Department of Africana Studies

Erskine A. Peters Fellows

The Peters Fellowship

The Erskine A. Peters Fellowship was named in honor of a beloved former Notre Dame English Department colleague, Erskine A. Peters. It was with his spirit of dedication to the academy that this fellowship was extended each year to deserving young scholars. Celebrating more than ten years in existence, the Erskine A. Peters Fellowship has produced over forty African American scholars now working in the academy. 

The Peters Fellowship, as it was commonly called, had two overall goals: 1) to enable outstanding African American doctoral candidates in the social sciences and humanities, at the ABD level, to devote their full energies to the completion of the dissertation and 2) to provide opportunities for African American scholars to experience life at the University of Notre Dame, a major Catholic research institution.

The University also provided each fellow with a home department, a faculty mentor in the fellow’s specialization area, office space with use of a personal computer, health insurance, and forum discussions on professional development. The fellowship period extended from August to May and carries a stipend of $30,000 plus a $2,000 research budget.

Recently, the decision was made that the 2011-2012 Erskine Peters Fellows will be the last class seated for this Fellowship.  The University remains committed to diversity and their efforts to enhance minority representation at Notre Dame and in the Academy.  Efforts to this end continue in the Moreau Post-Doctoral Fellowship program hosted by the Provost's Office of the University of Notre Dame.

 

2011–2012 Fellows

Ms. Lia Bascomb

University of California, Berkeley

 

Ms. Funke Sangodeyi

Harvard University

 

Ms. Kira Thurman

University of Rochester