Five early-career scholars have been welcomed into the inaugural cohort of St. Michael’s College Junior Fellows. As part of St. Michael’s commitment to fostering a community that mobilizes new knowledge in service to the common good, the program will bring together academics and grad students who seek to participate in and contribute to the life of the College.
“The enthusiasm the Junior Fellows bring to St. Michael’s College is already palpable,” says St. Mike’s prof and program coordinator Stephen Tardif. “They are bursting with enthusiasm and innovative ideas not only about how the College might support them in their own research, but how they, in turn, might contribute to our students, and to the intellectual life of the institution more generally.”
The introductory cohort includes:
- Amanda Arulanandam (PhD candidate – Political Science)
- Nicholas Baker (PhD student – History)
- Josie Greenhill (PhD student – Fine Art History/Book History)
- Robin D’Souza (PhD candidate – English)
- Jingxuan Zhang (PhD candidate – Mathematics)
As Junior Fellows, the cohort will contribute to the life of St. Michael’s through a variety of initiatives, including facilitating reading groups in their areas of expertise and taking part in the College’s sponsored programs. The program will also fuel the scholarship of the Fellows through a research stipend and will foster community between them and scholars and professors at St. Mike’s.
“One top priority of mine as a junior fellow is to better engage students in STEM subjects with the college community, especially through interdisciplinary events,” says Zhang, a member of the cohort and a PhD candidate in mathematics. Other junior fellows have begun planning diverse initiatives including writing workshops for students, discussion groups, and research projects on topics such as politics and humility, early-20th-century paramilitary networks, and the history of science and technology.
“After an isolating year and a half, I am so excited to be a part of small academic communities, both at the College as a whole and in my group of Junior Fellows,” says D’Souza. “I hope to contribute to a sense of fellowship at the College, a sense that I have grown to appreciate more during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to bring my research into conversation with that of other budding scholars.”