Anthropology professor named Andrew Carnegie Fellow

Northwestern University anthropology professor Sera Young is among the fifth class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows, comprising 32 scholars.

Each recipient of the so-called “Brainy Award” will receive a grant of up to $200,000, making it possible for them to devote significant time to research, writing and publishing in the humanities and social sciences. The award is for a period of up to two years and its anticipated result is a book or major study. 

Young, assistant professor of anthropology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty fellow with the University’s Institute for Policy Research, focuses on three main research areas related to maternal and child health: food insecurity, pica (the craving and consumption of non-food items such as earth, charcoal and ice) and, most recently, household-level water insecurity.

“It is a thrill for the promise of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale to be recognized by the Carnegie Foundation,” Young said. “I’m looking forward to devoting these Carnegie resources to bring attention to what the measurement of water insecurity can teach us about peace, prosperity, health and policy.”

The program has provided $32 million in grants to more than 160 fellows since 2015. Its overall objective is to offer fresh perspectives on the humanities and solutions to the urgent issues of today. 

“Over the past five years, we at Carnegie have been very impressed by the quality, range and reach of our fellows’ work,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York and president emeritus of Brown University. “This year is no exception. We salute this year’s class and all of the applicants for demonstrating the vitality of American higher education and scholarship.” 

Gregorian noted that the fellows program includes a balance of emerging and established scholars from colleges and universities across the country. In this year’s class, 15 of the 32 fellows are from public institutions, including the United States Naval Academy, and half are women. 

The Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program is a continuation of the Corporation’s more than 100-year history of promoting the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding by supporting the work of a host of institutions, causes, organizations and individual scholars.