The Jackman Humanities Institute hosts annually an intergenerational community of fellows, each pursuing independent research for an academic year while in residence at the JHI on the 10th floor of the Jackman Humanities Building. The fellows are linked by theme, and they participate in a set of common activities, including weekly lunch seminars and other workshops and lectures.
We are seeking a small number of advanced undergraduates who propose to conduct research on a topic in the humanities related to our annual theme, Dystopia and Trust. These will be undergraduates, including those in humanities oriented second-entry programs, who are likely to go on to graduate school in the humanities. The opportunity to converse with and to be mentored by leading scholars and to participate in a cutting-edge interdisciplinary conversation in the humanities should provide major impetus and inspiration for growth.
Eligibility
- Open to full-time University of Toronto undergraduate students in the humanities, qualitative social sciences, Music, Information and Architecture, who propose a humanities-focused project
- Applications are welcome from students at all of the University of Toronto’s three campus locations
- Project topics must connect to the theme for 2025-26, Dystopia and Trust
- Preference will be given to students who will be in the final year of their program during the fellowship year
Funding and Benefits
Each undergraduate fellow will:
- Be linked to one or more specific faculty fellows who will serve as supervisor(s) for the research project
- Complete a 300 or 400 level independent research course for 1.0 FCE (or directed research project at an appropriate weight), the number consistent with the program of their department of concentration
- Be provided with carrel space for study on the 10th floor
- Be provided with a $1250 scholarship to assist with the cost of registration in the independent study course. JHI also provides limited support for research-related travel upon request to the Director
- Receive one of the following named awards as a component of the fellowship:
- Dr. Michael Lutsky Undergraduate Award in the Humanities
- James Fleck Undergraduate Award in the Humanities
- Zoltan Simo Undergraduate Award in the Humanities
- Dr. Jan Blumenstein Undergraduate Award in the Humanities
- Jukka-Pekka Saraste Undergraduate Award in the Humanities
- Milton Harris Undergraduate Award in the Humanities
Responsibilities and Expectations
Undergraduate fellows will:
- Be in residence at the JHI for the academic year (September to June)
- Participate regularly in JHI events, including weekly lunches, workshops and occasional public events
- Present a lecture at a fellows’ lunch seminar
- Participate in the life of the Institute
- Produce a brief report summarizing fellowship research by end of May 2026 for inclusion in JHI’s Annual Report
Application Components
All applicants must complete the online application with the following documents in a single PDF:
- A description of your proposed research project (max. two pages or 500 words)
- A copy of your transcript or Complete Academic History from ACORN for all work at the University of Toronto
- One essay from a related course
- 100-word description of your proposed research project
- 100-word biographical statement
You will be asked to provide the name of the Faculty Research Fellow with whom you would like to work, and you will be asked to provide the name and email address of an instructor at the University of Toronto who will provide a reference. Once you submit your application, an automated email will be sent immediately to the named instructor requesting a reference letter. Please make sure the name and email address are correct. The deadline for instructors to respond is May 1, 2025—1 week after the application deadline.
Selection Criteria
- Applicants will be selected based on a record of academic excellence and the promise of future achievement. A minimum grade point average of 3.7 for third-year course work is required.
- Applications are ranked by a selection committee that includes the JHI Director and a Vice-Dean Undergraduate from one of the U of T’s three campuses. Incoming Faculty Research Fellows then review the applications to be certain they can supervise the proposed projects.
The Faculty Research Fellows for 2025-26 (Dystopia and Trust) are:
- Katherine Blouin, Associate Professor, UTSC Department of Historical & Cultural Studies—Dystopian Ruins, Trusted Simulacra: Classics, Archaeology, and the Construction of Modern Alexandria and Toronto
- Ann Komaromi, Professor, A&S Department of Slavic & East European Languages & Cultures / Centre for Comparative Literature—Soviet Dystopia and Alternate Networks of Trust
- Katherine Rankin, Professor, A&S Department of Geography & Planning—Corruption and the Situated Logics of Ethical Judgment: Road Building in Nepal as a Zone of Ontological Difference
- Luis Van Isshot, Associate Professor, A&S Department of History—Corporate Lives and Landscapes: The Construction, Development, and Representation of Foreign-Owned Enclaves on South America’s Oil Frontier
Check out the announcement on our website more more information about the 2025-26 Faculty Research Fellows and their research interests.
Application Timeline
- Application Open: March 13, 2025
- Application Deadline: April 24, 2025, at 4:00pm EDT
- Reference Deadline: May 1, 2025
- Selection Notification: May 20, 2025
- Fellowship Period: July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026
Contact and Additional Resources
- Check out our extensive FAQs about the Undergraduate Fellowship (below)
- Questions about this fellowship opportunity? Contact JHI Associate Director, Dr. Kimberley Yates
- Technical questions about the application form or process? Contact JHI Communications Officer Sonja Johnston
2025-26: Dystopia and Trust
A new millennium, rapid advances in science and technology, and a new determination to fight social injustice could have encouraged dreams of utopia. Instead, as though from the predictable plot of some pulp sci-fi or true crime story, they seem to have delivered a nightmarish dystopia. Easy information has given way to facile misinformation, the promise of solidarity to faction and polarization, democracy to authoritarianism, supremacism, and the kleptocracy of the 1%. People all over the world have lost trust, not only in many major institutions of societies, but also in each other. Are these trends reversible? Can widespread political and social trust be achieved, within and across societies? If not, with what consequence? If so, how should the subjective, social scientific, and philosophical dimensions of our dystopia be analyzed and re-imagined? What possible utopia has our dystopia, if it is one, betrayed?
Frequently Asked Questions
Eligibility
Full-time University of Toronto undergraduate students in the humanities, qualitative social sciences, Music, Information and Architecture, who propose a humanities-focused project. Applications are welcome from students at all the University of Toronto’s three campus locations.
Yes—neither opportunity is exclusive of the other. The applicant pool, eligibility, and experience will be different in each program.
A minimum grade point average of 3.7 for your current-year course work is required.
Preference will be given to students who will be in the final year of their program during the fellowship year; it is possible to do this fellowship while you are in your third year, but it will be easier if you are in your final year.
Funding and Benefits
You will have access to the Institute 24/7, and you will hold a secured carrell. The JHI also provides printing and copying, Wi-Fi, and a catered lunch every Thursday during the Fall and Winter terms. You can book meeting spaces, and the JHI will arrange for you to have graduate-level borrowing privileges at the library. You will also receive a $1250 award, and a title. JHI provides limited support for research-related travel upon request to the Director.
No—in this case, residential means you will work on site, but not live there.
The JHI does not award degrees, so you will negotiate with your home unit to be placed in its Independent Study course for credit. We’ll help you through this process. The mark in this course will be generated by your JHI faculty supervisor as a reflection of the work you do on your project.
Yes. It is a for-credit course that counts toward your graduation. The Undergraduate Fellowship comes with a cash award of $1250 that will help to offset this tuition fee. You will receive this award in September if you are selected.
Most (about 60%) JHI Undergraduate Fellows go into graduate study, usually in MA programs, and then into PhD programs. Many receive funding for their studies. About 20% go to law school and eventually enter legal practice. The rest pursue a wide range of careers when they graduate: as writers, poets, teachers, public policy makers, musicians—there is even one practicing MD.
Responsibilities and Expectations
The JHI Undergraduate Fellowship is an opportunity to pursue an Independent Study of your own choice while you study in an interdisciplinary research centre for a year.
This is your own project. Your supervisor will help to guide and evaluate your progress, but it is your work, not theirs. You should check out the research they do to help you to choose the person who will be the best match for your idea.
It’s up to each student and supervisor to work out the details, but in general, most fellowships result in a 30-minute presentation and an original paper of about 40 pages. Some projects may take other forms if it seems appropriate.
The heart of our work is interdisciplinary research—you’ll have the opportunity to learn from scholars in a lot of different fields, and probably, to study with a supervisor who was trained in a different subject from your own. You’ll be a member of a Circle of Fellows who are doing research at faculty, postdoc, doctoral, and undergrad student levels, who come from all three campuses, multiple divisions, and who use different methods to do research. You’ll all be doing projects that are related to the Annual Theme, and you’ll learn a lot from each other.
Application Components
The application form will ask you to provide a name and email for an instructor at the University of Toronto. You should contact this person to ask them if they are willing to be named; tell them what you are applying for, and what the deadline for their reference is (it will be one week after the deadline for your application). When you apply, the JHI will contact them to request your reference.
The purpose of the writing sample is to show how well you write. It doesn’t need to be on the annual theme or written for one of the incoming faculty research fellows, but it should be a humanities or social sciences essay that you are proud to have written. Please choose whatever you consider to be your best work.
Space is limited. Focus on the idea you want to explore and name the books that are major influences. Explain what you want to do, how, and why it is important. Be sure to link your proposed project with the Annual Theme.
JHI’s Annual Theme
The Annual Theme is a set of ideas and questions that reaches across disciplines. It brings people together to talk and think and share research from different perspectives. Everyone who holds a JHI fellowship in your year will be doing research related to this theme.
- 2025–26: Dystopia and Trust
- 2026-27 Doubles, Doppelgangers
- 2027-28 Mediation/Contestation
- 2028-29 Gift and Debt
Detailed descriptions of the Annual Themes are available.