The Fellowship Programme has been essential to the Shorenstein Center’s objective of investigating the nexus of media, politics, and public policy since the Center’s establishment in 1986. The Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Programme aims to promote discussion among journalists, academics, decision-makers, and students while also advancing research in the areas of media, politics, and public policy. The goal of the Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Programme is to invite journalists, academics, decision-makers from politics, and policymakers to the Shorenstein Centre for a semester to work on a project with a clear end result and interact with fellow fellows, faculty, students, and the larger Harvard Kennedy School community. While residing at the Shorenstein Centre, they are expected to be active participants in all of the center’s programs, social gatherings, and other activities.
A significant deciding factor in the selection process is the caliber and uniqueness of a candidate’s project idea. The primary output for a fellow is a research-based project, with ideal candidates concentrating on the intersection of at least two of these fields with an eye toward politics and/or public policy solutions. This project should also address a problem related to journalism, media, public interest technology, or decision science. Project subjects should complement the Center’s current work while offering a fresh perspective or area of concentration that is not particularly addressed by one of the Center’s current programs.
A project could be a white paper, a policy document, an annotated bibliography, a podcast, a video, or something interactive. Projects should be expected to have an impact on society, and candidates should be able to concisely describe the impact they hope their project will have. However, some fellows have also led a series of workshops with students, with the final product taking the shape of a report or project illuminating the findings of the workshops. Fellows frequently work independently, with the help of a faculty mentor and research assistant.
In addition to their primary research project, fellows are expected to participate in a range of activities throughout the semester, including:
- Minimum of one public speaking event and one student-facing event (workshop, roundtable discussion, etc.) per semester
- Bi-monthly articles/interviews/expert opinion pieces for the Shorenstein Center site or one of the Center’s program sites (The Journalist’s Resource, etc.)
- One video interview/profile for the Center’s website
- Periodic student office hours (1-2 hours per month)
- Regular meetings with fellowship cohort and faculty mentors
- Final internal report of activities and output
Timeline:
- September 12: Application deadline
- End of September: Applicants or their references may be contacted for further information or an interview. This is strictly informational; not all applicants or their references will be contacted and this should not be considered a sign of the success or otherwise of their application.
- Early November: Applicants will be notified of their status.
- End of Year: The press release announcing the class of fellows will be posted.
This fellowship honors Joan Shorenstein Barone and is supported by the generosity of the Shorenstein family, the Jessie B. Cox Trust, the Gardner Cowles Trust, and the Goldsmith Fund of the Greenfield Foundation. Additional funding for fellowships is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the A.M. Rosenthal Writer-in-Residence endowment, and individual donors.
Location:
United StatesBenefits
- Fellows receive a stipend, paid in monthly installments at the end of each month of their term. Travel, housing, and living expenses are not covered by the Shorenstein Center.
- Fellows are provided with a desk in the Shorenstein Center offices, a Harvard email address, and a Harvard ID allowing access to libraries and other resources.
- Fellows are also able to select a paid Harvard Kennedy School student research assistant (eligible to work up to 10 hours per week) to help with their projects.
- The work of the fellows is posted on the website of the Shorenstein Centre, and many of them have been cross-posted, excerpted, or used as the foundation for longer books in a number of prestigious academic publications and other sites.
Eligibilities
The guidelines below offer further detail on the types of experience that lead to a successful application and fellowship experience; however, if you are unsure if you are eligible Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy encourages you to contact their staff to discuss further.
- Journalist: Reporters, editors, columnists, producers, media business executives and related, with a minimum of ten years of full-time experience either at professional news organizations or as a full-time freelancer (not including work completed as a university student).
- Politician: Someone who has been elected to a national or high-level state office, or high-level communications professionals within politics and policy, e.g. speechwriters, or press secretaries. Minimum of ten years experience (can be cumulative between elected office and other roles).
- Scholar: Tenured or tenure-track professor employed by a college, university, or research institution in political science, political communication, journalism, technology studies, sociology, computer science, or a field relevant to the Shorenstein Center’s areas of inquiry.
- Policymaker: High-level official in a cabinet office, or policy adviser to a candidate for national office or high-level elected official.
- Documentary Filmmaker: Documentary filmmakers and/or academics and practitioners with expertise in documentary filmmaking as it relates to public interest media, and/or its intersections with journalism. Minimum of 10 years experience.
Applicants should not have participated in another fellowship within the two years prior to their preferred semester.
Applicants must be fluent in English – listening, reading, writing and speaking. Non-native English speakers must provide a TOEFL or IELTS score.
Eligible Regions: Open for All.Application Process
- Apply through the given apply link / click on the “Apply Now” button given below.
- Create your account & follow the instructions.
Application Deadline: September 12, 2023
Application ClosedOfficial link
