Age of Jefferson
The Center for the Study of the Age of Jefferson approaches the ideas and legacies of Thomas Jefferson through a wide lens by bringing together experts on the Atlantic World, the colonial era, and the early American Republic.
Under the direction of Professor Christa Dierksheide, this interdisciplinary institute embraces a new approach to training the next generation of early Americanists. The Center enables UVA doctoral students to expand their expertise in a wide variety of methodologies, including publishing, material culture, and public history. A hub for scholarship, teaching, and public engagement, the Center fosters a vibrant intellectual community at the University of Virginia and contributes to a richer understanding of the American past.
Fellowships
The Center awards several fellowships in order to provide support for early career scholars to develop and revise works-in-progress.
Postdoctoral Fellowship
About the Fellowship: This two-year postdoctoral fellowship provides support to an early-career scholar. The fellow leads a manuscript workshop in conjunction with U.Va. Press to revise their dissertation and is given opportunities for teaching, mentoring, and research.
Teaching Fellowship
Matthew Grace
2024-25 Age of Jefferson Teaching Fellow
About the Fellowship: This nine-month fellowship supports an ABD Ph.D. candidate in history, who coordinates the Early American Seminar and teaches an undergraduate seminar while completing their dissertation.
Public History Fellowship
Bethany McGlyn
2024-25 Age of Jefferson Public History Fellow
About the Fellowship: This one-year fellowship provides support to a Ph.D. candidate in history to gain expertise in public history. In addition to working on their dissertation, the fellow will work two days per week in a research department of their choosing (including Curatorial, Archaeology, Oral History, or Documentary Editing) at Monticello.
Enhancement Fellowship
Bethany McGlyn
2021-26 Jefferson Scholars Foundation Doctoral Enhancement Fellow
Towson University (B.A.)
University of Delaware (M.A.)
McGlyn is a Ph.D. student in the Corcoran Department of History at UVA, studying slavery, craft labor, and material culture in the 18th-century American South and Atlantic World. She holds an M.A. in American Material Culture from the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and has worked in curatorial departments at Historic Annapolis, the National Parks Service, and Winterthur.
About the Fellowship: This fellowship provides additional support to a doctoral student in the Corcoran Department of History throughout their five years of graduate school. Prospective students who are interested in this opportunity should contact Professor Christa Dierksheide.
Early American Seminar
The Early American Seminar brings together UVA graduate students, faculty, visiting scholars, and historians and fellows from Monticello. Coordinated by the Monticello-Jefferson Scholars Teaching Fellow, the seminar meets every other week to share and provide feedback on in-progress work.
