The Edmund W. Gordon Institute is proud to announce The Gordon Institute Fellows Program, a new partnership with the UNCF and the Mellon Foundation.
Each year, The Gordon Institute leadership and its Advisory Board will select a thematic focus tied to a pressing dimension of educational inequity. Through a competitive application process, two (2) visionary Gordon Institute Fellows will be selected to spend a semester in residence to create transformative work exploring this theme.
This year’s inaugural theme is: Democracy and Education at the Edges: Towards the Undercommons
Applications will be accepted between October 1, 2026 - January 31, 2027 for either Fall 2027 or Spring 2028 cycles.
This theme takes on the compounding crises now converging on schools, universities, and community education spaces: enrollment cliffs and budget shortfalls, the destabilizing force of generative AI on teaching and assessment, and the shrinking of federal research funding.
Fellows selected under this theme will pursue scholarship and creative work at the intersection of education and critical traditions including Black study, ethnic studies, critical disability studies, decolonial and anticolonial studies, and gender and queer studies.
Fellows join a weekly seminar with GIAS faculty affiliates, advanced doctoral students, and invited thought leaders, presenting their work twice. The seminar itself, shaped by each cohort of Fellows, is being developed into a course offering for select Teachers College doctoral students.
Scholarly output is left deliberately open-ended: Fellows' work will demonstrate a reimagining of what education can be for communities that the existing institutions were never built to fully serve. It may culminate in peer-reviewed articles, policy recommendations, book manuscripts, public humanities installations, or documentary and multimedia scholarship.
Program Overview
- Focus Areas: Compounding crises converging on schools and communities—including generative AI, enrollment cliffs, budget shortfalls, book bans, the re-narrativizing of Black history, and shrinking federal research funding.
- Interdisciplinary Lens: Pursuing scholarship at the intersection of education and critical traditions, including Black study, ethnic studies, critical disability studies, decolonial/anticolonial studies, and gender and queer studies.
Key Details & Fellowship Benefits
- Residency: Semester-long residency at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, NY (Fall 2027 or Spring 2028).
- Cohort Size: Two (2) Fellows will be selected through a competitive selection process.
- Engagement: Participate in weekly seminars with Gordon Institute faculty affiliates, doctoral students, and invited thought leaders, presenting work twice during the term.
- Flexible Output: Scholarly products may range from peer-reviewed articles, policy recommendations, and book manuscripts to public humanities installations or multimedia scholarship.
Application Window
Applications are open from October 1, 2026 – January 31, 2027 for either the Fall 2027 or Spring 2028 fellowship cycles. For eligibility and submission requirements, please visit https://uncfmellon.org/residency-application. Questions? Please email gordoninstitute@tc.columbia.