Graduate Fellows

The Murphy Institute's Center for Ethics is pleased to announce that Graduate Fellowships are available to outstanding Tulane doctoral students who are writing dissertations in the area of ethics and public affairs. This funding allows Graduate Fellows to focus their time on their dissertation research, participate in CE’s seminars and conferences, and network with our Faculty Fellows and guest speakers to further their research and professional development. The Center seeks applicants who have excelled in their fields of specialization, have demonstrated an interest in ethical questions that cut across disciplinary boundaries, and are likely to make significant contributions to teaching and scholarship in their respective fields. 

2026-2027 Call for Applications: Closed

The application for the 2026-2027 Graduate Fellowship is now closed. The deadline to apply was February 1st, 2026. We anticipate the application cycle for Fall 2027 will open in October 2026. Please check back then for updated guidelines and deadlines. You may access the online application information here.  

 

Eligibility

The Center seeks applicants who have excelled in their fields of specialization, have demonstrated an interest in ethical questions that cut across disciplinary boundaries, and are likely to make significant contributions to teaching and scholarship in the fields of ethics and public affairs. Applicants should be enrolled in a doctoral program at Tulane University and be formally admitted to doctoral candidacy. The Center especially welcomes applications from students who will defend their dissertations during the fellowship year.  

Activities and Requirements

During the period of the fellowship, Graduate Fellows are expected to make substantial progress toward the completion of their degrees. They are also required to participate in the Center for Ethics speaker series, which is comprised of Faculty Seminars and public lectures.  Graduate Fellows are also encouraged to take part in the broader intellectual life of the Center by meeting with visiting Faculty Fellows.

Awards

Graduate Fellows receive a stipend for one academic year. Awards will be announced by early March 2025.

Current Graduate Fellows
 

Jeffrey Colgan, 2025-2026 CE Graduate Fellow
Jeffrey Patrick Colgan

Jeffrey Patrick Colgan was a Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow at The Murphy Institute for the 2025–2026 academic year. During his fellowship, he was a PhD candidate in the Department of Philosophy working on his dissertation, The Limits of Language and Philosophy, under the direction of Prof. Richard Velkley. His research interests include Ethics, Philosophy of Language, Political Philosophy, Post-Kantian European Philosophy (esp. Wittgenstein & Heidegger), Ancient Philosophy, and Buddhist Philosophy.
Joseph M. Keegin, 2025-2026 CE Graduate Fellow
Joseph Keegin 

Joseph Keegin was a Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow at The Murphy Institute for the 2025–2026 academic year. During his fellowship, he was Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Philosophy and a contributing editor at The Point Magazine. His dissertation, Hegel's Critiques of Morality, written under the direction of Prof. Richard Velkley, focused on the moral and political philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel, and what these aspects of Hegel’s thought reveal about his relationship to the so-called “quarrel of the ancients and moderns.” 
Darcy Roake, 2025-2026 CE Graduate Fellow
 
Darcy Roake was a Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow at The Murphy Institute for the 2025–2026 academic year. During her fellowship, she was a Ph.D candidate in the Department of History with a research focus on the reproductive health and justice movements in the U.S. and France. Her dissertation, “Whose Moral Property?”: A Social, Economic and Legal History of RU-486: Testing and Distribution in France and the United States from 1980-2000, was written under the direction of Prof. Karissa Haugeberg.
Mathias Schwab-Garbizu, 2025-2026 CE Graduate Fellow
Mathias Schwab-Garbizu 

Mathias Schwab-Garbizu was a Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow at The Murphy Institute for the 2025–2026 academic year. During his fellowship, he was a PhD Candidate in the French and Italian Department. His research interests include critical sociolinguistics and education, social justice, language didactics, French in Louisiana, and sociolinguistics in soccer. Schwab-Garbizu’s dissertation, L’oral scolaire, un instrument de justice sociale? (“Teaching Oral Skills, an Instrument for Social Justice?”), was written under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Klingler of Tulane and Dr. Sylvie Wharton of Université Aix-Marseille (France).
Chen Wang, 2025-2026 CE Graduate Fellow
Chen Wang 

Chen Wang was a Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow at The Murphy Institute for the 2025–2026 academic year. During his fellowship, he was a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Philosophy. His dissertation, What We Owe Each Other in Chains of Contempt, was written under the direction of Chad Van Schoelandt. His research interests include Existentialism, Ethics and Metaethics, Moral Philosophy, and Moral Psychology.

 

Former Graduate Fellows

2020s

2010s

2000s

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