Fellowship for Educational Innovation
at the Abigail Adams Institute
The Abigail Adams Institute is pleased to announce Professor Samantha Matherne as the 2025–2026 Faculty Fellow for Educational Innovation.
The Fellowship for Educational Innovation (FEEDIN) is the newest partnership between AAI and Harvard University. Building on successful efforts to develop intellectual community, foster good pedagogy, and promote supplemental advising and mentoring, the Fellowship aims to support the pursuit of big and basic questions in the Harvard curriculum through the creation and execution of comprehensive survey courses.
The purpose of FEEDIN is to enable a Harvard faculty member to dedicate a full academic year to developing innovative, student-focused courses and teaching materials. Faculty Fellows, selected by both AAI and faculty from Harvard's Arts and Humanities division, have proven track records of teaching excellence and a commitment to the humanities
Through our Course Guide for the Harvard Humanist, faculty conversations and events, and demonstrated success with the Harvard History of Philosophy Workshop, AAI has historically promoted big picture survey courses that capture undergraduate students’ imaginations, stimulate lifelong learning, and help students cultivate a balanced, flourishing life. By fostering course innovation, the AAI Fellowship aims to catalyze the appreciation of the humanities at Harvard and beyond, complementing AAI’s supplementary student programming.
Like faculty at many institutions, Harvard professors are eligible for sabbatical leaves. Nearly all such fellowships prioritize research, meaning that faculty generally concentrate their most intensive efforts on research rather than teaching. Our fellowship seeks to rebalance that structure by offering faculty — especially senior faculty — the support needed to invest concentrated time and energy in pedagogical innovation.
Our faculty sabbatical fellowship provides resources for a yearlong period during which faculty fellows will contribute to the intellectual offerings of the Institute. During the fellowship year, aculty Fellows will have the opportunity to explore proposed pedagogical innovations by offering seminars and conversations for AAI students at our community space in Harvard Square.
This year’s FEEDIN Faculty Fellow is Professor Samantha Matherne, who will be preparing an interdisciplinary survey course focusing on intersections of philosophy and literature.
2025 - 2026 Fellow for Educational Innovation
Professor Samantha Matherne
Professor of Philosophy
Samantha Matherne is a Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. She is known for her work on aesthetics and Kantian philosophy. She is particularly interested in questions concerning imagination, creativity, and community. She approaches these questions through a broadly historical lens that she draws from Immanuel Kant, philosophers in the post-Kantian tradition, and novelists like Jane Austen. She previously taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
