UC Classics professor named National Humanities Center fellow

The National Humanities Center selected Kellogg through a highly competitive process. As part of the program, fellows join a cohort of resident scholars who pursue individual research projects and contribute to a vibrant intellectual community.

“This fellowship is huge in terms of my work,” Kellogg said. “Having the time and resources of the National Humanities Center at my fingertips will allow me to finish writing the book.”

Kellogg’s project, Mobility, Citizenship, and the Athenian Democracy, draws on a database of more than 8,000 ancient Athenian citizens. Her research examines how movement across regions affected access to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a system that tied civic identity to a fixed local community.

In ancient Athens, the political system permanently assigned citizens to a local deme, even as individuals moved for work, family or other reasons. Kellogg’s work explores how this tension shaped political participation as well as social, religious and economic life, offering new insight into how a direct democracy functioned in practice.

“I am deeply honored to have been selected as a fellow,” Kellogg said, noting the center accepts only about 5% of applicants and that she is the only Classics scholar in next year’s cohort.

The fellowship will support Kellogg as she completes her manuscript, advancing scholarship on ancient democracy and citizenship at UC and beyond.

Featured image at top: View of the Acropolis of Athens. Photo/Leonhard Niederwimmer