Nicholson Fellowship at Cornell Summer Institute

Applications are invited from full-time graduate students for the Nicholson Graduate Fellowship, which allows for the selection of two Sponsored Participants by the Unit for Criticism to participate in the School of Criticism and Theory (SCT) at Cornell University. We welcome applications from graduate students whose research centers on critical and interpretive theory or the interdisciplinary study of culture and the arts.

General Information

The Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory has historically offered fellowships for two graduate students to attend the School of Criticism and Theory (SCT) at Cornell University. Directed by Carolyn Rouse (Anthropology, Princeton), the SCT is a six-week summer institute that has been offering graduate students and faculty members the opportunity to take seminars with some of the world’s leading critical theorists. The SCT offers unparalleled opportunities for advanced training in critical theory and to connect with an international cohort of peers and world-class scholars.

For the Nicholson fellowship awardees, the Unit covers the SCT tuition in full and contributes a stipend that covers housing, food, and transportation costs. On-campus housing at Cornell costs over $3,500 for six weeks, though less expensive options in town are available.

See the eligibility criteria for more information, including the application link below. For more information about the SCT, including detailed seminar descriptions, see Cornell's School of Criticism and Theory website.

2025 Major Seminars

This summer’s SCT will take place in person from June 8 - July 17, 2025 and will feature the following four six-week seminars from which participants pick one:

Black Living, Black Art — Autumn M. Womack (African American Studies & English, Princeton University)
The Terms of Violence — Fadi A. Bardawil (Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University)
An Aesthetics of the End — Naveeda Khan (Anthropology, Johns Hopkins University)
Play and Freedom — Patrick Jagoda (Cinema and Media Studies, English, & Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago)

Eligibility:

Applicants must be full-time graduate students enrolled in a degree-granting program at UIUC who will return to UIUC in Fall 2025.
Applicants must be affiliated with the Unit for Criticism, though affiliation applications can be submitted before the fellowship deadline. Follow this link to the affiliation form.

Instructions:
Students who would like to apply to be one of the Unit for Criticism’s Nicholson Fellows/Sponsored Participants should read the guidelines below and submit the necessary materials no later than January 17, 2025.

Fellowships will be awarded by a selection committee made up of the Unit’s multidisciplinary Advisory Board. Please note that the SCT recommends that students be in their post-coursework phase of scholarship and that preference will be given to students at more advanced stages. However, all students who meet the Eligibility Criteria described below are eligible to apply.

Application Materials:

A short cover letter that includes the following information:
- the names of two Illinois faculty references.
- the title of the six-week seminar the student would like to attend.
A statement of approximately two pages, single-spaced, describing current scholarly interests and plans and a description of how the SCT might further these goals. The statement should include information about courses taken in critical theory and about ongoing and projected research projects. It should also clarify what your current status is in your program (i.e. ABD, taking courses, etc.). Please be sure to connect your interests and research to the particular seminar you would like to attend. This is the most important part of your application.
A current C.V.
1 letter of recommendation, preferably from the dissertation supervisor. (Note that two names are required for the Cornell application, but the Unit only requires one actual letter at this early stage of the application.)

Guidelines for Enrollment in SCT:
If your application is accepted by the Unit for Criticism, you will need to submit a truncated set of application materials to the SCT. The Unit’s Sponsored Participants will automatically be given special consideration by the SCT.

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Unit for Criticism Director D. Fairchild Ruggles after consulting the Unit's website which includes testimonials from previous Unit students who have attended SCT.

To apply, email all the required documents to D. Fairchild Ruggles (dfr1@illinois.edu)

Read our past Unit SCT fellows' reflections:

Previous Unit SCT Fellows

2016: Jennifer L. Thomas and Daniel F. Johnson Mardones

2015: Jeffrey Okla Elliot and Roman Friedman

2014: Andrew Santana Kaplan and Brenda Sanya

2013: Julie McCormick Weng and Brandon Jones

2012: Ben Bascom and Michael Uhall

2011: Chase Dimock and Claire Barber

2010: Ergin Bulut and Austin Riede

2009: Melissa Free and Zia Gluhbegivic

General Information

2025 Major Seminars

Read our past Unit SCT fellows' reflections:

2024 Fellows

2023 Fellows

2022 Fellows

2021 Fellows

2019 Fellows

2018 Fellows

2017 Fellows

Previous Unit SCT Fellows