Six faculty members in the humanities and related fields, representing each of the New York Six (NY6) Liberal Arts Consortium institutions, have been named NY6 Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows, effective January 1, 2023. Hamilton College’s Academic Fellow is Associate Professor of Government Kira Jumet. In addition to Hamilton, consortium institutions include Colgate University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence University, Skidmore College, and Union College.
This two-year fellowship program, funded with a $1.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, will allow selected faculty members to explore academic leadership through an immersive experience on their home campus, in which they will gain deeper knowledge and understanding of higher education administration, while working on a discrete project or portfolio that will advance important goals of their institution.
The New York Six cohort of Fellows will have opportunities to engage across the six-member schools, and will have access to mentors who will be a resource for their professional and leadership development. The Fellows will participate in summer institutes with Fellows from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associated Colleges of the South, and attend other higher education conferences.
In addition to her position within Hamilton’s Government Department, Jumet is director of Middle East/Islamicate Worlds Studies and is leading Hamilton’s Washington, D.C., Program in spring 2023. Her research focuses on protest mobilization leading up to and during the 2011 and 2013 Egyptian uprisings, including the relationship between emotions and protest participation. She received her bachelor’s in international relations and Middle East studies from Brown University, her master’s in Middle East studies from the American University in Cairo, and her doctorate in political science from Rutgers University.
“As the complexities of higher education continue to grow, it is critical that we intentionally offer opportunities for faculty members to explore academic leadership roles so that they are well prepared to assume those positions in the future,” said Amy Cronin, executive director of the New York Six. “I look forward to working with these accomplished scholars and teachers as they build on their knowledge and skills for their own professional advancement and for the benefit of their institutions.”
The Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and the arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
