni

Team Kenan is a part of the Kenan Institute for Ethics’ social and intellectual community, creating spaces for students, faculty, and Institute staff to think and talk about ethics outside of the classroom in fun and engaging ways. Team Kenan serves as a complement to the Institute’s curricular offerings, giving students who are interested in ethics additional opportunities to chat, think, and challenge one another and the wider Duke community.

The team, made up of a diverse cross-section of Duke students, engages the Duke community through “couching,” Kenan’s mobile living room. Team Kenan members invite students to sit and discuss selected topics related to ethics. Meant to inspire spontaneous, unplanned moments of connection, the TK Couch brings ethical inquiry (and comfy chairs) to Duke students wherever they might be.

In addition to couching, Team Kenan also plans and participates in other events in coordination with the staff at the Institute. Team Kenan members are expected to be part of the Kenan community, which involves becoming familiar with and participating in Kenan’s wider programming. Members of Team Kenan will develop interviewing and surveying skills, learn methods for effective communication in conversation, writing, and design, work on personal and professional presentation, and take part in event planning.

Team Kenan participants will receive a $1000 honorarium. The renewal of the contract for the spring semester is not automatic; members will be invited to continue as fellows based on their December evaluations. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 9, 2022, by 11:59pm.

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APPLY for the 2022-23 Religions and Public Life Graduate Fellowship

“Religion, Peace and War”

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MIDNIGHT, FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022

 
Each year, Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics funds a Graduate Student Working Group that explores a theme related to religion’s role in contemporary society. In response to the global shifts of 2022, this year’s theme will be “Religion, Peace and War.”

The call is open to graduate and professional students wishing to take part in monthly, student-led seminars on “Religion, Peace and War.” A wide variety of projects exploring this theme are welcome, including topics such as: Religion, War and Refugees; Religion, War and the Environment; Peace, War and Interreligious Dialogue; Religion, Political Polarization and Violence; Religion, Nationalism, and Peacebuilding; Diasporas, Conflict Transformation and Peace. Members of last year’s group are welcome to reapply but preference will be given to new applicants.

Religions and Public Life provides an interdisciplinary platform that puts scholars, students, and practitioners in conversation with one another through collaborative research, innovative teaching, and community engagement. As part of Religions and Public Life, the Graduate Student Working Group contributes to an exploration of the role of religions in historical and cultural context as they influence the lives of their adherents, interact with each other across time and geography, and contribute to the formation of institutions that constitute public life. In addition to the Kenan Institute for Ethics, funding for the graduate scholars also comes from generous support from the Duke Center for Jewish Studies (CJS), the Duke University Middle East Studies Center (DUMESC), and the Gerst Fund.

Expectations

Graduate Student Working Group members will have the opportunity to develop their research interests and discuss recent scholarship. Members take active part in the events of Religions and Public Life and commit to attending monthly meetings throughout the academic year. At the conclusion of the fellowship, members will write a think-piece or blog post relating their research to contemporary issues, to be published on the Religions and Public Life website. Additionally, members will take part in an end-of-year research conference. Those receiving CJS or DUMESC funding are also expected to participate in at least two CJS or DUMESC events, respectively, during the academic year.

Funding

Graduate scholars each receive a stipend of $1,250 that supplements their current funding. The sum is provided in two payments, one in the fall semester and one in the spring semester.

Application and Deadline

To apply, please submit the materials listed below to Michael Grigoni by midnight on Friday, August 12, 2022, with the subject line: “Religions & Public Life Graduate Fellowship.”

• Curriculum vita
• Project description (1-2 pages) describing how your research connects to the theme of “Religion, Peace and War.”

For further information, email Michael Grigoni with “Religions & Public Life Graduate Fellowship” in the subject heading.
 

Each year, the Kenan Institute for Ethics awards between 10 and 15 fellowships to outstanding graduate students at Duke University.

Students from any Duke Ph.D. program may apply. What each cohort of Graduate Fellows will have in common is that their dissertation research engages in interesting ways with significant normative issues. Some students, for example – from disciplines such as philosophy, political theory, or theology – focus directly on fundamental ethical or political concepts and theories. Other fellows, from the sciences and social sciences, try to understand phenomena that are relevant to major, and often controversial, public policy debates. Still others attempt to resolve debates in their areas of research that seem to be sustained by long-standing disagreements over both empirical claims and ethical or ideological commitments.

The aim of the on-going discussions throughout the year, among the Fellows and KIE faculty members, is to enhance everyone’s ability to contribute to debates involving ethical issues, and to do so in ways that engage scholars and others within and outside of their own academic disciplines.

Ideal Graduate Fellow candidates will be in the third, fourth, or fifth year of their Ph.D. studies, finished all (or almost all) of their coursework requirements, but still developing new ideas and approaches for their dissertation research. Fellows each receive a stipend of $3,000 that supplements their current funding.

Graduate Fellows meet in person for a Monday seminar about a dozen times across the Fall and Spring semesters. These seminars often feature visiting speakers and do not typically require preparation in advance. There are also two half-day workshops – one at the end of each term – in which Fellows showcase their own research.

To apply: e-mail the application, along with a copy of your CV, to Michael Grigoni with the subject line “Kenan Graduate Fellowship.”

DEADLINE: 12 NOON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2022.

For further information, email Michael Grigoni with “Kenan Graduate Fellowship” in the subject heading.