Center for Dewey Studies Essay Award

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Last Updated: May 05, 2025, 05:29 PM

Dewey at UMich w/ Inlander Students

Gift of Award

This essay award is made possible by the generous contribution of Professor Cho-Yee To, one of the first graduate student assistants on the project that became the Center for Dewey Studies.

2024-2025 Awardees

The winners of the first annual Center for Dewey Studies Essay Award:

  • Harrison Jackson, “Anthropocentrism and Dewey's Naturalistic Metaphysics”
  • Danica Jenck, “Eurocentrism in Dewey's Naturalistic Critique of Supernaturalism”
  • Peter Kojo Kontoh, “Dewey and Nkrumah on Education”
  • Andrii Leonov, “The epistemological side of Dewey’s naturalistic metaphysics: sense and signification”
  • Jessica Soester , “Reconstructive Democracy: Political Tension and the Restoration of (Dynamic) Equilibrium”
  • Michael Timm, “Dewey and Merleau-Ponty: Naturalism, Scientism, and Experience”

Recipients completed research at the Center for Dewey Studies and participated in weekly research group meetings in the Center for Dewey Studies. A volume of working papers showing their work will be posted soon. 

Call for Applications

We are pleased to announce the call for applicants for the Center for Dewey Studies Essay Award for the 2025-2026 academic year. This award will fund research on John Dewey’s life, work, and legacy. All undergraduate and graduate students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale who will be enrolled during both Fall and Spring of this academic year are eligible to apply. Application deadline is August 11, 2025.

The amount of awards will be granted based on the number of qualified submissions. We intend to distribute $5,000 in total awards. 

Recipients will be encouraged to do research at the Center for Dewey Studies and the Morris Library Special Collections Research Center and will have the option to participate in regular research group meetings in the Center for Dewey Studies.

Recipients will submit an essay draft based on their research to the Center for Dewey Studies. They will work with Center staff to prepare a collection of their drafts, to be posted on the Center’s website and archived in the OpenSIUC digital archive, by the end of the Spring term after receiving their award. Graduate student awardees will also be encouraged to submit their essay for publication in a major journal within one (1) year of receiving the award and will receive mentoring in the publication process.

To apply for the fellowship, applicants must submit a brief research proposal for a paper on the work of John Dewey.

Application Requirements

  • 250-500 word research proposal describing your paper topic and sources to be used.
  • Brief description of your past experience with the life and work of John Dewey and related topics.