Four graduate students in the humanities and social sciences named Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellows

Four Princeton Ph.D. candidates have been named Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellows by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) for 2020 and 2021.

Aaron Stamper, a Ph.D. candidate in history, and Kristine Wright, a Ph.D. candidate in religion, have been named among the 22 recipients for 2021. Ph.D. candidates Nyle Fort in religion and Sofia Pinedo-Padoch in anthropology were among the 23 recipients for 2020.

The Newcombe Fellowship is the nation’s largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values. Each fellow receives a 12-month award of $25,000 to support their final year of dissertation work.

Stamper’s dissertation, “Reconfigured and Remade: A Sensory History of Islamic Granada’s Reformation as a Civitas Christiana, 1474-1614,” is a sensory history of Early Modern Granada, as the region transitioned from an Islamic emirate to a Christian kingdom.

Wright’s dissertation, “Bodies of Light and Knowledge: Mormon Women, Religious Authority and Theologies of Health,” explores the intersection of religion, gender and medicine.

Fort’s dissertation is titled “Amazing Grief: The Politics of African American Mourning.”

Pinedo-Padoch’s dissertation is titled “Life After Death in New York City: An Ethnography of Public Administration.”