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.

2027-2028 Call for Applications: Opening Soon

The application for the 2027-2028 Graduate Fellowship will open in November 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

Shannon Boucher, CE Graduate Fellow 2026-2027

Shannah Boucher

Shannah Boucher is a PhD candidate in the Department of History. Her research explores how women’s access to professional and educational pathways throughout the 19th and 20th centuries influenced political movements. Her dissertation titled, Home Economics, a Change-Maker: The Rise and Fall of the American Women’s Collegiate Discipline, 1890-1990, is written under the direction of Prof. Karissa Haugeberg.

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Pureum Lee

Pureum Lee is a PhD candidate in History, specializing in modern French and Caribbean history, empire, decolonization, and Catholicism. Her research examines how transnational currents of Third Worldism, Pan-Africanism, and Catholic progressivism shaped competing visions of liberation in the French Caribbean, and how ordinary people responded to and reshaped these visions in light of their own material needs. Her dissertation, Between the World and the Islands: Internationalism and Popular Politics in the Decolonization of the French Caribbean, 1958–1975, explores the tensions between internationalist solidarity and popular demands for economic security in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Caroline Leffert

Caroline Leffert is a PhD candidate in Tulane’s City, Culture, and Community doctoral program in the Department of Sociology. Her research explores public perceptions on immigration through social constructs of love and marriage through her dissertation titled, Is Love Enough?: Cultural Discourses on Love and Public Perception of Immigrant Deservingness, written under the direction of Prof. Lisa Wade.

Kaylie McCarthy, a woman with red hair smiling in front of pink siding

Kaylie McCarthy

Kaylie McCarthy is a PhD candidate in the Department of History. Her research interrogates how systems of power have caused injustices and ethical dilemmas throughout history. Kaylie explores this through her dissertation titled, Tattoos & The American Surveillance State: Identity and Identification in Early Twentieth Century US, written under the direction of Prof. Karissa Haugeberg.

David Ween, young man with short brown hair smiling in a plaid shirt outdoors.

David Ween

David Ween is a PhD candidate in the Department of Philosophy. His dissertation titled, For the Good of the Group: A Theory of Collective Moral Status, explores the theory of collective wellbeing and interests and is written under the direction of Prof. Caroline Arruda. His research is focused on ethics, political philosophy, and problems of human well-being in the modern world, exploring the rights and interests of social groups, the ethics of technology and labor, and what it means to weigh collectives seriously in our moral discourse.

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Haolin Zhou

Haolin Zhou is a Center for Ethics Graduate Fellow at The Murphy Institute and a PhD candidate in the Department of Philosophy. Haolin’s research examines the nature of human commitment. His dissertation titled, On the Ethics and Limits of Commitment, is written under the direction of Prof. Caroline Arruda.