Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Participating departments and institutes in the 2026-2028 cohort of fellows:

Department of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology is excited to be part of the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for this new cohort. We are a dynamic, integrative, four-field department that emphasizes a holistic understanding of human phenomena. The department has three-self identified areas of excellence: Health & Well-being, Movement of Peoples, and Environment & Culture. Within these domains, we are leaders in exploring the connections between cultural contexts, social experiences, and health. We focus on critical issues in the global world, including crises emerging from forced displacement of communities due to conflict and climate change and how humans use culture to buffer against and remain resilient to environmental shifts. We are particularly interested in welcoming a postdoctoral fellow who can contribute to our department’s strengths in these areas of excellence, which complement Notre Dame’s Strategic Framework.

Department of Music

Following Notre Dame’s rich liberal arts tradition, the Department of Music combines different forms of music making with research that explores histories, theories, and cultures of music. We promote excellence in musical scholarship, performance, and composition, bringing together students with various skills and diverse backgrounds to study and collaborate with our distinguished and dedicated faculty in first-rate facilities.

The fellow in Music will have a doctorate in musicology, music theory, ethnomusicology, or music composition, or related disciplines, with scholarly interests in areas such as, but not limited to, popular and vernacular musics, historical performance practice, liturgical and sacred music, opera and musical theater, music cognition, or music and technology. The fellow in Music will have the opportunity to teach during their two years at the University to support their development as a scholar in the field.

Department of Philosophy

The Department of Philosophy seeks an outstanding postdoctoral fellow whose research centers in a subfield of core analytic (metaphysics/epistemology/philosophy of mind/language) and/or in philosophy of logic/math. We are a leading research department, and with over 40 faculty working across nearly every subfield of philosophy. Our large and vibrant doctoral program also contributes to our rich and engaging intellectual community, which includes numerous reading groups, colloquia series, advanced seminars, and abundant discussion opportunities. In addition to our ethics postdoc program, we also welcome a large number of visiting faculty every year (17 philosophers will be visiting through various programs and centers this year alone), and we have cultivated a welcoming and collegial culture to ensure that our new research community members are quickly integrated into the intellectual life of the department.

The successful applicant will hold their appointment in the Department of Philosophy, with office space provided in the department. The fellow will have the opportunity to teach and present their research to members of the department. They will also be assigned a faculty mentor from their subfield and will be welcome to participate in any activities taking place within the department and the Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.

Department of Political Science

The Department of Political Science seeks an outstanding emerging scholar in the field of Political Theory. The department is a vibrant, collegial community of scholars with strengths across wide-ranging substantive areas and epistemological approaches. We are home to nearly 600 undergraduate majors, an outstanding Ph.D. program, and thriving centers that focus on citizenship and constitutional government, international security, and American democracy. We have strong connections to Notre Dame’s initiatives on democracy, ethics, and poverty.

The successful applicant for this postdoctoral fellowship will join a theory program that has long been one of the nation’s top ten and is home to The Review of Politics, an annual Graduate Conference in Political Theory, and a thriving Political Theory Colloquium. The Political Theory faculty and graduate student community stands out for its strength in the history of thought and its methodological diversity. We welcome excellent applicants whose work would benefit from this strength and diversity. With the aid of a faculty mentor, the fellow will focus on developing their research and possibly engage in collaborative work with Notre Dame scholars. The fellow also may participate in, and potentially help with leading, our theory colloquium, engage in the editorial work of The Review of Politics, or teach an independent course.

Department of Theology

The Department of Theology is pleased to participate in this program. Our department regularly ranks among the top theology/religious studies programs in the world (ranked #1 internationally in 2025 QS rankings). The distinctive strength of our department is a unique combination of classical erudition and attentiveness to contemporary questions and concerns. In order to continue and grow in this strength, we are seeking a postdoctoral fellow who specializes in one of the following areas: New Testament studies; liberation theology; latine theology; black theology; and feminist moral or systematic theology. The successful candidate will have opportunities to teach and collaborate with a wide range of students, including undergraduates, students in our multiple master’s programs, and doctoral students. The successful fellow would also participate in our various faculty colloquia, organized by the different subdiscipline areas in our department.

Institute for Latino Studies

The Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at Notre Dame is a thriving community of students and faculty dedicated to examining all facets of Latino life in the United States. The ILS, which has more than thirty faculty fellows in a wide range of departments, provides major support to Notre Dame faculty and students, including research support, internships, and scholarships. It is also home to a supplementary major and minor in Latino studies with more than 100 students.

We seek a postdoctoral fellow who researches any aspect of Latinos and the arts, broadly understood. Scholars from any discipline may apply, but the selected candidate will have a strong research profile that centers artistic, creative, and cultural production from a distinctly Latino studies perspective. We hope that they will also find ways to connect with the Arts Initiative of the University Strategic Framework. The ILS fellow will have the opportunity to teach during their two years at the University to build their professional portfolio.