LALS doctoral candidate Candy Martínez awarded Native American Scholars Initiative Fellowship

portrait of candy martinez
Candy Martínez is a PhD. candidate in Latin America Latino Studies.

Candy Martínez, a PhD. candidate in Latin America Latino Studies, has been named a 2020-2021 Andrew W. Mellon Native American Scholars Initiative Fellow at the American Philosophical Society.

The American Philosophical Society, based in Philadelphia, is the oldest learned society in the United States. Benjamin Franklin founded it in 1743 for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge.”

This year the Society awarded five long-term fellowships, one digital humanities fellowship, and 36 short-term fellowships and internships for scholarly research in the history of science, Native American studies, and early American history.

“Our fellows conduct cutting edge research in a wide range of fields, and every year they make new discoveries in our collections that change what we know about our past,” said the society’s librarian Patrick Spero.

Martínez’s dissertation is "Rethinking Structural Inequalities and Emotional Illnesses in Oaxacan Communities."

She said she “chose to accept an APS fellowship because it will provide me with the ability and space to advance my dissertation and prepare for academic positions. The APS makes up a vibrant community of interdisciplinary scholars that include scholars in Early American History, Curatorial Studies, Bibliography and Biography Studies, and History of Science Technology and Medicine.

“The APS will surely push me away from my comfort zone of engaging mostly with Latin American and Latina/o Studies scholars. It will be exciting to be in conversation with other people who may not necessarily be in my field."