Nicklin Fellows

The Lumen Christi Institute’s Nicklin Fellows are the recipients of a competitive, application-based fellowship for undergraduate students at the University of Chicago. Nicklin Fellows are granted exclusive access to resources to pursue their intellectual interests with the aid of the Lumen Christi Institute. Fellows design a range of projects such as hosting speakers and reading groups (more under Grant Uses tab).

The purpose of the Nicklin Fellows is to support undergraduate students in the pursuit of their personal academic & intellectual interests, especially those related to existential questions of being, and to cultivate robust intellectual friendships rooted in a common love of truth, beauty, and goodness. Student projects adhere to the guiding principles of the Lumen Christi Institute:

  • Affirm the intellectual life as good in itself
  • Ask questions animated by the principle that “all knowledge forms one whole”
  • Transcend the ideological / political divide (i.e., programs should not be partisan in nature)
  • Welcome religious perspectives as part of the intellectual life (i.e., programs need not be theological in nature but conversations should be open to religious insights) 
  • Nurture friendships, to support the pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness (i.e., programs should have a social component)

Undergraduate students who attend the Fundamental Questions seminar are eligible to apply to become Nicklin Fellows. The application process opens at the end of the fall quarter. Interviews are held over the winter, and new fellows are named in early spring. Current Nicklin Fellows are encouraged to re-apply for future years. Each year, the Lumen Christi Institute chooses four-to-six new Nicklin Fellows.

The fellowship is accessible to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The Lumen Christi Institute adheres to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Because our mission is to make the Catholic intellectual tradition a vital part of the secular university and the broader culture, we engage participants from all faith traditions and no faith tradition. The Nicklin Fellows are not employees of the Lumen Christi Institute, they receive no compensation, and their views do not necessarily represent the Institute. The Nicklin Fellows are University of Chicago undergraduate students, selected based on their earnest and open search for truth.

We are grateful to Oliver Nicklin and the First Analysis Institute of Integrative Studies for their generous support to this Fellowship. Below you can find some of this past years Nicklin Fellow projects.

Fellowship Information

  • Organize a reading group
  • Bring a speaker to campus
  • Organize a movie night
  • Develop and plan future Fundamental Questions seminars
  • Write a paper for a journal
  • And more!
  • Attend three sessions of a Fundamental Questions seminar
  • Attend one other Lumen Christi event per academic year
  • Be an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago

Send an email to William Hurley (whurley@lumenchristi.org), cc’ing  Austin Walker (awalker@lumenchristi.org). Include a one-page cover letter that explains:

  • Who you are
  • What Lumen Christi programs you have attended
  • Why you want to become a Nicklin Fellow

Also include a CV/resume, and responses to the following questions (a maximum of 150 words per response):

  • Which Fundamental Questions seminar did you attend? What did you get out of it?
  • What do you think is worth thinking about?
  • Give us a couple ideas for how you might spend your Nicklin fellowship money. (This is not a test, nor are you obliged to use these ideas when you receive your fellowship). Please remember to calibrate these suggestions to the guiding principles of the Lumen Christi Institute.

Featured Fellows

Featured Nicklin Fellows from previous years share what they think is worth thinking about.

Zvi Gomez Fisher

Zvi is a second-year student at the College majoring in linguistics and public policy. While he is very passionate about both of these fields, he is utterly in love with philosophy and the arts, and I takes every opportunity he can get to allow them to enrich his life.

What do you think is worth thinking about?

This is a very good question, and I’m afraid the obvious answer is the one I’m going to give: everything is worth thinking about. The human mind is so incredible at extracting meaning from places where none may have been intended, and, if it had been, meaning far from the original intention, whether for better or worse. Because of this fact, the application of the mind to anything yields incredible results. As Socrates famously says, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Taking this to its greatest extent, it is a commandment to intellectualize everything in the world, behind which is the truth that we will be better off because of it. This is a sentiment with which I am in complete agreement.

Brady Santoro

Brady majors in anthropology, philosophy, and religious studies. 

What do you think is worth thinking about?

We are (as it has been and should be said ten thousand times) social creatures and unfortunately for some, do not live in vacuums. As such, we need to come to terms with our relationships with others and how we can mutually arrive at forms of the common good for the benefit of all. Wrapped within the broad topic of relating to the other are the relations of man to nature, man to fellow man, man to God, and man to himself (for I is indeed an other), all of which concern the central object of inquiry: how do find and achieve a common good, for being social creatures, all good is ultimately common. As such, I find it valuable to always evaluate our connections and how they aim towards the good, with intellectual life being an excellent way to form connections that pursue
intellectual life and good together.

Max Baumeister

Max is majoring in Political Science with a focus in international relations. Max is especially interested in political philosophy, especially the writings of Machiavelli and Leo Strauss. Outside of the classroom, Max loves to work out. After graduation, Max plans to enlist in the United States Army and then enter into the field of international relations.

What do you think is worth thinking about?

Many things are worth thinking about, in my opinion. However, these vary in terms of importance based on the circumstances, time, and place. In the big picture, I like to think about western civilization and where it’s currently at in the cycle of history (if there’s even any, which definitely worth thinking about). I also like to think about the fusion of (classical) liberalism and conservatism, and the direction of the political right in the United States.

Some Previous Projects by Fellows

The Cloud of Unknowing

The Cloud of Unknowing, a gem of English mysticism, is both a guide and a warning to the spiritual seeker. Written anonymously in the 14th century, the Cloud troubles the relation between man and God, making spirituality an antidote to the secular world and despair the path towards glimpses of enlightenment. Through the Cloud and the writings of contemporary thinkers and mystics, we will explore the spiritual lives of medieval laity and differing conceptions of the contemplative life.

The Master & Margarita

A city whose citizens refused to believe in the existence of Jesus, God or Satan. A certain Satan who arrived in this city—Moscow—with his retinue, on a hot spring day. A nameless writer pilloried by his novel on Pontius Pilate and his fiery lover who was willing to do anything to save him, including going to literal hell. A mental facility. A talking black cat who cheated in chess and loved kerosene. The cruel fifth procurator of Judea, the knight Pontius Pilate.

A culmination of religious and political satire, warm humor, and surreal imagination, Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece was at the same time ardent and deeply philosophical. 

What Does Empathy Require?

Triumph of the Heart tells the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest who volunteered to take the place of another prisoner in the starvation bunker at Auschwitz. Set in one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century, the film invites viewers to reflect on how compassion and solidarity can appear even in extreme suffering. This screening will explore the idea of empathy not as a simple feeling, but as a difficult and sometimes demanding choice in how we relate to others.

The Silmarillion

There are few figures as foundational to the epic fantasy genre as J.R.R. Tolkien, and few works as wide-ranging in that genre as The Silmarillion. Written over the course of nearly 60 years and inspired by the folk traditions of northern Europe, Greece, and the personal ethical and historical philosophies of Tolkien himself, The Silmarillion is a story of morality, greed, bliss, and tragedy. We invite you to join us in a discussion of The Silmarillion’s most dramatic tales, from the creation of the world to the forging of the One Ring.