Deadline: March 15, 2022 / September 7, 2022
Applications are open for the Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program 2022-2023. The Fellowship is designed 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.
During the semester fellows will attend regular events hosted by the Center, including thought-provoking speakers from the media and social gatherings. Fellows leave the Center having made lasting friendships and important professional connections.
Fellowship
- Fellows receive a stipend of $30,000, paid in monthly installments at the end of each month over the 4-month semester. Travel and living expenses are not covered by the Shorenstein Center.
- Fellows are provided with 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.
- 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.
Eligibility
- Applicants for Shorenstein Fellowships must be a working journalist, politician, scholar or policymaker currently or recently active in the field.
- 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.
- 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 TOEFL or IELTS score.
Expectations
Applicants must be available to be in residence, full-time, for one semester (September through December or February through May) in Cambridge, MA. Unfortunately they cannot consider requests for remote or non-residential fellowships.
The Fellowship is a full-time appointment, and applicants are expected to commit to the work of completing their primary research project and engaging in the life of the Center, its activities and events. It is understood that busy modern professionals will have occasional essential obligations, and the Center aims to be considerate and flexible in such circumstances. 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.
Application
Fall Semester
- March 15: Application deadline
- Late March: Applicants or their references may be contacted for further information or 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.
- Mid April: Applicants will be notified of their status.
- Summer: The press release announcing the class of fellows will be posted.
Spring Semester
- September 7: 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.
- Mid-October: Applicants will be notified of their status.
- End of Year: The press release announcing the class of fellows will be posted.
For more information, visit Joan Shorenstein Fellowship.
