Toni Alimi joined UCHV as a graduate prize fellow (GPF) in 2019. He is currently a Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in Classics and Philosophy in the Department of Classics at Cornell University. His doctoral dissertation, "Slaves of God," gives an account of Augustine's philosophical and theological reasons for justifying chattel slavery and his research and teaching span the study of slavery, freedom, ancient, medieval and political thought. Toni describes the GPF Dissertation Seminar "as a perfect place to have the opportunity to practice discussing my work with scholars in other disciplines." This was very beneficial when he was applying for his current postdoctoral fellowship which is awarded to scholars across Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences; the interview process required him to demonstrate his scholarship to faculty and deans beyond his field of Religion.

Three especially memorable aspects of his participation as a GPF include: one, attending the UCHV postdoctoral job practice talks which got him thinking about the norms and practices that various disciplines employ, which shaped his own job talk when he was ready to go on the job market; two, concrete and invaluable advice on how to handle the Q&A session in a job talk; and three, the opportunity to participate in professional development sessions with faculty visiting from other institutions. Toni explained that UCHV has "a glut of dynamic and interesting talks, seminars, and events and brings many amazing people to Princeton every year who are working on interesting things." During his Graduate Prize Fellowship at UCHV, he was intent to make the most of the Center's resource-rich community since "you don't always have these opportunities everywhere you go." Next year Toni will complete the third year of his postdoctoral fellowship at Cornell University, before beginning as an assistant professor in the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell in the 2024-2025 academic year. Additional information about Toni Alimi can be read here.