Outstanding Scholars Named As 2025 Career Enhancement Fellows

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars has named 20 new Career Enhancement Fellows for the 2025–26 academic year.

The Career Enhancement Fellowship, funded by the Mellon Foundation and administered by Citizens & Scholars, seeks to increase the presence of outstanding junior faculty committed to campus engagement and thought-provoking research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences.

The 2025 Career Enhancement Fellows’ research advances disciplines such as American Studies, anthropology, indigenous studies, global studies, classics, Germanic languages, and more. Beyond the broad range of humanities disciplines, the 2025 Fellows come from a range of institutions across the country. Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, Fellows are expanding perspectives within their disciplines and are committed to research and service that encourages critical thinking and innovative problem solving on campus. (Full list of Fellows, institutions, and departments below.)

The program provides Fellows with a six-month or one-year sabbatical stipend (up to $35,000); a research, travel, or publication stipend (up to $1,500); mentoring; and participation in a professional development retreat. For the 2025 cohort, eight junior faculty members will receive 12-month Fellowships and 12 will receive six-month Fellowships.

Administered at Citizens & Scholars since 2001, the Career Enhancement Fellowship has supported more than 500 junior faculty members, creating a robust network of scholars committed to research and engagement in core fields in the arts and humanities. Fellows have gone on to serve in administrative and leadership roles, receive high honors like MacArthur Fellowships, and teach new generations of students.

For more information about the Career Enhancement Fellowship, eligibility requirements, and the next application cycle, visit the Career Enhancement Fellowship page.

2025 Career Enhancement Fellows

12-Month Fellows

Esmeralda Arrizón-Palomera | University of Illinois, Chicago | English

M. Aziz | University of Washington | American Ethnic Studies

Khadeidra Billingsley | Jacksonville State University | English

Kelly Chung | Williams College | American Studies

Montgomery Hill | University at Buffalo | Indigenous Studies

Catherine H. Nguyen | Emerson College | Writing, Literature & Publishing

Diana Flores Ruíz | University of Washington – Seattle | Cinema & Media Studies

David Turner III | University of California, Los Angeles | Social Welfare

Six-Month Fellows

Kevan Antonio Aguilar | University of California, Irvine | History

Alexia Angton | University of Arkansas – Fayetteville | Sociology & Criminology

Emily R. Bock | George Washington University | American Studies

Rob Chlala | California State University – Long Beach | Sociology

Jorge Cuéllar | Dartmouth College | Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies

Amarilys Estrella | Rice University | Anthropology

Brenda Nicolas | University of California, Irvine | Global and International Studies

Julia Mollenthiel | University of Florida | English/African American Studies

Cynthia Porter | The Ohio State University | Germanic Languages and Literatures

Michael Reyes Salas | Vassar College | Africana Studies Program

Sekani L. Robinson | California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Sociology

Kishauna Soljour | San Diego State University | Classics and Humanities

Mesi Walton | Howard University | World Languages and Cultures