The University of Notre Dame and partners are now accepting applications for the Becas Fulbright-García Robles COMEXUS Mexico Studies Chair, which funds a senior scholar from a Mexican university to be in residence for a semester.

As part of the new program, Notre Dame International has partnered with Kellogg Institute for International Studies to bring social scientists and humanists to Notre Dame to teach courses about Mexico as a Kellogg Institute visiting fellow. The call for applications for fall 2021 runs through November 25. The profile of this particular chair will focus on democracy and human development, the core themes of the Kellogg Institute.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with NDI and COMEXUS on this distinctive research opportunity,” said Donald Stelluto, executive director for the Institute. “The Kellogg Institute has long valued and fostered collaborative research. This opportunity to welcome a senior scholar from Mexico will strengthen the Institute’s academic and collegial networks in Latin America and present a new avenue for us and our visiting scholars to focus together on the study of critical questions around democracy and development in Mexico.”

The program, which launched in 2016, aims to create and strengthen ties between US academic and higher education institutions in Mexico, as well as promote greater knowledge of Mexico in the US.

"We are very excited about this partnership and the opportunity it creates to build new relationships throughout Mexico by bringing senior scholars to Notre Dame,” says Mike Talbot, director for initiatives in Mexico at the Mexico City Global Center. “This program will seed research collaboration long into the future."

While the core of this program is a course, the fellow will also organize an event or seminar on Mexico, fostering discussion in the Notre Dame community, and will develop research on a relevant topic.

"This collaboration is particularly relevant as Mexico elected in 2018 a president with the highest popular support in 50 years,” says Hazel Blackmore, executive director of COMEXUS. “The initiative between Notre Dame and COMEXUS is the cherry on the cake to an informal collaboration between the two institutions that has been constant and productive over the years within the framework of other FGR programs.”

Notre Dame is the sixth partner to this initiative that includes The University of Chicago, The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, University of California San Diego, University of Southern California - Los Angeles, and Juniata College.

Becas Fulbright-García Robles scholarship is awarded to candidates with Mexican nationality and permanent residency in Mexico. The deadline is November 25. Requirements and application information can be found here.

This article was originally published by Notre Dame International.