Obama Fellowship

Through the Obama Fellowship program, the Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies invites outstanding international scholars to lecture and work at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. The Fellowship offers financial support, office space, and facilities for visiting scholars. Up to five fellowships are on offer each year.  Fellows spend a significant amount of time at the Obama Institute, usually between two and four weeks. They pursue their individual research, but are expected to participate in graduate teaching, as well as offer a public lecture and make themselves available to postgraduate students.

Obama Institute Fellowships are both by application and by invitation. Applications are considered by the Obama Institute Board twice a year (normally February and July) and should be submitted to the Speaker of the Obama Institute by 1 February and 1 July respectively. Applications should consist of a letter of interest describing the proposed purpose, duration and timing of the stay. They should also include a research proposal (c. 500 words) and a curriculum vitae.

Applications are welcome from but not limited to the following fields:

  • Early American Studies
  • Life Writing/Life Sciences
  • Material Studies
  • Medical Humanities
  • Migration and Social Policy
  • Periodical Studies
  • Political & Intellectual History
  • Religion and Politics
  • Transnational American Studies
  • Transnational Indigenous Studies

Obama Fellows 2020-22

Prof. Moustafa Bayoumi (Brooklyn College, CUNY)
Prof. Herman L. Bennett (CUNY)
Prof. Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera (University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez)
Prof. Chad E. Seales (University of Texas at Austin)
Prof. Ruth Stanford (Georgia State University, Atlanta)
Prof. Linda L. Sturtz (Macalester College, St. Paul, MN)
Prof. Sean Theriault (University of Texas at Austin)

Obama Fellows 2019

Prof. Ian Afflerbach (University of North Georgia)
Prof. Hsuan L. Hsu (University of California, Davis)
Prof. Richard King
(University of Nottingham)
Prof. Walter Benn Michaels (University of Illinois at Chicago)
Prof. Mathias Nilges (St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia)
Prof. Elizabeth Tandy Shermer (Loyola University, Chicago)
Prof. David K. Thomson (Sacred Heart University)
Denise Uyehara (Performance Artist)
Prof. Elizabeth West (Georgia State University)

Obama Fellows 2018

Prof. Celeste-Marie Bernier (University of Edinburgh)
Prof. Michael Boyden (Uppsala University)
Prof. Suzanne Ferriss (emeritus, Nova Southeastern University)
Prof. Mark Noonan (CUNY)
Prof. Markus Reisenleitner (York University)
Prof. Laura Stevens (University of Tulsa)

Obama Fellows 2017

Prof. Craig Howes (University of Hawai’i at Manoa)
Prof. Michaela Hoenicke Moore (University of Iowa)
Prof. Nina Morgan (Kennesaw State University)

Obama Fellows 2016

Prof. Patrick Erben (University of West Georgia, May-July, 2016)
Prof. Rebecca Harrison (University of West Georgia)
Prof. Sandy Isenstadt (University of Delaware)
Prof. Alan Lessoff (Illinois State University, Summer 2016)
Prof. Charles Wilson (University of Mississippi)

Obama Fellows 2015

Prof. Greg Robinson (Univ. Montreal, 7-27 May 2015)
Prof. Martin Brückner (University of Delaware; Center for Material Studies, 1-2 June, 2015)
Prof. Shauna M. Morgan (formerly Kirlew) (Howard University, June-July 2015)

Contact

Prof. Dr. Alfred Hornung
Speaker, Obama Institute for Transnational American Studies
University of Mainz
Jakob-Welder-Weg 20
55128 Mainz Germany

+49 6131 39-23535
hornung@uni-mainz.de