Four Profs Named Cabot Fellows

Four professors were awarded the Walter Channing Cabot Fellowship last week, recognizing their accomplishments in the fields of literature, history or art.

Marquand Professor of English Lawrence Buell, Dillon Professor of International Affairs Jorge I. Dominguez, Gleason Professor of Fine Arts Neil Levine and Professor of Medieval Latin and Comparative Literature Jan M. Ziolkowski were awarded the fellowships just after the new year, according to a University press release.

The award recipients are selected by Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles after consultation with faculty chairs and experts in the specific fields designated by the endowment, according to spokesperson Debra B. Ruder.

But the final decision for the award rests solely with Knowles. "It's basically a prize that [Knowles] awards," Buell said.

The fellowship, which dates back to 1905, is more than an honorary distinction. A fund provides for four yearly awards that range from $5,000-$10,000. This year's recipients will receive about $8,000, Levine said.

The award does not recognize specific works of scholarship by the professors to whom it is given, although several of the recipients have recently published books.

The winners all said they were pleased with fellowship, even though some did not know they had own until after it became public.

Levine did not learn about the prize until after he returned from an extended international trip.

"I've been in Africa for about three weeks, so I just picked up my mail yesterday and found out," he said.

The professors have free reign to spend their prizes, but don't expect any big parties.

"It's understood that because it's for scholarly work it's not to be spent frivolously," said Buell, who added he was not sure exactly what he would spend the money on.

Buell recently published a book about literary interpretation and attitudes towards the non-human environment titled "The Environmental Imagination." Levine has just issued "The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright," a work which shares the same subject as his popular Core class, Literature and Arts B-33.