Fellowship News

The Weatherhead Scholars Program hosted two signing ceremonies to renew sponsored fellowships within the program.

Hicham Alaoui Postdoctoral Fellowship

An older man sits at a table signing papers with a pen, while a woman sits next to him smiling. Both are indoors at a desk.

Prince Hicham Alaoui, member of the Weatherhead Advisory Committee and founder and director of the Hicham Alaoui Foundation, recently signed an agreement to renew sponsorship of the one-year fellowship at the Weatherhead Center over the next three academic years. The Hicham Alaoui Postdoctoral Fellowship is a one-year residential opportunity for early-career scholars in the social sciences whose research focuses on climate and/or environmental issues in the Middle East and North Africa. The recipient is part of the Weatherhead Scholars Program, a multidisciplinary cohort including other postdoctoral fellows, visiting faculty, and practitioner fellows. The current Hicham Alaoui Postdoctoral Fellow, Peter Habib, received his PhD from the Department of Anthropology at Emory University. Habib’s research explores the environmental, social, and institutional conditions that undergird nationalism in the Middle East. Amid environmental change, mass migration, and a dynamic world order, these topics speak to some of the most pressing concerns of the contemporary moment.

Polish Diplomat Visiting Fellowship

Two men in suits sit at a table, signing documents, with a Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University banner in the background.

The Weatherhead Scholars Program and Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have partnered since 2018 to support Polish diplomats as visiting fellows at the Weatherhead Center. This year, Bogdan Klich, head of mission at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington DC, renewed the agreement, ensuring continued sponsorship and further strengthening Polish-American academic collaboration. The fellowship enables diplomats to pursue independent research and engage with Harvard’s scholarly community. Mark Elliott, vice provost for international affairs and the Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History at Harvard University, also signed the agreement alongside Klich.