Fellowship Description

What does it look like to pursue wisdom in medicine? How can the Catholic intellectual tradition help us take up this question and explore medicine according to its deepest meaning and highest purpose?

The goal of this Undergraduate Catholic Medical Humanities Fellowship is to cultivate a community of undergraduate students who desire sustained reflection on these questions and who are eager to build a community committed to thinking deeply about medicine, healing, and human flourishing through the lens of the Catholic intellectual tradition.

The fellowship is specifically targeted at undergraduate students interested in working in health care or related fields, or those discerning the possibility of doing so, from both Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. Students need not be Catholic—or come from any particular religious tradition—to participate.

This one-year fellowship will welcome a cohort of twelve undergraduate fellows who meet for six seminar-style meetings across the fall and spring semesters of the 25–26 academic year, facilitated by a scholar with both clinical and academic training.

Capstone Research Trip to Washington, D.C.

To enrich the fellowship experience and expose students to real-world applications of the ideas discussed in the fellowship, the program will include a one-night spring research trip to Washington, D.C. This capstone experience is designed to deepen student engagement with the themes of the fellowship, strengthen cohort identity, and foster exploration of new ideas and models in the medical humanities. Students will visit a range of institutions—such as centers of bioethics, Catholic healthcare advocacy organizations, and theological institutes—and engage in conversation with scholars and practitioners working at the intersection of medicine, ethics, and faith.

Fellowship Benefits

Fellows selected for the program will receive:

• Monthly seminar-style meetings with meals provided
• Curated readings and materials exploring theology, ethics, philosophy, literature, and more
• Membership in a cross-campus intellectual community of students from Duke and UNC committed to thinking about medicine in this way
• One-night research trip to Washington, D.C. to explore real-world intersections of medicine, ethics, and Catholic intellectual life.

Fellowship Requirements

Fellows must:

• Attend all six sessions, having completed any required readings and prepared to discuss and engage with others
• Participate in the research trip to Washington, D.C.

Dates & Location

1. September 29, Duke University
2. October 20, Duke University
3. November 17, Duke University
4. January 26, UNC Chapel Hill
5. February 9, UNC Chapel Hill
6. March 23, UNC Chapel Hill
7. April 11–12, Research Trip to Washington D.C.

All sessions run 6:00–8:30 p.m. Dates subject to minor adjustments. Students are encouraged to make use of the Robertson Express Bus for transportation across campuses.

Fons Vitae at Duke Divinity School

Fons Vitae was founded at Duke Divinity School in 2023 by Professors Peter Casarella and Reinhard Huetter to enrich Catholic intellectual life at Duke. Its earliest activities focused on enhancing fellowship among Catholics at Duke Divinity through prayer and shared meals. Now, Fons Vitae is a university-wide effort to dialogue with students and faculty across disciplines using the wisdom and the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Learn more about Fons Vitae.

Funding for the Fellowship

This fellowship program is supported by a grant from the Lumen Christi Institute with funding from the John Templeton Foundation (Grant #63614).

We offer our sincere gratitude to them for making this fellowship possible.