Five new scholars joined the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts this fall. The society is an interdisciplinary community of postdoctoral fellows and Princeton faculty members that fosters vibrant and innovative interdisciplinary research, teaching and collaboration in the humanities and humanities-related social sciences.
Established in 1999 by a gift from the late charter trustee Lloyd Cotsen and the Humanities Council’s leadership, the society offers outstanding scholars with a recent Ph.D. the opportunity to enhance their teaching and research over a three-year term. Fellows meet regularly for formal and informal discussions, seminars, workshops and reading groups to pursue new knowledge and understanding within and across disciplines.
The society is committed to building a scholarly community with a breadth of experiences and perspectives, and to creating a collaborative environment for inquiry, debate, and groundbreaking scholarship and teaching. Including the incoming cohort, the society has welcomed 128 fellows to Princeton and an even larger number of Princeton faculty members.
“We have a wonderful new group of fellows joining us this year,” said Yelena Baraz, director of the society. “Their research profiles highlight the chronological, geographical and methodological breadth of the society. They are already actively engaging with the community here at Princeton, and I am looking forward to hearing them present their work in our weekly seminars.” Baraz is the Kennedy Foundation Professor of Latin Language and Literature at Princeton and professor of classics.
The full cohort of 13 Cotsen fellows is drawn from a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and humanities-related social sciences — and includes one astrophysicist. Fellows hold appointments as associate research scholars in the Humanities Council, and as lecturers in their academic host departments, teaching one course per term while conducting their own research.
During their time at Princeton, they engage with the campus community in many ways: advising and mentoring undergraduate students, participating in academic programs and panels, presenting their research, developing new courses and co-teaching with faculty members. The new Cotsen fellows of the 2025-28 cohort are:
- Akash Gupta, Cotsen Fellow in the Society of Fellows; postdoctoral fellow in the Departments of Astrophysics and Geosciences
- Lauren Horst, Cotsen Fellow in the Society of Fellows; associate research scholar in the Humanities Council and lecturer in the Department of English
- Tobias Scheunchen, Cotsen Fellow in the Society of Fellows; associate research scholar in the Humanities Council and lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern Studies
- Daniela Valdés, Cotsen Fellow in LGBT Studies in the Society of Fellows; associate research scholar in the Humanities Council and lecturer in the Department of History
- Louis Zweig, Cotsen Fellow in Humanistic Studies in the Society of Fellows; associate research scholar in the Humanities Council and lecturer in the Department of Classics
Read the full story on the University homepage.
Learn more about the new cohort on the Society of Fellows website.
