Texas State doctoral student named John Lewis Humanity in Action Fellow

Amy Biedermann, doctoral student in College of Education’s Adult, Professional and Community Education program

Amy Biedermann, a doctoral student in the College of Education’s Adult, Professional and Community Education program, has been named Texas State University’s first John Lewis Humanity in Action Fellow. 

The one-year experiential fellowship brings together approximately 30 university students and recent graduates from Europe and the United States to explore histories of discrimination and resistance, as well as contemporary issues affecting minority groups. After a one-month residency, fellows develop and implement projects to address social justice issues in their own communities during the remainder of the fellowship year.

“I am thrilled to have been selected as a 2020 John Lewis Humanity in Action Fellow,” Biedermann said. “The fellowship focuses on civil and human rights, anti-racism work and alliance building. I'm excited to build connections between these themes and my work and research in Chile on feminist social activism.”

The John Lewis Humanity in Action Fellowship takes place in partnership with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The program honors U.S. Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement. While the John Lewis Fellowship residency typically takes place during the summer in Atlanta, Georgia, for 2020 the program will conduct a virtual residency so that fellows can maintain necessary social distance during the current global pandemic, while still experiencing the social engagement and transformation that are integral to the Humanity in Action Fellowship.