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Undergraduate Fellowships

The Fox Center's Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellowship is a selective program for Emory undergraduates who are undertaking honors research of the highest quality in humanistic and artistic disciplines. Each year we select up to 12 fellows whose projects engage our annual theme to join our interdisciplinary community of scholars and benefit from mentorship, research funding, and training in research skills. For 2025-26, our theme is Life/Story.

More information on how to apply can be found below. Applications for our 2025-2026 cohort are now open and will close at 11:59PM on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Start your application→

2025-26 Research Theme: "Life/Story"

For 2025-2026, we are pleased to invite applications from students in any humanistic field whose honors thesis engages our theme Life/Story.

  • How do the humanities capture a life, and in what ways does this genre—the craft of unearthing and rendering a life story—shed light upon key moments in time, social and political movements, critical junctures in history, or elements fundamental to a particular culture and place?
  • How are different methodologies and epistemologies mobilized in telling the story of a life that also offer broad social and political commentaries?
  • How does a single biography, in any medium, shed light upon central themes of the human condition?

We envision that fellows may pursue research employing a range of historical, contemporary, social, cultural, artistic, and philosophical approaches to capturing a life, including but not limited to oral and archival histories, ethnography, literary analysis, philosophy, creative writing and film.

LifeStory_3x2

What Our Program Offers

  • Research Funding
    • Honors Fellows are awarded a $1,000 stipend to help support their research and writing. Additional funds are available to support conference travel for the purpose of presenting research.
  • Dedicated Writing Space
    • Honors Fellows receive access to a dedicated writing space in the Fox Center beginning in the fall and continuing throughout the year.
  • Mentorship
    • Each Honors Fellow is paired with a current researcher-in-residence at the Fox Center (either a graduate, postdoctoral, or faculty fellow) for mentorship and support related to research, writing, and professional development. Additionally, fellows are invited to attend office hours with Fox Center Director Carla Freeman and the seminar TA. 
  • Peer-Review Workshops 
    • Honors Fellows receive structured feedback on their research and thesis progress from their cohort, facilitating cross-disciplinary conversations and providing motivation through the challenges of completing the thesis.
  • Conference-Style Research Presentation
    • Each Honors Fellow will practice formally presenting their thesis, cultivating the art of effectively communicating research findings to diverse audiences, culminating in the presentation of research at our annual Honors Fellows' colloquium.
  • Writing Bootcamps
    • Optional writing bootcamps provide a collegial and encouraging space for focused writing time with peers. The sessions are typically organized using the Pomodoro method.  
  • Immersive Humanities Activities
    • Honors Fellows are offered opportunities to experience the vibrant intellectual and cultural environment of the humanities through activities such as museum visits, theater performances, film screenings, etc.

 Spring 2024 Undergraduate Fellows at their Spring Colloquium

Spring 2024 Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellows at their Spring Colloquium in Ackerman Hall.

 Spring 2024 Undergraduate Fellows at the Carlos Museum

2024-25 Undergraduate Humanities Honors Fellows on a tour of the Carlos Museum with Former Dissertation Completion Fellow Haley Jones.

Yazi Zheng, 24-25 Undergraduate Fellow

"My interactions with my peers and mentors during peer review sessions have positively impacted my work, pushing me to develop my research from a vague interest into a specific argument."

Ariella Shulman, 24-25 Undergraduate Fellow

"At times, research can feel lonely. But our monthly check-ins allow me to interact with other students experiencing similar issues. It’s really comforting and often inspiring for my work."

Paige Scanlon, 24-25 Undergraduate Fellow

"My favorite part of the Fox Center Fellowship is how interdisciplinary the program is. It has encouraged me to form connections between my thesis and other areas of my life."

What Is Expected of Fellows

  • Seminar Enrollment: Honors Fellows are required to enroll in the Fox Center’s Honors Seminar ECS 470 (1 credit hour) in fall semester of their senior year. This course is graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. Fellows receive an "in progress" grade in fall semester and a "Satisfactory" grade upon completion of all requirements.
  • Seminar Meetings: The seminar meets three times in the fall semester and three times in the spring semester, culminating in a final colloquium (additional) in April. Fellows must be able to attend meetings on Thursdays, 4-6 pm, in both fall and spring semesters. Attendance at all meetings is mandatory.
  • Programming Participation: Honors Fellows are required to attend special events hosted by the Fox Center on the annual research theme, including the opening and closing lectures.
  • Writing Workshops and Bootcamps: Fellows are invited to attend optional writing workshops in fall and spring semester.
  • Thesis Submission: Honors fellows are expected to submit their completed thesis to the Center for our archives.
  • Graduation: Honors Fellows are expected to graduate in May of the academic year in which the fellowship is held.

How to Apply

To apply, complete our online application form (you may be asked to log in with your Emory credentials). You will be asked to upload the following documents:

  1. Project description (500 words or less)
  2. Resume/CV
  3. Unofficial Emory transcript

Please request a letter of recommendation from your honors project advisor to be emailed directly to foxcenter@emory.edu by the closing deadline. Incomplete applications will not be considered after the deadline.

Application Timeline

  • February 10, 2025: Online application form goes live.
  • May 1, 2025, 11.59pm: Applications close. Letters of recommendation must be received before the deadline.
  • Early June: Decisions are announced.

Frequently Asked Questions

Honors projects must engage the annual research theme.

Yes. You must name your primary advisor and may list other members as "provisional" if these have not yet been finalized.

Yes, do your best to outline the primary focus and research question you aim to explore in your thesis. We realize that your thesis will develop greater clarity in the year ahead.

Yes, you must maintain a minimum of a 3.7 GPA to be eligible for the fellowship. We will request submission of an updated transcript with spring semester grades before we make final selection decisions.

No. Attendance at all of the required sessions of the FCHI undergraduate honors thesis seminar is mandatory. All applicants are expected to design their enrollment plan for the fall and spring semesters of their fellowship year in a way that they are able to attend the seminar meetings.

Please email foxcenter@emory.edu.