Dartmouth’s Society of Fellows, a postdoctoral fellowship program launched in 2014, offers recent Ph.D. recipients the chance to engage in interdisciplinary research and undergraduate teaching over a three-year term. Designed to bring early-career scholars into the academic community, the program supports nine fellows each year as they conduct research, publish work, and contribute to the liberal arts mission of the College.
Founded by former Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon ’77, the Society was created in response to the College’s lack of graduate programs. Emily Walton, the program’s faculty director, explained that the Society addresses a gap between Dartmouth’s strong undergraduate body and its faculty by welcoming emerging scholars who can build intellectual bridges across disciplines.
“We have a very strong undergraduate presence and we have a very strong faculty presence, but we don’t have a lot of people in the middle,” Walton said. “The Society’s mission is to fill that middle by bringing in cutting-edge scholars.”
Each fellow pursues individual research in their field, often combining methods or insights from multiple academic areas. Walton described this blending of disciplines as central to the Society’s purpose: “Thinking about anthropology in terms of biology, thinking about religion in terms of race, thinking about history in terms of anthropology.”
In addition to research, second- and third-year fellows are expected to teach undergraduate courses in their host departments. That interaction with students and faculty deepens their work and contributes to Dartmouth’s liberal arts environment.
Postdoctoral fellow Robert Weiner, who studies the sacred geography and history of Chaco Canyon in the American Southwest, said the Society offers both institutional support and intellectual community. “A group of colleagues to discuss ideas with who are coming at things from different perspectives has been hugely catalytic and inspiring,” he said. Weiner also commented on the value of teaching: “Having the opportunity to design and teach that course led me to look at things from religious studies, anthropology, archaeology, cognitive science, literature and even art history.”
Fellow Faiza Rahman, whose research investigates Islamic perspectives on menstruation, said the Society has encouraged her to expand her focus. “Prior to coming to the Society of Fellows, I was just looking at menstrual activism amongst Muslim women at the societal level in Pakistan,” Rahman said. Now, her work engages with global medical history and its intersections with religious belief.
Armani Beck, another fellow, is developing a book titled “Precarious Privilege: Transgender Accounts of Intersectional Masculinity,” which explores how trans individuals navigate male privilege. Beck said the Society has provided both mentorship and encouragement, and emphasized how teaching at Dartmouth has shaped her goals. “I realized very early on in my time here that I want to work with undergrads because my research is important and I want students to know about it,” she said.
The program fosters what Rahman described as a “community” that allows fellows to pursue bold, interdisciplinary work. “Getting everyone’s input on your work very naturally creates that interdisciplinary synergy that really is the avenue to doing good, inventive, bolder research,” she said.
According to Walton, the Society of Fellows not only advances the careers of its participants but also strengthens the academic fabric of the College. “The Society enlivens research in ways we can pass on to undergraduates,” she said. “It’s a way for faculty to participate in and reinforce Dartmouth’s liberal arts experience.”
