http://www.soros.org/initiatives/fellowship
About the Open Society Fellowship
The Open Society Fellowship supports outstanding individuals from around
the world. The fellowship enables innovative professionals-including
journalists, activists, academics, and practitioners-to work on projects
that inspire meaningful public debate, shape public policy, and generate
intellectual ferment within the Open Society Institute.
The fellowship focuses on four themes: National Security and the Open
Society; Citizenship, Membership and Marginalization; Strategies and
Tools for Advocacy and Citizen Engagement; and Understanding
Authoritarianism. OSI also supports a limited number of fellows whose
work focuses on other topics within the scope of its mission.
The Open Society Fellowship supports outstanding individuals from around
the world. The Fellowship enables innovative professionals-including
journalists, activists, academics, and practitioners-to work on projects
that inspire meaningful public debate, shape public policy, and generate
intellectual ferment within the Open Society Institute.
Fellowship Categories
National Security and the Open Society
The national security arena poses profound challenges for open
societies. National security policies may violate civil and political
rights, while the structure of the national security state has
consequences for government transparency, accountability, and democracy.
OSI has long worked to broaden public access to information, advance the
rule of law, protect minority and human rights, create vibrant civil
societies, and promote effective and accountable governance. These
considerations, however, receive relatively little attention in the
security field.
Likewise, security issues are still under-examined by those working on
OSI's core concerns. Although we recognize that many people are
addressing the consequences of U.S. counter-terrorism policies for civil
and political rights, we would like to see more attention paid to the
overlap between open society issues and security concerns in a global
context. We therefore seek Fellows who will explore the relationships
between these two domains.
Project topics might include:
* How to fashion and implement counter-terrorism policies that are
consistent with basic civil liberties and human rights-e.g. comparative
studies of national policies and practices
* The focus on Islam in Western national security discourse and its
implications for minority rights
* Fostering greater popular engagement with national security
policymaking
* The appropriate role of the military in an open society;
privatization of military functions; the proper relationship between the
defense and intelligence sectors and civilian actors
* The interdependence of security, the rule of law and civil society
in post-conflict settings
* U.S. military engagement in Africa and the role of AFRICOM
* How emotions such as fear and humiliation shape public attitudes
toward national security issues
Citizenship, Membership, and Marginalization
OSI has always worked for the legal, social, and political inclusion of
particular populations-from initiatives on immigration and racial
justice in the U.S. to Roma rights efforts in Europe, from work on
citizenship in Africa and labor migrants in Russia and Central Asia to
the study of Muslim social integration in European cities. The
Fellowship seeks to enrich this work by focusing on conditions of
membership and marginalization that bear specifically upon political
participation. What are the factors that contribute to political
marginalization? To political inclusion and solidarity? What are their
consequences?
Project topics might include:
* Global migration and the re-imagination of national political
communities
* The political marginalization of religious minorities
* Forms of political mobilization in immigrant communities
* Developing international legal norms on statelessness and
citizenship
* The relationship between political marginalization of minority
groups and political violence
* New experiments in noncitizen voting
* Recasting the debate on multiculturalism and integration
Strategies and Tools for Advocacy and Citizen Engagement
In order to effectively promote social change, OSI and its partners must
continuously reassess and recalibrate strategies and tactics. For
example, the rise of new media and growth of youth activism create
opportunities to engage and empower new constituencies. OSI seeks to
support Fellows who explore and seed new and exciting forms of advocacy
and citizen engagement.
Project topics might include:
* Efforts to empower youth as agents of social change
* The role of cultural expression and cultural movements in
promoting open society
* Comparative studies of urban organizing strategies
* Activism in the digital age-e.g. online organizing and the
potential uses of social networking sites for advocacy purposes
* New forms of faith-based activism
* Constituency building and public communications as possible
antidotes to the legitimacy crisis facing rights-based NGOs in many
parts of the world
* Translating social movement theory into practical tools for NGOs
Understanding Authoritarianism
OSI has mostly worked in societies that are "open" or opening. But
today, it is increasingly active in politically illiberal and
authoritarian settings. OSI seeks to support projects that help us
better understand these countries-their regimes, civil societies,
political economies, etc.-and to identify apertures for change.
Project topics might include:
* How do contemporary authoritarian regimes use ideas and ideology
to legitimate their authority to their own populations and to the
international community
* The opportunities for political and legal reform-e.g., the growth
of professionalism among lawyers and journalists in China
* Forms of pre-political organization and mobilization in closed and
closing environments-e.g. small business associations, religious
congregations, student groups
* How the spread of digital media in authoritarian countries such as
Russia and Iran creates new spaces for speech and association but also
offers regimes new tools for social control
* The ability of international actors like the Council of Europe,
the OSCE, the EU, and the UN to influence or constrain illiberal
behavior
* How state stability and civil order can be maintained after the
collapse of an authoritarian regime
* The political economy of authoritarian state capitalism
Open Category
OSI supports a limited number of Fellows whose projects are germane to
its mission but fall outside the four focus categories. In particular,
we welcome applicants who will work on areas of emerging interest to
OSI, especially global warming and post-conflict environments.
Fellowship Placement and Term
OSI considers applicants from all parts of the world. Fellows may be
resident or nonresident. Resident Fellows will be housed in OSI's
offices or in one of the Soros foundations, depending on whether such
placement adds value to the project. Fellows may work out of multiple
OSI offices during their term, or spend only some part of their
Fellowship in residence.
Fellows who wish to work on their project in a country in which they do
not have citizenship must satisfy and comply with applicable visa
requirements. OSI helps Fellows obtain necessary visas and cover all
associated costs.
Fellowships are awarded for one year. In some cases OSI considers
requests for shorter or longer durations. Preference is given to
applications for full-time Fellowships, but OSI also considers
applicants who can only work part-time on their projects.
Fellowship Project
OSI is open to considering a broad range of work products, including:
publications (e.g. books, articles, blogs); creative public education
projects including online media, pre-production research and
post-production outreach for documentary films; and efforts to seed new
campaigns or organizations. Projects should identify and address
under-examined or underserved problems and opportunities that can push
the boundaries of current thinking and debate.
In addition to supplying a Fellowship stipend, OSI may cover additional
limited expenses such as travel, conference fees, and part-time research
assistance. Fellowship expenses should not include operational or
programmatic costs, such as employees and physical infrastructure. The
purpose of the Fellowship is to support individual Fellows; therefore
OSI will only cover individual expenses.
The Fellowship does not fund enrollment for degree or non-degree study
at academic institutions, including support for dissertation research.
Please note that under federal tax rules applicable to U.S. private
foundations, OSI cannot support lobbying activities. Projects that
include lobbying activities will not be funded. If you're unsure whether
your project activities constitute lobbying, please review the Tax Law
Lobbying Rules before submitting an application.
Fellowship Expectations
An important goal of the Fellowship is to integrate Fellows into the OSI
Network. OSI seeks Fellows who will sharpen its thinking, question its
assumptions, and constructively engage with its program staff. Fellows
are expected to engage with OSI's network by participating in
conferences and program events and may be asked to run a seminar for OSI
staff and outside colleagues.
In order to facilitate these interactions, proficiency in spoken English
is required.
Fellowship Support
OSI provides Fellows with competitive financial support based on local
living standards (including cost of health insurance) and the proportion
of their time they commit to the Fellowship. A Fellow's stipend is based
on several factors including the Fellow's experience, seniority, prior
earnings and the cost of living in the city where he/she is based. The
stipend does not necessarily equal the applicant's current salary.
In most cases, OSI provides Fellows with communications support to help
them move their work and ideas into popular debates. OSI can also help
integrate Fellows into its networks of individual and organizational
partners and grantees.
OSI may also cover additional project expenses such as travel (including
airfare and hotel), visa costs, research assistance, and conference
fees.
Application Process
All interested applicants should complete the online application form at
https://oas.soros.org/oas and submit supporting materials for
consideration. Please read the FAQs before applying. Applicants may
submit a project proposal or other materials in a language other than
English, as long as they also submit an English translation. Certified
translations are strongly recommended.
Once the initial information has been entered, applicants receive an ID
number that allows them to make additions and revisions to the form
until materials are submitted. The ID number should be quoted in any
correspondence.
Applicants may mail their hard copy materials to :
Open Society Fellowship
Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street
New York, NY 10019
Note: Only applicants without Internet access may send an application by
post.
OSI considers applications on a rolling basis subject to funding
availability. There are no application deadlines. Applications are
reviewed in a timely manner.
Selection
Fellowship staff review applications in consultation with OSI colleagues
and outside experts. All finalists are interviewed. Final selections are
made by an external committee.
Criteria for selection include, but are not limited to, the applicant's
experience, the project's relevance to the goals of the Fellowship, and
the applicant's potential to accomplish such goals.
Contact Information
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