Each year, the Scott Kleiner Awards support graduate students in philosophy whose work stretches across disciplines, traditions, and continents. This year’s recipients are pursuing questions about art, games, ethics, sound, metaphysics, pedagogy, and ancient philosophy while balancing pedagogy, parenting, leadership, and international scholarship. Together, their stories show how targeted support can shape research trajectories and widen access to the philosophical community. 

For Shagun Sharma, the award provides support for summer study as she continues her work in aesthetics and the philosophy of art. A second-year Ph.D. student, Sharma’s research examines how people experience and interpret artistic expression, work that sits at the intersection of philosophy, culture, and creativity. 

The award is helping Nathan Pagel take an important professional step beyond campus. Pagel is a third-year Ph.D. student in philosophy whose research examines questions about value and the relationship between normative domains such as aesthetics and ethics, particularly within environmental philosophy. 

“The Scott Kleiner Award is making it possible for me to travel to Santa Fe to present one of my papers at the Rocky Mountain American Society for Aesthetics annual meeting,” Pagel says. “The conference will give me the opportunity to receive feedback from philosophers I would not normally have the chance to meet. The experience will help me prepare my work for publication and take some of my first steps into a broader philosophical community.” 

Doctoral candidate Alexander Asay studies existential themes in the philosophy of games, particularly through the work of philosopher Bernard Suits. He recently co-authored the book, “On Bernard Suits’ Philosophy: How Play, Games, and Sport Shape a Life Worth Living,” along with Francisco Javier López Frías. Alongside his academic work, Asay is raising five children and serving in the Air National Guard.  

“I am grateful for Scott Kleiner’s generosity at this time in particular because the cost of basic goods has increased,” Asay says. “This gift makes it that much easier to make ends meet, which in turn allows me to spend more time writing my dissertation and with my children.” 

Kali (Hadley) Grecia is a Ph.D. student from South Africa whose research focuses primarily on the metaphysics of epistemology. The Kleiner award will support her research and potential conference travel expenses to the 2026 International Philosophy of Sport Conference in São Paulo, Brazil. If accepted, Grecia will present her paper, “The Competition between Philosophy and Sophistry in Nietzsche’s “Twilight of Idols.” Grecia’s work engages longstanding philosophical debates about rationality, persuasion, and competition, drawing connections between Nietzsche and Plato while extending conversations already underway within Franklin’s philosophy department. Grecia has emerged as a leader within the department as president of the Philosophical Graduate Student Association, chair of the annual Student Philosophy in the South Conference, and an active member of the UGA Aesthetics Lab.  

Frank Carlos Granados-Orozco is a philosopher, musicologist, and educator specializing in perception, the sound-musical experience, and sonic epistemologies. A philosophy Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Rene Jagnow, Granados-Orozco’s dissertation, “The Phenomenology of Timbre,” investigates the conceptualization, representation, and ontological nature of the complex auditory feature of timbre.  

“The Scott Kleiner Award will support my participation in the American Association of Philosophy Teachers Seminar on Teaching and Learning in Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University this July,” says Granados-Orozco. “The seminar focuses on designing learning-centered philosophy courses, developing effective assessment methods, and creating interactive classroom practices. Through the program, I will strengthen my teaching practice, deepen my understanding of how students learn, and build skills that support my long-term goal of creating inclusive, collaborative philosophy classrooms. The experience will also inform my outreach initiatives in Costa Rica and support my development as both a philosopher and educator and contribute to my long-term goal of developing inclusive, collaborative, and dynamic philosophy classrooms that serve diverse student populations.” 

Quentin Murphy, another Ph.D. candidate in philosophy, teaches courses in logic and critical thinking and symbolic logic. He plans to use the funding to continue his research specializing in ancient philosophy. 

Also among this year’s Kleiner awardees is Guillermo Zapata whose research interests include environmental ethics.  

“We are grateful to Scott Kleiner for supporting our remarkable graduate students in this way,” says Department of Philosophy head, Aaron Meskin. “These awards make a huge difference in the development of our researchers and teachers.” 

Across the recipients’ work runs a common thread: the Scott Kleiner Awards create opportunities that might otherwise remain out of reach. Whether funding conference travel, easing financial pressures, supporting research materials, or strengthening teaching practices, the awards help graduate students participate more fully in academic life and contribute new ideas to the field of philosophy.