Data & Society is assembling its fourth class of fellows to join from September 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018. 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.Previous fellows have been academics, coders, artists, journalists, activists, lawyers, tech industry actors, and community organizers, and 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. Applicants who are excited about connecting with and contributing to these growing communities concerned with the effects of data on society will be prioritized. 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.

Meet the current class here, and previous classes here and here.

Deadline – December 19, 2015

*full position details*

Participation & Cohort –

• must 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)
• pursue a project of their own design
• engage with D&S – both at the organizational level and with the broader community: attending lecture series – Databites, organizing small group sessions with visitors, developing workshops, working on in-house publications, and more
• participate in or lead a monthly reading group and attend weekly networking hour

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. High-impact initiatives that engage broad audiences to inform, convene, intervene, or provoke are desired. As are interested in interdisciplinary, cross-sector, and/or crazy ideas that tackle challenges facing society and don’t easily fit into a predefined category. The expectation is that the themes that run through our 2017-18 class will be a combination of the familiar and the unexpected. 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.

This year’s 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?

The Candidates –

8 to 12 fellows to form a diverse mix of researchers and practitioners. Fellows may be professors or independent scholars, scientists and mathematicians, advocates and activists, entrepreneurs, journalists, technology industry actors, government office workers, policy analysts, public intellectuals, and those whose practice doesn’t fit squarely into conventional categories but who are looking to engage with social scientists and investigate social problems.

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.

Application Process –

Complete an application online, submit also:

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

References will receive an email from the application platform, prompting them to submit a letter of reference to Data & Society.

Successful applicants will be alerted in March 2017, with a public announcement to follow.

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.