Call for Applications (USA)
Overview
Humanity in Action (HIA) is now accepting applications for its 2010 summer fellowship programs. Separate programs will take place for five weeks in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, New York City, and Warsaw.
Intensive and demanding, the HIA summer fellowship programs bring together international groups of college students and recent graduates to explore different national histories of discrimination and resistance, as well as examples of issues affecting different minority groups today.
Each program is highly interdisciplinary, and features daily lectures and discussions with renowned academics, journalists, politicians, and activists, as well as a significant number of site visits to government agencies, non-profit and community organizations, museums, and memorials. The programs seek to bridge the gap between theory and practice and highlight different models of action to remedy injustice.
The objective of the HIA summer fellowship is to facilitate a collective exploration of the social and political roots of discrimination, as well as to provide a forum where potential solutions can be considered and discussed. The programs are also intended to instill a responsibility among HIA Fellows to recognize and address the need to protect minorities and promote human rights—in their own communities and around the world.
To this end, HIA alumni are expected to participate in HIA's international network of Senior Fellows once their programs end—and to sustain their engagement in the issues addressed during the fellowship.
The HIA Programs in Europe will run simultaneously from June 3 through July 4, 2010. The HIA Program in New York City will run from July 7 through August 9, 2010.
Applications for the HIA summer fellowship program are due on January 23, 2010.
Eligiblity
Applicants to the HIA fellowship programs must be currently enrolled students (sophomores, juniors, and seniors), or recent graduates (classes of 2008 and 2009) at accredited, four-year colleges or universities in the United States.
HIA seeks applicants who are mature, proactive, self-reliant, and comfortable in intensive group activity and interaction. All majors and academic disciplines are encouraged to apply.
Applicants can apply to the American Program and/or the European Programs, but can only participate in one. Applicants to the European Programs may not apply to a program in a specific country and cannot choose their city of participation.
Selection
Admissions to the HIA summer fellowship program is extremely competitive.
Last year, HIA received 634 applications and selected 57 Fellows. Selections are made on the basis of demonstrated commitment to minority rights and social justice, evidence of leadership potential, significant academic achievement, and social maturity.
HIA does not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity, religion, political party, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or financial ability.
Costs
HIA covers the costs of participation and accommodation during the summer fellowship programs. In the 2010 programs, all Fellows will be responsible for financing the cost of airfare to participate in the program. HIA will cover this cost for Fellows with documented need.
Although HIA provides a modest food stipend, Fellows should also plan to bring spending money of approximately $500 for food and social activities during the fellowship program.
Program Details
Although the American and the European Programs both promote team research and debate on human rights and social justice in democratic societies, the scope and focus of the American and European Programs differ slightly.
European Program in Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Warsaw
Program Dates: June 3 through July 4, 2010
As European societies become increasingly diverse with the influx of immigrant populations, the tensions and challenges of respecting diversity while maintaining core social and cultural values come to the forefront of public debate.
The HIA European Programs explore connections between Europe’s unique history during the Second World War and the Holocaust and tensions related to minority populations that are manifest in European societies today. Key areas of inquiry include anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, xenophobia, and political extremism, seen through the specific lens of each of the five countries.
The programs will also examine the different logics of inclusion and exclusion at play in the integration versus assimilation debates underway in these societies. The Fellows are invited to propose answers to these challenging questions that advance the welfare of these societies while promoting the universality of human rights and social justice.
HIA will select approximately 10 Fellows from American universities for each program, who will be joined by equal numbers of participants from each European country. Students from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine will also participate in certain program countries.
American Program in New York City
Program Dates: July 7 through August 9, 2010
As a nation of immigrants, constitutionally dedicated to the ideals of liberty and equality, the United States is one of the most diverse industrial nations in the world. It is also a nation whose commitment to diversity as a communal ideal is explicit and deeply rooted, albeit ultimately flawed. In the HIA American Program, Fellows study the economic, cultural, religious, and political resources available to those who advocate a more inclusive, equitable, and participatory society.
American Program Fellows explore the history of slavery, segregation, and immigration in the United States, as well as contemporary debates over race and ethnicity, the criminal justice system, immigration reform, religion, and the role of civil society. Past programs have included site visits to immigration hearings, community courts, community development corporations, traversing the New York City area from Brooklyn to Harlem to Newark, New Jersey.
HIA will select approximately 10 Fellows from American universities, who will be joined by a total of 15 Fellows from Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland.
HIA Obligations and Opportunities: After the Fellowship
Action Projects
As a requirement of participation, Fellows are obligated to conduct a hands-on outreach initiative—an “Action Project”—in their home communities. The initiative should reflect the HIA fellowship experience. Upon successful completion, Fellows are invited to become Senior Fellows and to join the global HIA network of young advocates.
Professional Fellowship Opportunities
Every year, HIA places more than 50 Senior Fellows in professional fellowship programs and internships to provide practical experience working on human and minority rights. Over 230 Senior Fellows have completed HIA-sponsored internships since 1999. HIA professional fellowship opportunities include the United States Congress, the European Parliament, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and a wide variety of grassroots and community organizations in San Francisco.
HIA Senior Fellows Networks
HIA supports the professional development and continuing public engagement of its Senior Fellows through internship opportunities in government and grassroots organizations, career and academic guidance, and Senior Fellows Associations in nine countries that sponsor annual conferences and offer seed grants for social entrepreneurship initiatives. Previous Fellows have used the knowledge and experience gained in HIA programs to further their educational and career goals in public service, journalism, medicine, law, education, the arts, business, and grassroots activism.
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