Application calls for Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program 2020 at Harvard University in the United States

Summary 

The Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program aims to provide journalists, scholars, politicians, and policymakers with an opportunity for reflection. A Fellowship offers busy professionals the time and resources needed to think, research, and write on issues central to our media and politics.

The primary focus of a fellow is to research and write a paper on a media/politics topic. The Shorenstein Center strives to create an environment for fellows to do their best work, with faculty support, weekly discussion meetings with peers, and all the resources that Harvard has to offer, including world-class libraries and leading experts on a vast array of subjects.

Who can Apply?

Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program at Harvard University is open to journalists, scholars, and politicians from around the world to the Center. Past fellows include journalists from local, national and international TV, radio, print, and digital media; media and civic technology innovators; nonfiction authors; political advisors and policymakers; leading academic scholars in fields such as media research and political science; and policy analysts. The Shorenstein Center supports diversity and actively encourages applications from all demographic backgrounds, and across the political spectrum.

Ideal Fellows

• Journalist: Reporters, editors, columnists, producers, media business executives and related, with a minimum of five 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 campaigned and been elected to a national or high-level state office, or communications professionals within politics and policy, e.g. speechwriters, press secretaries.
• Scholar: Tenured or tenure-track professor employed by a college, university or research institution in political science, political communication, journalism, international political communication, or a field relevant to the Shorenstein Center’s areas of inquiry.
• Policymaker: High-level official in a cabinet office or adviser to a candidate for national office.

However, the Shorenstein Center suggests candidates contact their office if the candidate is unsure or have any confusion about eligibility.

Role 

Applicants must be available to be in residence, full-time, for one semester (September through December or February through May) in Cambridge, MA. The Fellowship is a full-time appointment, and applicants should commit to the work of completing their primary research project and engaging in the life of the Center, its activities and events. However, any applicant with professional, personal or travel commitments that would require significant time away should consider applying when their schedule allows for the full commitment of a fellowship.

The primary deliverable for a fellow is a research paper in a style similar to a magazine essay, journal article or book chapter examining the influence of the media on politics or public policy in the domestic or international arena. Fellows who are journalists, policymakers or other practitioners will often seek to write papers that represent provocative or speculative arguments designed to stimulate debate among the wider community. Fellows who are university scholars usually write a paper based on original research with a well-supported and fully-documented conclusion.

Funding and Benefits 

The fellowship will award fellow with a stipend of $30,000, paid in monthly installments at the end of each month over the 4-month semester. In addition to that, fellows will have a workstation in the Shorenstein Center fellows’ suite, a computer, phone, Harvard email address, and a Harvard ID allowing access to libraries and other resources. Furthermore, fellows are also able to select a paid Harvard Kennedy School student research assistant (eligible to work up to 10 hours per week) to work on their projects.

The last date to apply for this position is March 1, 2020.

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