Maisam Alomar, assistant professor of women and gender studies, wins support to study race and gender inequality in medical rehabilitation

An expert in women and gender studies at the University of Colorado Boulder has won a Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, the group announced recently.

Maisam Alomar, CU Boulder assistant professor of women and gender studies, is one of 39 new Career Enhancement Fellows selected for the 2021–22 academic year.

She is one of 21 to win a six-month fellowship, which will support her scholarly work in race and gender inequality in medical rehabilitation idealist projects, like transhumanism, a movement that promotes the research and development of technologies to extend and enhance human life.

“While this transhumanist vision positions itself as cutting-edge and future-oriented, I situate it as part of a long historical arc of medically rehabilitative research and practice that has exploited and exacerbated race, class and gendered inequality,” Alomar said, adding that she was gratified by the award: 

“I’m very pleased to have received this recognition and to have the opportunity to work and make connections with so many wonderful scholars from around the country.”

The Career Enhancement Fellowship, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Citizens & Scholars, seeks to increase the number of underrepresented junior and other faculty members in the humanities, social sciences and arts by creating career development opportunities for selected fellows with promising research projects.

The program provides fellows with a six-month or one-year sabbatical stipend (up to $30,000); a research, travel or publication stipend (up to $1,500); mentoring; and participation in a professional-development retreat. 

The 2021 fellows work in such disciplines as African American studies, English, women and gender studies and sociology. They come from a variety of institutions nationwide. 

Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, fellows represent unique perspectives within their disciplines and are committed to increasing diversity and inclusion on campus through service and research. 

Alomar earned her PhD in ethnic studies from the University of California San Diego in 2018. Her research focus includes disability studies, cultural studies and ethnic studies.

Administered at Citizens & Scholars since 2001, the Career Enhancement Fellowship has supported more than 400 junior faculty members, creating a robust network of scholars committed to eradicating racial disparities in core fields in the arts and humanities.

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars is a 75-year-old organization that aims to help shape American higher education. The group strives to prepare leaders and engages networks of people and organizations to meet urgent education challenges. The goal is to shape an informed, productively engaged and hopeful citizenry.