UCI Process Studies & South Asia Fellowship 2024-25

Application opens annually June 1

Deadline: June 30, 2024

Winner notified: July 22, 2024

SUMMARY

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) Program in Religious Studies supports promising PhD students or recent graduates (within 1 year of graduating with PhD and in an teaching or independent research position of some kind) to pursue targeted scholarship in Process-relational philosophy in substantive dialog with any aspect of South Asian traditions and praxis. Projects that engage the Jain tradition are particularly welcome. The PhD Process Studies and South Asia Fellowship comes with a stipend of $1500 to be used at the fellow’s discretion for support during the fellowship period. An additional $500 can be offered to support a presentation at a conference or other public forum.

DESCRIPTION

This fellowship is meant to engage the work of Alfred North Whitehead or other significant process philosophers or process theologians (including, but not limited to: C.S. Peirce, William James, Friedrich Nietzsche, Samuel Alexander, Henri Bergson, John Dewey, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, George Herbert Mead, Charles Hartshorne, John Cobb, Marjorie Suchocki, Carol Christ, Rosemary Radford Reuther, among many others including contemporary voices). This work should be put into dialog with any aspect of South Asian thought or praxis such as violence/nonviolence, literature, poetry, political philosophy, sociology, religion, arts, education, economics, healthcare, environment, plants, animals, gender, materialism, mysticism, duality, constructive metaphysics, transreligious futures, post/secularism, post/coloniality, race or casteism, yoga, self-rule, or other topics. Projects that engage the Jain tradition are particularly welcome.

“South Asia” can be interpreted broadly to include recognized traditions within the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Muslim, or Sikh spheres among other minority Indian traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism) as well as diaspora movements and perspectives/philosophies/practices originating in South Asia (even if no longer centered there) or overlapping South Asia historically, conceptually, or in praxis. Training in relevant languages is preferred though not required, depending on the project.

The fellowship is a 1-quarter (10 week) commitment for intensive mentored scholarship with Professor Brianne Donaldson (UCI), either virtually or in person depending on context, followed by up to two additional 10-week quarters of virtual mentorship to support scholarship completion. The expectation is that the end of the Fellowship corresponds with submission of the completed article (or other relevant output) to at least one peer-reviewed journal.

Funding offered through the UCI Shri Parshvanath Presidential Chair in Jain Studies. This grant is co-sponsored by the Center for Process Studies.

APPLY NOW

APPLICATION

Application requirements:

1 Applicant's letter of intent/research proposal describing:

2.5-3-page single-spaced scholarship proposal with the potential to advance the field of Process Studies and South Asia. Proposal should include the following five items: (a) how you meet eligibility requirements (<10% of proposal), (b) your topic of interest, (c) articulate current gaps in knowledge, problematic issues, or constructive opportunities within the topic of interest, (d) your proposal to address the gap or issue, including a brief description of your methods, sources, or approach, and (e) 2-3 possible target journals for your research.

2 Applications also require a letter of support from the applicant’s institution (preferably from applicant’s department Chair, Director of Graduate Studies, or Dean) attesting to the ability of the candidate to fulfill fellowship expectations in line with any/all applicant institution policies. This letter should be sent directly from writer to Michelle Spivey spiveym@uci.edu.

3 Applicant's current CV

SELECTION CRITERIA AND TIMELINE

Selection criteria:

Feasibility of proposal to be completed within the proposed time frame (up to a total of three 10-week quarters or one academic calendar year)
Novelty and/or rigor of the proposal in enlivening topics of interest in Process Philosophy and South Asia.

Timeline:

· Application deadline is June 30, 2024

· Fellow notification by July 22, 2024

SELECTION COMMITTEE