Elizabeth ThelenElizabeth Thelen, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History, has been named one of twenty one Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellows for 2017 at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation.

She is also one of seven Berkeley graduate students to receive a Phi Beta Kappa fellowship in support of her research presented by the Phi Beta Kappa Northern California Association.

Her research interests include community identity and social networks, religious violence and toleration, and urban history in South Asia.

She is completing her dissertation, titled Intersected Communities: Urban Histories of Rajasthan, 1500 – 1800, in the Department of History. The dissertation explores the impact of pilgrimage centers on urban social relations and religious conflict in early modern India.

The Newcombe Fellowship is the nation’s largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values. Each Fellow will receive a 12-month award of $25,000 to support their final year of dissertation work.