Kenan Summer Internships (for students without full summer funding)

Kenan Summer Internships align with our signature programs, our labs, and our campus and community initiatives.

Our goal is to attract PhD students with interests that align with any of these programs. For summer 2023, we are especially interested in securing PhD interns for America’s Hallowed Ground, the Prison Engagement Initiative, Just Environments, Democracy and Higher Education, and the Regenerative Future’s Lab.

Internships may involve six weeks, eight weeks, or twelve weeks of engagement, between May 15 – August 18, 2023, with no more than 19.9 hours/week, leaving time for students to engage with their own research, study and/or writing.

All internship opportunities are configured in one of the following formats:

• Three months (12 weeks, 19.9 hours/week)
• Two months (8 weeks, 19.9 hours/week)
• One and a half months (6 weeks/19.9 hours/week)

Stipends are commensurate with the three options for length of engagement:

• Three months: $8,415
• Two months: $5,610
• One and a half months: $4,207.50

Stipends will be paid across Duke’s June – August payroll cycles. Summer tuition is covered, and your department will also receive the summer health fee.

Kenan Summer Dissertation Awards (for students without full summer funding)

Summer Dissertation Awards provide funding for post-prelim PhD students prepared to spend the summer researching and writing dissertations focused on questions of ethics, especially if those questions align with the Institute’s emphasis on the good life, the good community, and the good society.

These awards are for twelve weeks between May 15 – August 18, 2023, and include a stipend of $8,415, to be paid across Duke’s June – August payroll cycles. Summer tuition is also covered, and your department will receive the summer health fee.

Summer Dissertation Research Travel Awards

The Kenan Summer Dissertation Research Travel Award provides funding for PhD students to travel in order to conduct pre-dissertation or dissertation research that focuses on questions of ethics, especially if those questions align with the Institute’s emphasis on the good life, the good community, and the good society. All PhD students are eligible to apply for up to $4,000 for domestic travel support, and $5,000 for international travel.

These three opportunities are competitive, and PhD students interested in any of them should contact David Toole to express interest and acquire details about how to apply.