The University of Virginia seeks applicants for a one-year fellowship in the health humanities and/or bioethics. The fellowship represents an initiative of the UVA Center for Health Humanities and Ethics (CHHE) in partnership with Virginia Humanities, Virginia’s state humanities council and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Pictured: Jess Walters poses with their mural, “Lend A Hand,” in February 2022 at New City Arts Initiative. Photo by Kori Price
About the Fellowship
The University of Virginia seeks applicants for a one-year fellowship (September 1, 2025 – August 31, 2026) in the health humanities and/or bioethics. The fellowship represents an initiative of the UVA Center for Health Humanities and Ethics (CHHE) in partnership with Virginia Humanities, Virginia’s state humanities council and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It will provide a unique opportunity for fellows from varying academic backgrounds to pursue health humanities and/or bioethics scholarship while functioning as a scholar-in-residence at the CHHE.
We define such “scholarship” broadly to include original research, creative and artistic work, writing projects, and more. The successful applicant will demonstrate their ability to connect with both academic and non-academic communities, drawing on the strengths and perspectives of each in their work. We especially welcome non-traditional and multi-disciplinary approaches to community-grounded scholarship that seeks to improve health outcomes for all people. Fellows will enjoy collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of faculty working in the health humanities and bioethics, as well as a variety of opportunities to teach and engage in community outreach. CHHE faculty will work to facilitate connections with other faculty and fellows across UVA’s grounds to ensure all fellows have access to mentors and collaborators from relevant disciplines.
Eligibility
There are no specific requirements for applicants, who will be evaluated on the basis of their previous or ongoing work, strength of their proposal, and letters of recommendation. We particularly encourage applicants from backgrounds less frequently present in health care and academia.
Deliverables and Expectations
- Spend at least ten hours per week in residence at the CHHE, including working in the fellow’s office, attending CHHE events, etc.
- Meet with one CHHE faculty member on at least a quarterly basis to check in regarding work progress and solicit feedback.
- Regularly participate in CHHE events, including but not limited to attendance at Medical Center Hour, summer Fusion Seminars, etc.
- Regularly participate in relevant Virginia Humanities programming, such as the Virginia Festival of the Book, With Good Reason radio show, and/or Encyclopedia Virginia.
- Serve as a resource to the Hook Scholars, a health-humanities track for medical students.
- Teach in at least one session of a class offered by the CHHE or its core faculty members.
- Create a tangible educational product (podcast episode, curricular module, art exhibition, etc.) for UVA health professions students and/or community-based health care providers (midwives, doulas, community health workers, etc.).
- Give at least one community-facing presentation in collaboration with Virginia Humanities.
- Give at least one UVA presentation (Summer Fusion Seminar, Medical Center Hour, or other) on the fellow’s CHHE scholarship.
Questions
For questions about this fellowship opportunity, please contact:
Irène P. Mathieu, M.D., M.P.H. (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor, General Pediatrics
Assistant Director, Programs in Health Humanities
Center for Health Humanities and Ethics
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Charlottesville, VA 22908
im4uq@uvahealth.org
For technical assistance, please contact:
Kaity Wasinger
Grants and Fellowships Assistant
Virginia Humanities
kmw5wv@virginia.edu
434-924-8395
Current Fellow
ethan s. evans, 2026
ethan s. evans (they/them) is a central Virginia based writer. Their work appears in the Kenyon Review, ONLY POEMS, minnesota review, and other venues. Winner of the 2023 University Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets and finalist for the 2025 Graybeal-Gowen Prize for Virginia Poets, ethan holds an MFA from the University of Virginia. They’ve been a writer in residence at Oak Springs Garden Foundation and Art Farm, as well as participating in the Plant Humanities Initiative at Dumbarton Oaks and the Cornell School of Criticism & Theory. Coming to writing from a background in habitat restoration and sustainable agriculture, ethan’s work centers around the personal, political, and ecological impacts of the opioid epidemic and deindustrialization of the southern and midwestern United States. (ethansevans.com)
ethan envisions their project as a Health & Humanities Fellow as a series of community writing workshops serving those who identify as having or having had addictions and/or chronic illness, followed by a series of collaborative publications. Accompanying this will be programming oriented towards medical students and practitioners concerning the practice of medical narrative when interfacing with patients who have struggled with substance use. The aim of both is to explore how narrative can both dignify former and active drug users and facilitate more humanistic patient-provider communication.
Past Fellows
Jess Walters, 2024
Jess Walters (they/them) is a mixed-media artist, disability justice advocate, and independent scholar from Charlottesville, VA. They serve their community as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors at The Bridge PAI and have exhibited artwork at The Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Second Street Gallery, and New City Arts Initiative. As a deaf and disabled multiple-neurodivergent queer person, Jess brings a unique perspective to their creative practice and collaborative endeavors.
Jess’ work focuses on the intersections of art and health. Through lived experience and academic study, Jess has encountered innumerable inequities and identified systemic social and economic barriers for disabled and chronically ill populations. Their creative practice centers on removing these barriers for the cultivation of inclusive opportunities for communal reverence, and Jess will be using the time and resources as a Health Equity and Justice Fellow to improve accessibility accommodations for local arts organizations and events in Charlottesville.
When Jess is not continuing their research, sharing their story, or making art, they enjoy spending leisure time with their partner and two cats, going on walks near bodies of water, and baking sweet treats.
Fancie Terrell, 2024
Fancie Terrell (they/them) is a Black/ADOS/indigenous mother, creative and community organizer living in the Richmond-Petersburg, VA, area. They identify as a trans non-binary queer person. Growing up in a community that was challenged by poverty and racism shaped Fancie’s view of the world at an early age as many close members of Fancie’s family were directly affected by unemployment, substance abuse, mental and physical health disadvantages, mass incarceration, and more. At an early age, Fancie made a deep connection with art, social justice work, reading and travel which opened their eyes to the world around them and sparked the desire for change.
Fancie has worked for nonprofits and organizations that focus on social justice and electoral politics on the local and national level, including working on both President Obama’s election and re-election campaigns. Fancie studied at University of Central Florida for Mass Communications and Community and Social Sciences at Midwest Academy in Chicago, IL. They now serve as the Local Project Director for Petersburg Healthy Options and Partnerships (PHOPs) as well as the coordinator for the Healthy Community Action Team (HCAT) and supports other local community organizations by volunteering.
Fancie has used art as a creative outlet and way to fight systems of oppression over the years, this includes painting, woodworking, and performing in drag and burlesque. They are one of the founding members of the Richmond-based queer artist collective “Nu Rodeo Caldonia.” With this fellowship opportunity, Fancie is focusing on highlighting the voices and experiences of queer people and the access they have and don’t have to health-related resources. Fancie’s goal is to develop a podcast with visual components to share these stories.
