Miller Center Awards 2008-09 Fellowships to Nine Accomplished Scholars

May 22, 2008 -- The University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs has selected nine scholars for its 2008-09 Fellowships  in American Politics, Foreign Policy and World Politics. The program awards each fellow a one-year $20,000 grant to complete a dissertation exploring America's relationship to the world, public policy questions, 20th-century politics, or governance in the United States. 

But this unique program offers young scholars more than just a stipend. Each fellow is paired with an academic mentor — a leading national scholar in his or her field of study to consult throughout the fellowship year. In addition, fellows  can take up residence in Charlottesville to take advantage of the Miller  Center's wealth of academic resources.

"Fellows are chosen on the basis of their first-rate scholarship and also on their potential contribution to pressing contemporary problems," said Brian Balogh, associate professor of history at U.Va. and co-chair of the Governing America in a Global Era program. "For example, Christopher Jones' project sheds light on the importance of infrastructure in the transportation of energy by examining businesses that constructed canals, pipelines and generating plants."

This year, the Miller Center received more than 180 applications from scholars nationwide in history, political science, economics, American studies, international relations and sociology. Fellowships are awarded based on the scholarly quality of applications, and the applicants' potential to shed new light on important political and public policy questions. More information about the GAGE program and the Miller Center Fellowship program is online at the Miller Center Web site.

The Miller Center has awarded 83 fellowships since 2000. A majority of recipients have gone on to tenure-track positions or prestigious post-doctoral fellowships at leading colleges and universities. Others are now in public service or at non-profit organizations.

2008-09 MILLER CENTER FELLOWS

Jesse Driscoll, Stanford University, Department of Political Science
(Comparative Politics, International Relations)
"Exiting Anarchy: Militia Politics and the Post-Soviet Peace"

Kathryn Gardner, Notre Dame University, International Relations
"Politicizing Religion: A Comparative Look at the Origins and Development of Muslim Incorporation Policies in France, Great Britain, and the United  States, 1945-2008"

Nicole Hemmer, Columbia University, Department of History
"Messengers of the Right: Media and Modern American Conservatism"

Stefan Heumann, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Political Science
"The Tutelary Empire: State- and Nation-Building in the 19th Century U.S."

Christopher Jones, University of Pennsylvania, Department of History and Sociology of Science
"Energy Highways: Canals, Pipes, and Wires Transform the Mid-Atlantic"

David Karpf, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Political Science
"Network-Enhanced Goods and Internet-Mediated Organizations: The Internet's Effects on Political Participation, Organization, and Mobilization"

Walter Ladwig, University of Oxford, International Relations
"Assisting Counterinsurgents: U.S. Security Assistance and Internal War, 1946-1991"

Anne Peters, University of Virginia, Department of Politics
"Special Relationships, Dollars, and Development: U.S. Foreign Aid and Economic Development in Egypt and Jordan, 1952-2007"

Emily Zackin, Princeton University, Department of Politics
"Positive Rights in the Constitutions of the United States"

Founded in 1975, the Miller Center of Public Affairs is a leading nonpartisan public  policy institution that aims to fulfill Jefferson's public service mission by serving as a national meeting place for engaged citizens, scholars, students, media representatives, and government officials to research, reflect, and report on issues of national importance to the governance of the United States, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency