The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship Program supports doctoral students in the humanities and social sciences as they pursue innovative approaches to dissertation research, including new methodologies, formats, and collaborations with community partners beyond the academy.
The 2026 awardees will pursue a range of approaches to the dissertation, incorporating trans- and inter-disciplinary research, mixed methodologies, and non-traditional scholarly formats. Their wide-ranging research includes a study of female scribal practices in Medieval Europe; a project that explores the weaponization of sound in the anti-abortion movement in the United States; an analysis of female-centered forms of resistance against ecological and state violence in the Niger Delta; and a multi-sited ethnography of sonic de/militarization in East Asia, incorporating spaces and events where sound intersects with competing ideas around peacebuilding and militarism.
Laurian's project is titled, Colonial remains: the afterlives of militarization and the politics of redevelopment in eastern Puerto Rico.This project explores the political, affective, and material dimensions of militarization and redevelopment at the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Base in Ceiba, Puerto Rico.
It pays close attention to the seemingly mundane ways in which militarism becomes intertwined with people’s lives, shaped by dynamics of gender, race, and class. Integrating archival, oral histories, and ethnographic research with GIS and photogrammetry, “Colonial Remains” recounts the social history of Ceiba through the memories of those who lived in the shadows of a military base and now face tourism-led redevelopments imposed from outside.
The notion of “remains” foregrounds both the continuities of the colonial logics of militarization and the material/affective ruins that shape everyday life in Ceiba. By integrating 3D reconstructions of photographs and maps with oral histories, this project visibilizes the layered histories of a place where militarism and contemporary development imaginaries intersect (and often conflict) with local social dynamics.
This is the third consecutive year a Graduate Student in the Geography Department has been selected to receive this highly competitive research award.
Information about all the Fellowship projects can be found at the following link: https://www.acls.org/recent-fellows/?_fellow_year=2026&_fellow_program=38351&utm_source=2026+Mellon%2FACLS+Dissertation+Innovation+Award+Announcement&utm_campaign=9172fdf8a7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_04_27_04_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-9172fdf8a7-669714780