Archival skills are in demand beyond academia. This is one of many revelations that emerged over the course of Ph.D. student Anaís Martinez Jimenez’s Social Impact Fellowship. Working with the Racial Justice Initiative at the The National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis, she has been engaged in long-term research, digging into the archives of a peer-reviewed journal “The Psychoanalytic Review,” and developing a historiographic map against which to evaluate its contents. The results are showcased in an original article in the March 2024 issue of the journal – “Transacting in Objectification: Racism, Psychoanalysis, and the Temptations of Empiricism” – that introduces her project to an international audience of psychoanalysts and scholars – exposure which is sure to extend the strong connections she has already made with mentors in the academic, psychoanalytic, and publishing spheres as a part of her fellowship.

“There is a lot of overlap between my academic interests and the kind of work that can be achieved in alt-academia. The GradFutures Social Impact Fellowship afforded me a strong grounding in my chosen field outside of academia without completely severing the interests and skills I have built as a graduate student. It worked as a perfect bridge between my two major interests, clinical psychoanalysis and critical theory.” – Anaís Martinez Jimenez, GS, COL

Martinez Jiminez’s dissertation focuses on a comparative reading of the topology of the Freudo-Lacanian unconscious and the paraconcept of the ‘poetic’. This literary approach to humanistic therapeutic practice in some ways parallels the journey of her NPAP mentor, Beverly Scheider. A literature and religion student before completing her training at NPAP, Scheider now leads the NPAP’s Racial Justice Initiative. This may seem like a straightforward path, but she was also a child welfare worker an a Wall Street professional. And she views this non-linear path as an asset.

“Years later, I see I managed to fashion a life that requires all parts of what is important to me, the inner life and the socio-political one. The most interesting lives are rarely a straight line, rather a spiral upward at best. Celebrate the nonlinearity by following your spirit wherever it takes you."  – Beverly Schneider, Chair of the Racial Justice Initiative, National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis

Our Fellowship Partner

The National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis is one of the oldest and largest psychoanalytic membership organizations and training institutes in the country. NPAP is open to training applicants from all fields of study and is accepting of many viewpoints within the field of psychoanalysis. NPAP is committed to psychoanalysis as an independent profession, to providing sound training for competent practice to all qualified applicants, and to furthering public understanding of psychoanalytic principles.

Learn More About GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowships

GradFUTURES Social Impact Fellowships are bespoke opportunities for Princeton graduate students with nonprofit organizations that have partnered with the Graduate School. Host organizations work closely with the Graduate School to determine the learning outcomes and professional development goals for these immersive experiences. Each fellowship is custom-designed for you to apply discipline-specific skills, gain interdisciplinary project team experience, and receive one-on-one mentoring while contributing to the social impact mission of the organization.