Society of Scholars Cohort Archive

chairs against a blackboard

The Society of Scholars is an intellectual community of humanists of diverse generations, academic ranks, and departmental affiliations who contribute to and learn from one another’s work. Each year, approximately eight faculty and three dissertation research fellowships support members of the Society of Scholars. Scholars in year-long residence at the University of Washington may be invited to participate as well. The group meets biweekly throughout the year to discuss their research in progress. 

Apply for the Fellowship (Faculty)

Apply for the Fellowship (Student)

Cohort Archives

2022 - 2023 Society of Scholars Fellow

Jingsi Shen stands outside with mountains in the background.

Jingsi Shen (she/her/hers)

Doctoral Candidate

Catastrophizing Humanism in Romantic Literature: Mary Shelley, Goethe, Kleist, and Wordsworth

My dissertation focuses on the intersection between ecology, affect, and literary forms and explores narratives of catastrophe from 1770s to 1830s and their relationship to the disenchantment of the humanist discourses of the era. It argues for the importance of the belief in the embeddedness of humans and humanity in natural history and examines ways in which this belief shapes the catastrophizing tendencies embodied in these works.

Back to Archive