Six new fellows to study 'Borders and Boundaries'
Painting by Gertrudes Chávez Ponce, of her home in Atarque, New Mexico. Contributed by Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez as part of her project "Embodying 'Querencia' in the Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico Borderlands."
The Institute for Humanities Research has awarded six fellowships to humanities scholars at Arizona State University.
Scholars will meet together regularly to share ideas and resources related to the 2019–20 fellows theme, “Borders and Boundaries.”
The theme seeks to provoke conversation around the following questions:
What functions do borders and boundaries serve? Who makes and guards them? Who confronts and crosses them? Who do they serve and who do they limit? How does our current attention to borders and boundaries in this age of globalization reflect new worries, and how does it echo old ones?
This timely topic will drive an accomplished group of faculty to pursue socially embedded research.
2019–20 Fellows
Anna Cichopek-Gajraj, associate professor, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Project: In Transit: Postwar Journeys of Jewish and Catholic Refugees from Poland (1940s–50s).
Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, assistant professor, Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication, College of Integrative Sciences and Arts. Project: Embodying “Querencia” in the Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico Borderlands.
William Hedberg, assistant professor, School of International Letters and Cultures, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Project: Utopia in Translation: Literature, Travel and Encounter in Early Modern East Asia.
Laurie Manchester, associate professor, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Project: From China to the USSR: The Return of the “True” Russians.
Miriam Mara, associate professor, School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. Project: Literature and Food Sovereignty in Post Celtic Tiger Ireland.
Calvin Schermerhorn, professor, School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Project: 20 Generations Short: The Making of America’s Racial Wealth Gap, 1619–2019.
More Arts, humanities and education
ASU course explores culture through an interdisciplinary lens
When Razieh Araghi joined Arizona State University in fall 2025, she wanted to show students the power of humanities. Her…
ASU launches ‘AI-Informed Writing Classroom’
“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”This question, attributed to novelist E.M. Forster, alludes to the role…
Fluent Futures Lab teaches what English textbooks miss
Learning English is about more than mastering key vocabulary and demonstrating verb tenses — it’s about knowing what to say…