The Philosophy Department at Boston University is pleased to announce this year’s competition for Karbank Fellowships for undergraduate BU students who will have taken at least two philosophy classes at BU by the end of the Spring semester, 2025. The purpose of these Fellowships is to assist students in pursuing their philosophical reflections in any of a number of ways and venues. For example, a student interested in environmental ethics might intern for a nonprofit doing environmental work, or for a legal firm involved in environmental litigation, or for an organization that seeks new ways of resolving pressing environmental issues whether global or local (these new ways could include policy proposals, or new technologies, or sustainability initiatives here at BU, or involve hands-on field work—to mention but a few possibilities). Although we are especially receptive to projects pertaining to environmental issues, the Fellowships are not limited to projects related to those issues. Any structured activity, study, or hands-on experience that would significantly enrich the student’s philosophical understanding of self and world is a candidate for support. While holding an internship or working at a nonprofit organization are obvious ways to achieve this aim, the evaluation committee will also consider proposals that involve such things as taking a relevant course that cannot be taken at BU, or pursuing in one way or another a relevant branch of study. Examples of previous successful awards can be found at https://www.bu.edu/philo/community/the-karbank-fellowship.
Successful applicants will receive up to $6,500: $2,500 of this amount is a grant recognizing the awardee’s achievement and up to $4,000 is for budgeted expenses. Preference will be given to philosophy majors and minors, and to returning students over graduating ones, but any student who will have taken two philosophy courses by the end of Spring semester 2025 is eligible.
Applications should include:
- a one page, single-spaced proposal that states clearly what the Fellowship would be used for and why it is worthy of support;
- a budget (with appropriate justification of the amounts listed);
- a letter of recommendation from a BU faculty member (sent directly by the recommender to the email below);
- a transcript (unofficial copies are acceptable).
The first two items must be in a single Word or PDF document.
Successful candidates will receive requested expenses at the start of the project, with the remaining $2,500 awarded at the end, contingent on the student submitting within two weeks of the completion of the project (and in any case no later than Sept. 11, 2025) a typed report of around 1,000 words, along with a letter from the organization (if applicable) confirming the student’s performance of any required duties. The report should describe the student’s activities and the value of their project, and should be submitted to philda@bu.edu for review by the Karbank Fellowship Evaluation Committee. Any funds not used for the purposes requested must be promptly returned to the Philosophy Department. Funds are potentially taxable, and may have deductions taken out upon disbursement.
The completed application is due no later than Friday, March 21st, 2025 and should be sent to the Karbank Fellowship Evaluation Committee at philda@bu.edu. Please contact that address with any questions you may have.
The PDF version of the 2025 Karbank Fellowship letter is available here.
The Karbank Fellowships are made possible by a generous gift from Steven Karbank, a graduate of Boston University’s Philosophy Department.
2024 Karbank Fellows
Alexa Woodrow (’25) attended the “Consciousness and Cognition” summer school held at Lama Tong Khapa Institute, Pomaia (Santa Luce), studying consciousness through readings and coursework ranging from Quantum Mechanics to Psychedelics/Altered States of Consciousness to Meditation in Buddhism, as well as through experiential activities such as yoga and meditation.
Izabela Cupi (’25) performed preliminary research for their senior thesis aimed at reading philosophical texts to examine what effect gender can have on the role that people have in society as well as how it may affect one’s personal identity. The research included the examining the third gender of burrnesha (sworn virgins)-found in northern, rural Albania and definitions of gender provided by philosophers such as Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler.
Samuel Stewart (’25) wrote a commentary and walkthrough of some of the key ideas raised in Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals aimed for a middle school aged audience through a close reading of the main text as well as research consulting two complete commentaries of The Groundwork: Brenden Liddell’s Kant on the Foundation of Morality and H.J. Paton’s The Categorical Imperative: A Study in Kant’s Moral Philosophy.
Regina Bravo Quintana (’24) attended the World Congress of Philosophy in Rome to network with philosophers worldwide and delve into the congress’s five “spheres of boundaries”: Personae, Transitions, Justice, Earth, and Infinity through an interdisciplinary lens.
Maya Yermekova (’26) attended the European Summer School for Logic, Language, & Information in Leuven, Belgium, as well as the 6th Crete Summer School of Linguistics in Crete, Greece, all with the support of the Karbank Fellowship. Her coursework in semantics and child development deepened her understanding of how meaning is constructed and acquired, while her studies in logic provided a rigorous framework for analyzing reasoning and argumentation. These experiences collectively strengthened her foundation in philosophy, equipping her with the analytical tools to explore the intersection of language, cognition, and formal systems.
Ines Santacruz Del Valle (’24) investigated the risks and transformative potential of artificial intelligence in education. Through in-depth research—including over 10 books, two interviews, and a blend of personal reflection and philosophical inquiry—she produced a series of 10 mini-essays exploring critical questions at the intersection of AI and learning. She explored a variety of challenges such as how teachers can design assignments that discourage overreliance on tools like ChatGPT, as well as long-term possibilities, including the ethical integration of AI tutors to make personalized, affordable education more accessible.
Lorenzo Gatti (’25) volunteered at Massachusetts Ear and Eye Infirmary (MEEI) and as a research assistant in the Steve Ramirez Lab and the Laboratory of Comparative Cognition at BU, as well as organizing an annotated bibliography investigating Western Biomedical and Indigenous Amazonian health systems, their philosophies, relationships, and uses of psychedelics for his thesis work.
2023 Karbank Fellows
Kiana Aftahi (’24) interned at Concord Prison Outreach and consulted with experts at the organization to develop an Introduction to Philosophy prison education program.
Alara Balcisoy (’25) attended the 5th Crete Summer School of Linguistics and took classes in neurolinguistics, experimental psycholinguistics, developmental negation, and advanced semantics, which provided valuable knowledge in linguistics and raised philosophical questions about the methodology, perception, language development, and the metaphysical assumptions of natural language.
Nathaniel Ceus (’24) conducted research on political and economic philosophy, interviewed four low-income individuals, and analyzed their perspectives on poverty, ultimately emphasizing the need for societal change and greater empathy.
Evan Fierro (’24) focused on challenging the societal emphasis on romantic relationships in a comprehensive 20-page research essay, taking a course on the philosophy of sex and love with Carol Hay, and creating a podcast with interviews of four philosophers.
Vanessa Hanger (’24) sought to expand and enhance the student-led journal of philosophy, Arché, by interviewing faculty editors of successful academic journals and implementing their strategies for selection, feedback, and publication.
Gabriel Libman (’24) utilized the Karbank Fellowship to fund attendance at the 2023 Colorado Summer Seminar in Philosophy at CU Boulder, where they engaged in graduate-level seminars, workshops, and talks focused on informing and preparing students for graduate school applications and academic careers in philosophy, ultimately gaining valuable experience and a supportive network of like-minded peers.
Nathaniel McFaul (’23) conducted a literature review on algorithmic bias, explored debates in the philosophy community, and proposed a three-pronged approach to algorithmic auditing strategies to address biases in artificial intelligence, while also expressing plans for future research on the feminization of AI and the political nature of Big Tech.
Aliyah Mulla (’24) embarked on a three-part project to explore ancient Indian philosophies as practiced in contemporary India, which included visits to the Art of Living Ashram, a workshop with a folk artist, and the meditation center in Dharavi, resulting in a transformative understanding of the role of faith and belief in people’s lives, and the realization that a literary narrative format was more suitable for conveying the experiences than a formal research paper.
Kira Skjoldborg (’24) explored the question of whether AI is capable of thought in the same way as humans and argues that philosophy is crucial in understanding the development of AI and its implications on ethics, law, and human thought.
Annika Wyman (’24) embarked on a research project to explore the purpose of museums and the value of art, conducting interviews with various professionals in the museum and art field, which revealed the ephemeral quality of art, the subjective nature of artistic value, and the significance of audience appreciation, leading to further questions about the commodification of art, the inclusion of diverse artists in art history, and how to connect people with art.
Zorka Zsembery (’24) attended the European Summer School for Logic, Language, & Information and took courses in Logic & Computation and Logic & Language, gaining valuable insights into the field of logic and its intersection with philosophy.
2022 Karbank Fellows
Nathaniel Ceus (’24) read several books on various political philosophies and the history of Newark, and interviewed seven residents of Newark, New Jersey, to understand their perspectives on political views and their experiences in the city. The project explored themes like Black radicalism, socialism, colonialism, violence, and neoliberalism. Ceus’s interviews focused on how Newark’s history and political environment influenced residents’ beliefs and attitudes. The project aimed to grasp a collective “Philosophy of Newark,” reflecting the struggles, hopes, and potential changes as perceived by its residents.
David Winner (’23) completed a 10-week study abroad program in Batumi, Georgia. The program, coordinated by the School of Russian and Asian Studies, focused on Russian language and cultural acquisition. Winner lived with a Russian-speaking host family, providing a complete immersive experience. The program included intensive language classes, participation in various Russian-speaking clubs, and translation work. Winner worked on translating texts by the philosopher Mamardashvili, enhancing his understanding of Russophone philosophy. The experience significantly improved his Russian language skills and deepened his interest in Russophone philosophy.
Erik Van Alstyne (’24) conducted a research project, titled “Life, Liberty, and the Right to Revolution,” which was inspired by the 2020-2021 protests in the United States, including those for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the January 6th insurrection. The project explores political philosophies related to rights to revolution, focusing on the ideas of John Locke, Martin Luther King Jr., and Socrates. It examines Locke’s justification for revolution, King’s nonviolent resistance approach, and Socrates’ views on civil disobedience and legal reform. Van Alstyne proposes solutions for modern problems, arguing for explicit consent in governance, educational and employment reforms, police reform, and the government’s role in resolving systems of oppression.
Paul St. Cyr (’22) put on a staged reading of his own play titled “False Idols and Glass Titans,” a reimagining of the Prometheus and Pandora myths from Hesiod’s Theogony with several plot alterations. The play explores philosophical themes such as Soren Kierkegaard’s “Knight of Faith” archetype, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Oversoul,” Nietzsche’s life-affirming attitudes, and Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of freedom. The play delves into themes of existence, the power of love, and the importance of art and the humanities. St. Cyr wrote the script and staged the performance, which was well-received, and reflects his personal journey and exploration of philosophy.
Ali Sokni (’23) carried out a deep exploration of psychoanalysis and literature, primarily focusing on Franz Kafka’s works and psychoanalytic theories from figures like Freud, Fanon, Jung, and Lacan. This study significantly influenced his character development process for a fiction piece he was writing. Sokni aimed to capture the experiences of an individual rising to stardom, integrating psychoanalytic concepts into character development. He wrote over 30 pages of literature, adhering to MFA program requirements, and plans to continue developing the novel, focusing on plot and structure while incorporating his philosophical research.
Alisha Patel (’22) transitioned her Philosophy Honors thesis into a writing statement for graduate school applications in philosophy and political theory. Her thesis examined identity construction through social media, drawing on Michel Foucault’s theories on power, confession, and freedom. Patel focused on sexual and gender identities, highlighting the restrictive nature of online self-presentation. Her work involved editing her thesis to fit graduate program requirements, with emphasis on her analysis over extensive explanation of Foucault’s theories. Patel also considered applying to law school and PhD programs, particularly in California, exploring options for her future academic and career path.
Allie Mascarello (’23) compared workers’ compensation systems in the United States and Spain. She explored differences between the common law system (U.S.) and civil law system (Spain), including historical development and underlying philosophies. The project involved interviews with a U.S. workers’ compensation lawyer and labor lawyers in Spain. Through these interviews and additional research, Mascarello analyzed aspects like the emphasis on trials in the U.S. and collective bargaining in Spain. She concluded that the Spanish system, influenced by the German model, is more favorable to workers compared to the American system.
Aishwari Krishna (’25) focused on exploring theistic ethics. Krishna attended a conference in Virginia, where various aspects of theistic ethics were discussed, including metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. The project involved engaging with philosophers, including Chris Tucker and Mark Murphy, and exploring ideas like Phenomenal Conservatism and Natural Law Theory. Krishna’s project culminated in a paper defending Divine Command Theory against common objections and considering the implications of epistemic views on moral perspectives. The experience significantly influenced Krishna’s philosophical understanding and academic direction.
Rajwinder Kaur (’23) focused on the ethics of care in special education, particularly for children with disabilities. During the summer, Kaur worked as a camp counselor at Camp Shriver, a sports camp for children with and without disabilities. This experience, combined with extensive readings on the history of childhood disability and care work, informed her understanding of care ethics. Kaur’s project emphasized the importance of individualized care and attention in educational settings, challenging traditional notions of independence and self-sufficiency in favor of interdependency and relational selfhood.
Max Dahlstrom (’23) focused on the history of housing in the U.S., particularly in Boston. He investigated the origins of the landlord-tenant system and private property rights. His research included exploring the ideological shift towards liberalism and private property rights in Massachusetts, studying Marx’s critiques of landlords, and analyzing the role of urban planners in capitalism, as detailed in Samuel Stein’s “Capital City.” He also reviewed the history of public housing in Boston through Lawrence Vale’s work. The project aimed to critique and outline the history of U.S. housing policy, using Boston as a case study.
2021 Karbank Fellows
Melissa Boberg (’22) created Journey to the Center of the Self: A Limited Podcast Series, a podcast interviewing philosophers and exploring philosophical dialogues through literal dialogue.
Luca Del Deo (’22) wrote A Meditation Guide to Socrates’ Daimonion, a paper exploring the concepts of a daimon and a tulpa.
Victoria Keefauver (’24) produced a research project consisting of exploring the link between legal and moral philosophy with respect to mental health in public schools.
Sara Kullnigg (’22) explored the complexities of living during and in the aftermath of a refugee crisis in a research project.
Selena Lee (’23) conducted interviews exploring ways philosophy is present in everyone’s life for Exploring “Practical” Philosophy.
Juan Ruiz (’23) conducted interviews for a research project to introduce non-Anglo-Saxon ideas to Western academia.
Kimberly Schneider (’24) worked on a project documenting work at a non-profit focused on philosophy of race issues.
Liz Smith created Emergence and Eudaimonia, a multi-media exhibit exploring eudaimonia with respect to COVID-19.
Ethan Thwaites (’22) worked on an engineering-adjacent project about capturing and recycling CO2.
2020 Karbank Fellows
Shanshan Cao (’22) created a film on the pros and cons of attending graduate school in philosophy, including interviews with numerous faculty members and graduate students. Click here to watch To Think or Not to Think: Is Philosophy Grad School Worth It?
Francesca Davy-Falconi (’21) created short animations and accompanying brief analyses of some of Plato’s dialogues. Click here to see Plato Reanimated.
Maureen Interino (’21) produced a philosophical reflection on the significance of “unplugging” by spending a week in Joshua Tree National Park with no phone, computer, or television. She then conducted a survey asking participants to evaluate the effects of social media on their identity and sense of autonomy.
Aashutosh Mukerji (’21) examined whether Hinduism can be defined or whether it is best represented by a “cluster concept,” as well as whether it is, as is widely claimed, less unified than other major traditional religions.
Isobel Munday (’20) undertook a philosophically-informed psychological investigation into the different types of moral outrage and an empirical investigation into how widespread they are.
Anna Pham (’21) produced two children’s books (for ages 9—17) to make some important philosophical concepts accessible.
Anu Sawhney (’20) examined whether a disability is a social (as opposed to natural) kind, informed by recent work by such philosophers as Elizabeth Barnes. The results of the research will be communicated via podcast.
Alan Schuh (’20) created a multimedia presentation on the virtualization of contemporary life through a phenomenological perspective. Click here to view Absolute Divide.
Paul Weston (’21) virtually attended a conference on recent developments in modal logic.
Past Karbank Fellows
Arkadiy Baltser (’21) and Christian Borovik (’21) created a film exploring the historical and contemporary philosophical influences on Russian intellectual and political life. Several Russian professors of philosophy were interviewed.
Michael Dratch (’19) spent his summer investigating environmentally sustainable farming techniques. He also studied and reflected upon the “good food” movement and how it relates to various virtues on the part of producers and consumers of food. Michael shared his thoughts and findings on a blog.
Lucy Duke (’22) put various philosophical claims about consciousness, including Sartre’s contention that consciousness is always the consciousness of something in the world, to the test by immersing herself and other subjects in sensory-deprivation tanks. Each subject underwent ten 90-minute sessions. Lucy wrote up a detailed description of her own experience and interviewed the other subjects about theirs.
Khai Evdaev (’20) traveled to various urban and rural locations in Russia to determine whether people agree with Aristotle that eudaimonia or happiness is the highest end, and what they regard as constituting or leading to eudaimonia. Khai wrote his findings in a journal and produced a short video summarizing his findings.
Artem Gureev (’20) attended the prestigious Logic and Formal Epistemology (L&FE) program at Carnegie Mellon University. This was an invaluable experience for Artem, who wrote two senior honor’s theses the following year: one in Mathematics on subsystems of second-order arithmetic, and another in Philosophy on the ontological and epistemological issues involved in the development of metamathematics.
Alexander Keiter (’21) studied domestic and international human rights law. He visited the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, and the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. There he attended court sessions and lectures, and he examined various archival materials.
Casey Lewry (’19) Together with our own Prof. Victor Kumar and Prof. Peter Blake (Psychological and Brain Sciences), Casey Lewry examined whether and how empathy and reasoning can be used as a “moral wedge” (Kumar) for changes in our social attitudes towards various groups of individuals. They examined, among other things, the manner in which changing social attitudes depend on whether a certain trait is believed to be voluntary or not, whether the trait is hidden or visible, and why our attitudes have shifted in recent years with respect to some groups but not others.
Isobel Munday (’20) worked as an intern at the Crockett Lab at Yale University’s Department of Psychology, which examined, among other things, human moral psychology, social learning, and decision making. Isobel was especially interested in determining how much of our moral framework is innate and what is the optimal moral framework for policy decision.
Anna Pham (’20) traveled to ten religious communities in California and interviewed ten members from each to examine their perspectives on the relationship between religious faith and happiness. Anna filmed many of the interviews and religious services and created a video journal.
Daniel Portnof (’20) taught a group of middle school students over the summer through Generation Teach in Boston. During his time, Daniel appealed to a number of historically prominent philosophical theories regarding knowledge and education examined how students learn, how much they are willing to accept on authority, and how much of their knowledge seems to be “innate.”
Zayda Romero (’19) took a course entitled “Foundations of Behavioral and Experimental Economics for Developing Countries” and the London School of Economics—University of Cape Town summer program. There Zayda examined various ethical issues regarding the developing world and various solutions to global economic inequality, as well as the psychological role that poverty plays in economic activity
Venissala Wongchai (’20) spent the summer as an intern with the The Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) in Connecticut, an organization which advocates for both environmentally sustainable policies and for consumer health. While working with them, Venissala reflected on the impact of non-profit organizations on policy and on the ethical and moral issues surrounding our present patterns of use and consumption.
Yingshihan Zhu (’20) created a Feminist Philosophy discussion group in Beijing, which involved two weeks of small group discussions led by Yingshihan, as well as the necessary preparation for the discussions and philosophical work afterward. Yingshihan invited around ten high school and college age students to attend, where read about and discussed central issues in feminist philosophy. Yingshihan also created a multi-media blog and shared it with the American Philosophical Association (APA).
Rachael Molenaar (’19) attended the prestigious Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy’s School for Female Students.
Anna Stroinski (’19) was in Poland, putting together an oral history of participants in the Solidarity movement.
Michael Dratch (’19) studied the potential of non-anthropocentric approaches to the environment.
Ying Yao (’19) explored connections between philosophy, phenomenology and Buddhism.
Evelyn Castro (’18) took a UCLA summer course on issues in Latina/Latino poverty.
Morgan Ashurian (’18) interned for a federal judge in Florida.
Rebecca Dobyns (’15) followed with her camera two experienced backpackers on the Lost Coast of Northern California for five days and 50 miles. Her project will result in a documentary film that explores, among other things, philosophical questions about the value of outdoors exploration and the relation between freedom and nature.
Samantha Kennedy (’15) researched the philosophical underpinnings of the contemporary issue of universal daycare, drawing on moral arguments from philosophers ranging from Aristotle to Smith and Rousseau.
Chad Kringen (’15) attended the North American School for Logic, Language, and Information (NASSLLI) in College Park, Maryland, as well as its European counterpart (ESSLLI) in Tübingen, Germany, taking a series of classes ranging from causal graphical models to game theory and temporal logic.
Julian Lijtszain (’15) visited pediatric hospitals as part of an internship with the Mexican Institute of Social Security or Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) in Mexico City. He did extensive fieldwork for the Institute that resulted in new methodological approaches for patient surveys.
Demarius Walker (’14) used his grant to attend EMT training classes in Atlanta. The hands-on experience opened his eyes, he said, to many real-world ethical dilemmas that don’t find easy philosophical resolutions.
Claire Chiodini followed up on her recent philosophical study of the notion of good in Plato and Aristotle in a concrete way: participated in the annual Rimini (Italy) “Meeting for the Friendship Amongst Peoples,” which draws a diverse group of people from many faith and philosophical traditions, and interviewed attendees about their varying notions of the good.
Salimata Diakité researched how mass incarceration affects women, examining the procedures of non-federal prisons in Massachusetts, as well as the privatized and state-funded reentry programs partnered with Massachusetts Department of Correction.
Rebecca Strong Garcia explored the role of emotions in music as she takes part in a Renaissance performance program in Florence.
Rahim Hirji interviewed lawyers in the UK who have an unusual common experience: representing criminals or companies who were detested in the public eye.
Sharmin Rahman studied how internet access affects political decision-making and opinion-formation by comparing cities where internet access is low (Detroit, MI) and high (Cambridge, MA).
Anush Swaminathan explored the moral questions raised by the use of animals in lab work, making use both of key philosophical texts concerning the moral status of animals and of the first-hand perspectives that come from working in a developmental neurobiology lab at BU.
Abraham Tawil studied what light philosophy can shed on the difficult questions of free will and determinism raised by addiction.
Stephen Valdesuso explored the relation of human philosopher to natural environment by taking part in the rigorous Boulder (Utah) Outdoor Survival School Field Course.
Morgan Ashurian attended the BU Pre-Law London Summer Internship Program, gaining an insider perspective while living, learning, and working in London for 12 weeks. Along with the two classes, she interned at a law firm wherein she gained insight into the inner-workings of the UK legal system.
Rosie Carter explored the underlying philosophical questions that present themselves in children’s literature by attending the Children’s Literature Summer Institute at Simmons College
Madeleine Freeman participated in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Philosophy Summer Seminar. The threeweek long seminar is designed to introduce undergraduate students considering studies in Philosophy to a graduate-level academic setting.
Olivia Gehrke interviewed local Boston musicians to challenge Nietzsche about the connection between art and life
Casey Lewry gained philosophical insight into what it means to teach by volunteering as a research assistant in a cognitive developmental psychology laboratory and kept a journal while there, reflecting on her experience by reading the Meno.
Rachael Molenaar participated in UC Boulder’s Colorado Summer Seminar in Philosophy and Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy’s Summer School on Mathematical Philosophy for Female Students.
Melinda Reyes traced Kant’s views on women and how they changed or should have changed women over time. This research is the third part of larger research project to analyze the extent of this analogy between nonwhite races and women, and to determine how Kant’s teleology influenced—or should have influenced— his views on nonwhite races and women over time.
Anush Swaminathan explored how the definition of ‘biological genes’ varies between research programs in closely related sub-disciplines of biology, and whether those definitions have common molecular micro-structures.