ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowships are awarded to scholars pursuing research and writing on the societies and cultures of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union.
Watenpaugh will use the award to finish his second book, Bread from Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism, which is under contract with the University of California Press. The work will be the first major study of the history of human rights and international humanitarianism in the Middle East. Watenpaugh’s work is part of a larger intellectual movement to respond to fundamental questions about suffering, justice, and power through the historical lens of human rights, humanity and humanitarianism. “I look forward to time to contemplate and reflect fully on the nature of the historical events and moments I’m dealing with: genocide, refugees, starvation, and inhumanity alongside moments of great dignity, caring and idealism,” said Watenpaugh.