Digital Humanities Initiative

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Fwd: [Data & Society] Data & Society Fellows (applications due Dec 19)

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    Begin forwarded message:

    *From: *danah boyd <danah@datasociety.net>
    *Subject: **[Data & Society] Data & Society Fellows (applications due Dec
    19)*
    *Date: *November 28, 2016 at 9:54:17 AM EST
    *To: *friends@lists.datasociety.net
    *Reply-To: *danah boyd <danah@datasociety.net>

    Data & Society: Fellows Program

    Data & Society is assembling its fourth class of fellows to join us from
    September 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018. (Please meet our current class
    here
    (https://datasociety.net/blog/2016/05/17/introducing-2016-2017-fellows-class/),
    and our first two classes here
    (https://datasociety.net/blog/2014/06/18/introducing-the-inaugural-class-of-data-society-fellows/)
    and here
    (https://datasociety.net/blog/2015/03/11/introducing-2015-2016-fellows-class/).)
    This program is core to Data & Society’s dual mission of producing rigorous
    research that can have impact, and supporting and connecting the young but
    growing field of actors working on the social, cultural, and political
    effects of data.

    Data & Society fellows have pursued academic research, written code,
    created art, brought together communities of activists and communities of
    practice, run workshops, worked closely with Data & Society’s in-house
    research team and with each other to produce joint publications, and much
    more. Fellows – current and past – are academics, coders, artists,
    journalists, activists, lawyers, tech industry actors, and community
    organizers united by both excitement and concern over the implications of
    data’s increasingly central role in reconfiguring society. We are engaged,
    individually and together, in building pathways to interrogating and
    articulating those implications and developing frames that can help society
    address emergent tensions.

    The Data & Society fellowship is intended to produce public-facing outputs,
    to support fellows in engaging external actors – be they communities of
    practice, professional communities, a particular academic discipline, or
    the general public – and to foster collaborative activities within the D&S
    cohort and beyond that strengthen the fields in which we are working.

    As we build a cohort for 2017-18, we’ll be prioritizing applicants who are
    excited about connecting with and contributing to these growing communities
    concerned with the effects of data on society. Put differently, this is not
    a fellowship program for those who want to spend a year in focused,
    independent research; rather, this is a program for people who can see the
    value of their work on a bigger stage and are looking for ways to create
    impact outside their own field.
    Participation & Cohort

    Fellows at Data & Society commit to being in residence at the D&S loft in
    New York City for either one or two days each week (the stipend is adjusted
    depending on days in residence). Each fellow, over the course of their
    fellowship, will pursue a project of their own design.

    Fellows are also asked to engage with D&S – both at the organizational
    level and with the broader community. This engagement can take a number of
    different forms, from attending our lecture series, Databites, to
    organizing small group sessions with visitors, to developing workshops, to
    working on in-house publications, and more. We ask that all fellows either
    participate in or lead a monthly reading group and attend our weekly
    networking hour; beyond that, the choice of where and how to participate is
    part of the fellowship design process between D&S staff and the fellow.

    Together with our in-house research team and postdocs, fellows form the
    annual Data & Society cohort – a (growing) group of approximately 35
    colleagues who come together as the core of Data & Society’s field-building
    efforts.

    Beyond the in-house cohort, Data & Society fellows are also connected to
    past fellows, our affiliates, and a broad field of actors both in New York
    City and beyond that regularly pass through D&S for workshops, seminars,
    social gatherings, and talks.
    Projects & Themes

    Potential fellows are invited to imagine a specific project or activity
    that they will execute to help society’s understanding of and ability to
    adapt to a world permeated by data. Successful fellowship projects are
    high-impact initiatives that engage broad audiences to inform, convene,
    intervene, or provoke. We are open to a wide range of potential outputs,
    from white papers and op-eds to events, code, and art installations. We are
    interested in interdisciplinary, cross-sector, and/or crazy ideas that
    tackle challenges facing society and don’t easily fit into a predefined
    category. We are also interested in creating connections and building
    synergies between our in-house researchers and fellows’ projects. We love
    it when our fellows experiment with new ideas or expand our network in
    unexpected directions. Our expectation is that the themes that run through
    our 2017-18 class will be a combination of the familiar and the unexpected.

    To offer a sense of the kinds of projects that may be appropriate, consider
    some of the questions the 2016-17 class of fellows are tackling:

    – How can the tech industry navigate the social, legal, and ethical
    dynamics of working with data? How can we build a structure to support
    managers, developers, data scientists, and designers?
    – How can society regulate privacy in a networked environment?
    – How can we increase the public’s understanding of the trade-offs
    inherent to decision-making using data and algorithms? What does it mean to
    increase data literacy? How do we empower educators, librarians, and
    cultural institutions to inform the public?
    – What are the implications for society when DNA becomes writable code?
    – How does (and can) art tell the intertwined stories of data, power and
    identity?
    – Should we understand criminal defense differently when data analytics
    are a factor in constructing a case?
    – How do lawyers, doctors, journalists, and municipal, state, and
    federal employees understand the changes that data at scale is bringing to
    their professions? How might they prepare themselves for future
    possibilities?
    – How do we teach data ethics, when underlying assumptions are not
    shared? What other fields and frames – moral philosophy, medical ethics,
    government accountability – should we be building from?
    – How do we measure the impact of data collection and use? How do we
    measure the impact of regulations intended to protect or empower people?

    Some of Data & Society’s ongoing, in-house research topics include:
    criminal justice; precision medicine; personalized learning; algorithms and
    media creation; labor and technology; and the privacy and surveillance
    experiences of vulnerable populations.

    Again, we welcome applications that pose entirely new questions and topics
    and push D&S in new directions, as well as applications that complement and
    expand our current research focus.
    Composition

    We are seeking 8 to 12 fellows for the 2017-18 class. We are purposefully
    looking for a diverse mix of researchers and practitioners.

    Researchers may be faculty, including those on sabbatical, or independent
    scholars. [Postdocs should explore our ongoing call for Postdoctoral
    Scholars. This is a different category at D&S that sits within our research
    team rather than our fellows class, and we’d love for you to apply here
    (https://datasociety.net/blog/jobs/postdoctoral-scholars/)]. We are
    disciplinarily agnostic and welcome people from critical, empirical,
    technical, legal, and humanistic fields. That said, we strongly encourage
    applications from data scientists, statisticians, and mathematicians who
    are seeking to apply their scientific and technical skills to social
    problems, and who are looking to engage with social scientists.

    Practitioners may include advocates and activists, educators,
    entrepreneurs, journalists, technology industry actors, those coming out of
    a government office or position, policy analysts, public intellectuals, and
    those whose practice doesn’t fit squarely into conventional categories.
    Term

    Residency typically runs from September 1 through June 30 of the following
    year. If you would like to apply for a fellowship but cannot commit to a
    full term, please flag that in your application, as we may be able to
    accommodate some variations.
    Funding

    Fellows committing to two days a week in residence for the full term are
    offered a stipend of $25,000, with up to $5000 in project costs available
    to them. Fellows who make a one-day-a-week commitment receive a stipend of
    $12,500, also with up to $5000 in project costs available to them. If the
    fellowship period is shorter than ten months, the stipend will be pro-rated
    on a monthly basis.

    All fellows will have access to desks/workspaces, meeting rooms, email
    addresses, etc., and programmatic and organizational support to advance
    their project.

    As a 501(c)(3) organization, we support fellows in applying for both
    federal and philanthropic grants, and we work with fellows currently
    holding grants to craft an appropriate fellowship that allows them to honor
    commitments to grantors.

    While we welcome applications from outside the United States, we are
    currently unable to support the acquisition of visas. If you are applying
    from outside the United States and are accepted, you will need to secure
    your own visa and, depending on your situation, work permit.
    Application Process

    To apply for a Data & Society fellowship, we’ll ask you to complete an
    application at Submittable. You’ll be submitting information about yourself
    and your work to date, including:

    – cover letter;
    – resume or CV;
    – work samples;
    – project summary and brief (1000 word) proposal;
    – names and email addresses of three references.

    Note that references will automatically receive an email from Submittable,
    the application platform, prompting them to submit a letter of reference to
    Data & Society. Please make sure your references whitelist submittable.com.

    *First-round applications are due December 19, 2016.* Second-round
    applicants will be contacted in mid-January for an interview with D&S
    staff, fellows, and/or advisors, and may be asked for additional
    information such as project budgets or letters of reference as they move
    through the review process.

    Successful applicants will be alerted in March 2017, with a public
    announcement to follow.
    If you are interested in applying to be a Data & Society fellow,
    please complete the application form at
    http://datasociety.submittable.com
    by *December 19, 2016*.

    *The work and well-being of Data & Society is strengthened by the diversity
    of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience,
    national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and much more. We welcome
    applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQIA community, and
    persons with disabilities.*

    Please direct your inquiries about the fellows program or application
    process to fellowsapp@datasociety.net.
    *Questions will not reflect negatively on your application. Don’t hesitate
    to get in touch!*

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