Joan Shorenstein Fellowship (spring semester 2025)

The Joan Shorenstein Fellowship Program 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.

It is our hope that fellows come away from their time at the Shorenstein Center having contributed to the field in a substantive way, and having embraced all the opportunities and activities that present themselves on a daily basis as a part of Harvard University. In an era when the noise of the constant news cycle leaves little time for reflection, the Shorenstein Center’s Fellowship Program aims to provide the space to think critically about our media and its role in our society; to shape the debate and understand which questions deserve the most attention; and to create a vibrant and long-lasting community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to meeting the challenges faced by our institutions.

What is expected of a fellow?

Applicants must be available to be in residence, full-time, for one semester (September through December or February through May) in Cambridge, MA. Unfortunately we cannot consider requests for remote or nonresidential 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.

What will I be working on?

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’ papers are published on the Shorenstein Center website, and many have been cross published or excerpted in a variety of high-profile media outlets and academic journals, or have become the basis for a longer book. The quality and originality of an applicant’s research proposal is a key deciding factor in their potential selection.

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.

Life as a Shorenstein Center fellow

In addition to their primary research project, fellows participate in a range of activities throughout the semester.

Fellows begin their time at the Center with a series of orientation activities and welcome events, including a reception to introduce themselves to the Kennedy School and wider Harvard community. Fellows can hold office hours with students throughout the semester, and meet with fellows and faculty from other areas of the School.

Fellows are given a workstation in the Center’s offices to use as a home base, with a laptop computer. The Center’s office has a kitchen, lounge areas and private phone booths available for use. Many fellows have enjoyed spending time working across the Harvard University campus, particularly its historic libraries which offer vast collections of books and rare materials as well as a convivial place to work.

On Mondays, fellows gather with faculty and their peers for a weekly lunch meeting in which they present their research to the group to discuss progress, argue the case for their theses, listen to feedback, and shape the direction of their papers. Tuesdays feature the Center’s popular Speaker Series, bringing high-profile journalists to campus to engage in lively Q&A discussions on timely news topics, followed by a private lunch with fellows.

The Center hosts several high-profile evening events each semester, including its long-running Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics, Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press, and its flagship Goldsmith Awards featuring the presentation of a prize for the best investigative reporting of the year, and a career award for excellence in journalism.

Elsewhere on campus, the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum frequently features speakers from the highest levels of government for lively discussion and debate. The Kennedy School’s other Centers and initiatives regularly host experts in a wide variety of topics, and Shorenstein Center fellows are often asked to speak. And the wider Harvard University calendar features hundreds of activities and events each week, including lectures, panels, exhibitions, music, theater, film, sports and much more. Occasionally, fellows have audited courses, although this is dependent on the instructor’s policies, capacity, and the fellow’s own busy schedule.

Fellows receive a Harvard ID, which allows for discounted membership to Harvard’s athletic facilities as well as tickets to museums, exhibitions, movies, sports and the performing arts. Previous fellows have used their free time to explore the rich cultural and historical offerings of the Boston and New England area. Several fellows have brought their partners, spouses or families with them for the semester, many of whom get involved in a variety of Harvard activities open to the public.

Application deadlines

• Spring Semester (February – May): September 12 2024

Selection timeline

Spring Semester

• 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.

Funding

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 provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the A.M. Rosenthal Writer-in-Residence endowment, and individual donors.