The University Record, March 26, 2001

Society of Fellows names four members

From the Michigan Society of Fellows

The Michigan Society of Fellows has selected four new fellows to serve three-year appointments as postdoctoral scholars and assistant professors, beginning this fall. The fellows were chosen for the importance and quality of their scholarship and for their interest in interdisciplinary academic work. During their tenure at the University, they will teach selected courses in their affiliated departments and continue their scholarly research.

The new fellows, their affiliated departments and research interests are as follows:

  • Joshua Barker will be affiliated with the departments of anthropology and Asian languages and cultures. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell University. His research is on the cultural significance of modern communication technologies in Indonesia.

  • Giorgio Bertellini will be affiliated with the Program in Film and Video Studies. He received his Ph.D. from New York University. His area of specialization is film and ethnic history, especially the role of Italian films in Italian American communities.

  • Simon Dickie will be affiliated with the Department of English Language and Literature. He is receiving his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He will explore the ways in which Western culture has pathologized behavior once accepted as normal, if distasteful.

  • Rachel Sturman will be affiliated with the Department of History. She is receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. She will engage in a comparative study of the process of secularization in late imperial India and Britain.

    Seven fellows appointed in previous years will continue their affiliation with the Society of Fellows. They are Sharad Chari, anthropology and history; Vaughn Cooper, biology; Alka Patel, history of art; Monica Prasad, sociology; Peter Wilf, Museum of Paleontology and geological sciences; Daniel Rothenberg, anthropology; and Robert Self, history.

    The Michigan Society of Fellows was founded in 1870 with grants from the Ford Foundation and the Horace H. and Mary Rackham Funds. The Society provides financial and intellectual support to individuals selected for professional promise and interdisciplinary interests. Competition for the fellowships is open to eligible candidates in the physical and life sciences, engineering, social sciences and education, the humanities, and the arts.