In August, the Center for the Humanities welcomed its 2025–27 Merle Kling Undergraduate Honors Fellowship cohort. Over the next two years, the six new fellows from the Washington University Class of 2027 will pursue their own independent research projects in the humanities or humanistic social sciences, explore the public dimensions of humanistic work and enrich the intellectual life of the Center for the Humanities. Students apply during the spring of their sophomore year and enroll in a two-year research seminar during their junior and senior years.

The incoming Kling Fellows’ proposed projects range across (and between) numerous disciplines in Arts and Sciences, with topics of study including gender studies, film and literature and rhetoric.

Astrid Burns is an American Culture Studies major and is pursuing minors in English and Legal Studies. Her project explores the effects of the commodification of feminism in recent decades through an analysis of popular culture and social media sources, working to reconcile these changes with our legal institutions.

Ava Giere is a double major in English Literature and Political Science and is pursuing a minor in Spanish. She plans to investigate investigates how the love triangle trope in rom-com films and literature can also be a metaphor for the choice between rival political futures.

Sarah Johnston is an English Literature and Anthropology major and is pursuing a minor in Spanish. Using feminist and postcolonial frameworks, her project follows contemporary Irish women writers as they respond to and reconcile with Ireland’s deep literary tradition. 

Julia Li is a double major in Economics and English. She will explore how corporate finance, specifically private equity, utilizes rhetorical strategies to influence public perceptions of corporate identity and responsibility.

Kevin Ramirez is majoring in Comparative Literature and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. His project provides a psychoanalytic reading of how the gay signifier functions as a fantasy of authenticity within the postmodern condition, tracing how desire itself is structured and circulated within discourse.

Deborah Theophile is a Cognitive Neuroscience major and is pursuing minors in Music and Anthropology. Her project investigates the impact of music therapy on individuals with disabilities and those from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.