Professor Leigh A. Payne Selected As 2025–2026 Harvard Radcliffe Institute Lisa Goldberg Fellow
Professor Leigh A. Payne, internationally recognised scholar of sociology and Latin America at the University of Oxford–St Antony’s College, has been selected by Harvard Radcliffe Institute to be the Lisa Goldberg Fellow for the 2025–2026 academic year.
As part of this prestigious fellowship she will work to develop an understanding of how to strengthen norms against conflict related sexual violence through her study of perpetrators’ confessions to rape in Colombia’s 50-year civil war.
Chosen from a highly competitive pool of 1,677 applicants for approximately 50 fellowship slots, Payne joins the Institute’s 26th fellowship class, a cohort known for its extraordinary breadth of expertise and creative vision. The Radcliffe fellowship offers scholars, scientists, artists, writers, and professionals from around the world the chance to focus intensively on ambitious projects. Each year’s fellows are chosen for their originality, rigour, and potential for impact across disciplines and society.
“In these uncertain times, I am more convinced than ever before that Radcliffe’s interdisciplinary approach is crucial to creating the transformative research, scholarship, writing, art, and, ultimately, societal change that we need,” says Tomiko Brown-Nagin, dean of Harvard Radcliffe Institute, the Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, and a professor of history in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “We welcome this new cohort in the firm belief that bringing outstanding individuals together—with their disparate backgrounds, training, perspectives, approaches, and ideologies—and creating an environment that supports meaningful discourse is how we push the limits of human knowledge and understanding.”
This year’s Radcliffe fellows will become part of a unique intellectual and creative community, stepping away from daily routines to advance long-envisioned projects. Fellows meet regularly to share their work in progress and engage with the broader public. With access to Harvard’s exceptional resources, Radcliffe fellows develop innovative methods, challenge disciplinary boundaries, and shape conversations across academia and the arts. Many alumni describe their Radcliffe year as the most enriching of their careers.
About Harvard Radcliffe Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is one of the world’s leading centres for interdisciplinary research and exploration. It brings together students, scholars, artists, and practitioners to pursue curiosity-driven work, deepen human understanding, and address pressing questions from multiple perspectives.
