Curated Immersive Summer Fellowships

Summer immersives provide Ph.D. students with the opportunity to gain experiences with host organizations in collaborative, mission-focused project work drawing on their high-level skills as researchers and writers. Co-mentored by the host organization supervisors, the Faculty Mentor for Summer Immersive Fellowship Cohort, and the Senior Director for Graduate Advising and Engagement for the Humanities, they broaden and deepen their academic and professional development in preparation for high-impact careers within and beyond the academy. 

Each summer, Humanities Engage will collaborate with local organizations that will host Ph.D. students in curated immersive fellowships.  

Summer 2022

Drawing on her research into the practice and politics of archiving Black History, Nadia Hussein (Communication) will work with the Legacy Arts Project to locate, identify, and archive their materials.


Elizabeth KurtzmanElizabeth Kurtzman (Theatre Arts) will build on her previous experience in theatre marketing and management to assist Film Pittsburgh with social media, publicity, marketing, programming, and grant writing/project management.


With Bellingcat, Nozomi Saito (English) will use open source investigation methods to analyze and document disinformation, as well as researching accountability vacuums and resulting humanitarian concerns.


Summer 2021

See the summer 2021 cohort flyer (pdf).

Amanda AwanjoDrawing on her experience with public-facing archival work and art curatorial services, Amanda Awanjo (English) will coordinate a print publication and a series of video vignettes celebrating Women of Visions’ 40th anniversary exhibition at the University Art Gallery.


Jessica BatychenkoJessica Batychenko (English) will use her research interests in urban studies and community histories to assist Monument Lab with curatorial research and publication projects for Staying Power, a participatory art and history exhibition that explores the legacies, mechanics, and politics that connect or disconnect people from place.


Dominique BransonDominique Branson’s (Linguistics) research and professional experience centers around gender and racial equity, and she will use research, writing, and problem-solving to help the Gender Equity Commission identify and implement viable systems for sustaining local coalitions for gender equity.


Sreemoyee DasguptaSreemoyee Dasgupta (English) will support the facilitation of evaluation methods at PRYSE Academy, a summer camp for immigrant youth in middle and high school run by ARYSE, drawing on her scholarship and experience working with globally diverse and underrepresented groups of children and youth.


Darrelstan FergusonWith RefocusED, Darrelstan Ferguson (Hispanic Languages and Literatures) will use his skills in communication, data collection, content analysis, and report writing to create surveys for Voices Against Violence participants, conduct extensive literature reviews, and creatively and impactfully document his findings.


Summer 2020

See the summer 2020 cohort flyer (PDF).

Courtney ColliganCourtney E. Colligan (Theatre Arts) is collecting qualitative, narrative interviews from alumni of GirlGov, the Women and Girls Foundation’s flagship civic engagement program for high-school aged young women interested in developing as our next generation of leaders, advocates, and change-makers, and creating a digital yearbook.