Top philosophy graduate students from around the world are finding their way to UC Berkeley thanks to a recently established fellowship that enriches the discipline with new approaches.
The fellowship honors Carol Lee Price, a Berkeley alum who led a curiosity-driven life. Price was born in Cleveland to a Jewish family that emphasized education as an object of value that no one could take away. Whenever she moved, she took the knowledge she had gained with her.
Price found a home at Berkeley, where she majored in English and participated in the early days of the Free Speech Movement. She was a dancer with a strong interest in mathematics who befriended many accomplished novelists, philosophers, and legal scholars. She conducted research for UCLA’s psychology department and wrote evaluations of educational programs. Her many passions enriched her life and the lives of those around her.
After Price passed away in 2016, her estate’s trustees searched for ways to carry on her inquisitive approach to life through a new generation of students. The trustees began with the Weinstein Fellowship in honor of Price’s late friend, Craig, who graduated from Berkeley Law in 1978. The endowed fund supports an annual, one-week residency by a distinguished scholar recognized for their work in moral, legal, or political philosophy.
The trustees felt the initiative embodied Price’s passion for intellectual debate and decided to expand their partnership, this time in the Department of Philosophy.