To Nichole Nelson Ph.D. ’20, Policy is ‘History in Action’

The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has named Nichole Nelson, who earned her Ph.D. in history from Yale in May, one of 22 new Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows for 2020.

Now in its 10th year, the Public Fellows program places recent Ph.D.s in substantive roles in nonprofit and civil organizations. It serves as a demonstration of the ways in which humanities and related social sciences Ph.D.s can bring value and thrive within a variety of domains beyond academia. The program is made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The 2020 Public Fellows have roles in policy research, community engagement, advocacy, arts and public humanities programming, fundraising, and information management. Each will serve in two-year, full-time positions with prestigious host organizations, including the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison, the American Civil Liberties Union, Children’s Defense Fund, and Oxfam. Nelson will serve as a policy analyst for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, whose mission is to empower urban residents to realize and achieve their full potential.

“During this time of ongoing uncertainty, the Public Fellows program provides important opportunities to apply humanistic perspectives and skills directly to projects led by community-focused initiatives across the country,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “In addition to helping to blaze new career paths for doctoral students, our partners are energized by the prospect of increasing their own capacity to address urgent problems with the distinctive assistance of humanities Ph.D.s. We are deeply grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support of our common vision of a dynamic future for advanced education in the humanities.”

Note: Several history PhDs were honored as Mellon/ALCS Public Fellows for 2020. The list of awardees is here.