The Michigan Society of Fellows has selected six new members from more than 500 applications to serve three-year appointments as postdoctoral fellows and assistant professors at the University of Michigan, beginning this fall.
The fellows were chosen for the importance and quality of their scholarship and for their interest in interdisciplinary work.
During their tenure at U-M they will teach selected courses in their affiliated departments and continue their scholarly research.
The new fellows, listed with their affiliated department at U-M, their degree-granting institution, and their research project are:
Ismael Biyashev, History, LSA; University of Illinois, Chicago
“Beyond Myths and Ruins: Archaeology and Nomadism in the Russian Empire and the Early USSR 1850-1920s”
Biyashev is a historian of empire, and a specialist in Russian imperial and early Soviet history. Biyashev’s book manuscript examines the emergence of “nomadic archaeology” in late imperial and early Soviet Russia and charts its historical development.
Ifeolu David, Epidemiology, School of Public Health; University of Missouri, Columbia
“Comparing COVID19 Perspectives and Vaccine Decision Among Healthworkers in Low and High Income Setting”
David is a Sierra Leonean physician who earned his Ph.D. in health and rehabilitation science. His research interests include health disparity, social and behavioral determinants of health, and infectious diseases. He is particularly interested in strengthening global preparedness for public health emergencies.
Anne Kort, Earth and Environmental Sciences, LSA; Indiana University-Bloomington
“Evolution of locomotion in changing landscapes”
Kort is a paleontologist who studies the evolution of locomotion in mammals using 3D scans of fossils.
Paul Kurek, Germanic Languages and Literatures, LSA; University of California, Los Angeles
“Heavy Load-Bearing Modernity: A Cultural Geology of Albert Speer’s Berlin/Germania”
Inspired by his participation in the Urban Humanities Initiative, a think tank of artists, architects, urban planners and humanists, Kurek’s writing explores the intersection of material and intellectual history.
Meghna Sapui, English Language and Literature, LSA; University of Florida
“Edible Empire: Eating in Indian Anglophone Literature, 1820-1910”
Sapui’s research demonstrates how representations of foodways and gastro narratives in 19th-century South Asian literature mediate discourses of race, gender, ecology and labor in the construction of colonial bodies.
Mo Torres, Sociology, LSA, and Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Harvard University
“Race, Place, and the Politics of Urban Austerity in Michigan, 1970s-2010s”
Torres is a historical sociologist interested in questions of urban political economy and racial inequality. His doctoral research traces the development of urban austerity in Michigan cities experiencing fiscal crisis.
Fellows appointed in previous years who will continue as members of the Society of Fellows are: Dmitri Brown, American Culture; Elizabeth Durham, Anthropology; Natalie Hofmeister, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Rijul Kochhar, Anthropology; Roberto Marquez, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Sungwon Park, Nursing; Vyta Pivo, Architecture and Urban Planning; Jeff Sheng, Information; and Henry Stoll, Music.
The Michigan Society of Fellows was founded in 1970 with grants from the Ford Foundation and Horace H. and Mary Rackham Funds. It 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, education, humanities, and the arts.
