A new fellowship born from 250 years of French-American friendship is sending 30 young Americans to study in France and 2026 Rice University graduate AJ Shin is among them. Shin has been selected as a Lafayette Fellow, a new graduate scholarship presented by the French Embassy in the United States that will fund a year of master’s-level study in France. The program launches on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence and celebrates the historic relationship between France and the United States.
The fellowship provides a monthly stipend of 1,500 euros, full tuition at a partner institution, round-trip airfare and visa fee waivers. Shin will begin his studies at Sorbonne Université in mid-2026, returning to the U.S. afterward to attend Harvard Law School.
“I didn’t expect it at all,” Shin said. “I know it’s an extremely competitive program. I thought I would just shoot my shot and see how it went. I think I got incredibly lucky.”
Rice faculty who mentored Shin during his four years here disagree with the luck assessment, noting that the fellowship is a natural extension of the intellectual curiosity and work ethic Shin has demonstrated.
“His intellectual rigor and deep engagement with French thought and language make the Sorbonne a perfect fit for his next chapter,” said Linsey Saint-Claire, assistant professor of French studies. “I am confident that he will thrive in such an environment and contribute meaningfully to the cross-cultural dialogue that his work already embodies.”
Shin, who speaks French, has built an academic profile that bridges philosophy and language in ways few undergraduates attempt. His senior thesis reconstructs Friedrich Nietzsche’s claim that art reconciles us to living in a world where absolute truth is unavailable and that it can teach us to take pleasure in the incompleteness of our understanding.
“AJ has a more diverse intellectual background than most of his peers and moves proficiently between different schools of thought,” said Thimo Heisenberg, assistant professor of philosophy, who advised Shin’s thesis. “His interpretation is engaging and interesting: the kind of work that does not just make you think about a historical text but about the underlying philosophical issues the text raises.”
That willingness to sit with complexity showed up early. Victor Saenz, lecturer of philosophy, said Shin decided to read more of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus after taking Ancient Philosophy as a freshman, a small moment that foreshadowed a pattern Saenz would observe across the next four years.
“I got to see this in AJ in a range of different areas,” Saenz said, “from the classroom to regular, dynamic participation in noncredit philosophy reading groups and events to discussing in depth his philosophical writing for a research project and more. Moreover, I was delighted to see in AJ an openness to a wide range of arguments, perspectives and interlocutors: not just those he’d be inclined to agree with but also those quite different from his way of thinking.”
For Shin, the fellowship represents a chance to carry that same openness across the Atlantic.
“I love being able to immerse myself with people of different backgrounds who’ve seen the world in very different ways than I have,” Shin said. “I feel that being able to spend the next two years abroad and absorb as much as I can about the world is really going to enrich my perspective.”
Beyond coursework at the Sorbonne, Shin will participate in the French-American Leadership Program, a yearlong series of lectures, master classes, site visits and mentorship designed to immerse fellows in European innovation, culture and policy that begins on July 4. Fellows attend conferences alongside world-renowned French leaders and researchers, visit leading labs and scientific facilities and travel to Strasbourg, the seat of major European institutions. Each fellow is also paired with a prominent French mentor in business, government, culture or academia.
“It made me very happy for him — though not surprised — to hear he got the Lafayette Fellowship,” Saenz said. “I’m very excited to hear what comes next for him.”