Brown Pembroke Center Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027–28

Pembroke Center Postdoctoral Fellowship 2027–28 at a Glance

The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University runs a residential postdoctoral programme that integrates independent scholarship, undergraduate teaching and participation in the interdisciplinary Pembroke Seminar.

Brown states that the programme normally brings together three to four scholars working across different disciplines. Fellows spend the academic year developing their research while participating actively in the Center’s scholarly community.

2027–28 Pembroke Seminar Theme

The 2027–28 Pembroke Seminar is titled:

“Rethinking Transnational Feminisms: Political Economy, Geopolitics, and Feminist Solidarities Across Borders.”

It will be led by Nadje Al-Ali, Nancy Duke Lewis Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies, and Lingzhen Wang, Professor of East Asian Studies.

The seminar places transnational feminist analysis at the center of questions surrounding historical and contemporary structures of power.

Particular attention is given to the relationships among political economy, geopolitics, sociocultural formations, inequality and feminist solidarities across national boundaries.

Research fit

Applicants from a wide range of fields may be suitable where their project engages meaningfully with the annual theme.

Potential disciplinary homes include:

• anthropology;
• gender and sexuality studies;
• political theory;
• history;
• literary and cultural studies;
• East Asian studies;
• Middle East studies;
• Africana and diaspora studies;
• critical race studies;
• visual culture and media studies;
• critical legal studies;
• religious studies;
• science studies;
• arts and humanities;
• social sciences; and
• other interdisciplinary areas with a strong thematic connection.

Who Is Eligible?

Candidates must have completed the PhD requirements before the fellowship begins and must be eligible for a residential postdoctoral appointment at Brown.

Core requirements include:

• PhD completed, or all degree requirements completed, before the position start date;
• doctoral degree from an institution other than Brown University;
• no concurrent tenured or tenure-track position; and
• strong scholarly fit with the 2027–28 Pembroke Seminar theme.

International applicants

International scholars should review the immigration and appointment terms shown in the live Brown/Interfolio posting before applying. Visa sponsorship conditions can differ by Brown postdoctoral appointment.

What Will Pembroke Center Postdocs Do?

The fellowship is not purely protected research time. It combines research, teaching and active participation in the Pembroke Center intellectual community.

Independent research

Fellows pursue an original research project connected to their larger scholarly agenda and the annual seminar theme.

Weekly Pembroke Seminar

Residential postdoctoral fellows participate in the yearlong interdisciplinary Pembroke Seminar. Brown currently schedules the seminar on Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Undergraduate teaching

Each fellow teaches one undergraduate course during the year, normally designed around their expertise and appropriate to Brown’s Gender and Sexuality Studies curriculum.

Center participation

Fellows participate in programming, interdisciplinary discussion, intellectual exchange and professional development within the Pembroke Center and the wider Brown University community.

Salary, Research Support and Benefits

Brown’s dedicated Pembroke fellowship page has not yet been updated with a 2027–28 programme-specific salary.

Brown University’s university-wide FY28 minimum salary schedule for full-time postdoctoral appointees, effective 1 July 2027, ranges from $66,965 to $70,736 for career levels zero through four.

Brown postdoctoral appointees may also be eligible for university benefits according to their appointment classification and current Brown policies.

Application Materials

The current 2027–28 recruitment materials identify three principal first-stage application documents:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae
• Writing sample

Brown’s standing detailed fellowship instructions currently specify that the cover letter should explain the connection between the applicant’s research and the Pembroke Seminar theme and should include a proposed course description.

The previous detailed cycle capped the writing sample at 7,000 words. Applicants should confirm whether the same limit applies in the live 2027–28 Interfolio form.

Finalist materials

Brown’s current detailed fellowship guidance states that selected finalists may be asked to provide:

• project title and approximately 250-word abstract;
• five-page project statement;
• representative bibliography;
• three confidential recommendation letters; and
• a syllabus for an upper-level undergraduate Gender and Sexuality Studies course.

How to Apply

1. Read the full 2027–28 seminar description. Determine whether your research makes a substantive contribution to the theme rather than only using gender or transnationalism as a peripheral concept.
2. Confirm eligibility. Pay particular attention to degree completion, Brown-degree restrictions, current employment status and the doctoral-recency requirement.
3. Prepare a theme-specific cover letter. Explain your research contribution, methodological approach and relevance to the seminar.
4. Develop the proposed undergraduate course. Show how your teaching connects to your research while standing as a coherent course for Brown students.
5. Select the writing sample carefully. Use a piece that demonstrates argument, evidence, method and intellectual fit.
6. Prepare your CV. Highlight publications, teaching, interdisciplinary work and research relevant to the seminar.
7. Submit through Interfolio. Use the application link provided by Brown University.
8. Submit before 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, 23 November 2026.

CareerAidHub Applicant Guidance

Do not write a generic feminist-studies proposal

The strongest application will engage directly with the specific 2027–28 seminar questions: transnational feminist theory, political economy, geopolitics, cross-border inequality, knowledge production and feminist solidarity.

Demonstrate what you add to an interdisciplinary seminar

Brown intentionally brings together scholars from different disciplines. Explain what archive, geography, method, language, media or theoretical tradition you add to the cohort.

Make the teaching proposal credible

The proposed course should have a clear intellectual arc, identifiable student learning goals and a realistic reading or materials structure for an upper-level undergraduate seminar.

Use the writing sample to show your analytical engine

Select work that demonstrates how you move from evidence to argument. A famous publication is less useful than a sample that clearly reveals your scholarly method and intellectual contribution.

Researchers can also review CareerAidHub’s current postdoctoral fellowships and research opportunities.