The Annenberg Schools for Communication at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Southern California, and the Departments of Communication at the Universities of Illinois and Michigan are pleased to announce a new collaborative summer fellowship program, designed to provide Ph.D. students in Communication and Media Studies with hands on experience in the development and implementation of communication policy. Fellows would intern (for 8 weeks, from mid-June to mid-August) in DC-based government offices or agencies, think tanks, political party or advocacy organizations, or other communication-related public or private sector institutions. All Fellows would also participate in an orientation prior to beginning their internship, and a follow-up retreat at which they will share their experiences and how these experiences might be connected to their research and teaching with a small group of scholars and practitioners.

Fellowships include assistance in locating an appropriate internship placement, a stipend of $5,000, and travel expenses for attending the follow-up retreat. Students' home graduate institutions are expected to provide support for housing/expenses in DC ($2,000), though a limited number of scholarships are available if home institutions are unable to provide support.

Up to eight fellowships are available for the summer 2011. Candidates for these fellowships must Ph.D. students in Communication or Media Studies, and must be nominated by their home department or school. Applications should include: (1) a brief nomination letter from the department/school indicating whether or not you would be able to provide $2,000 in housing support and living expenses; (2) a letter of recommendation from the student's advisor or another faculty member familiar with the student's work/ability: and (3) a letter from the student indicating how a summer internship would connect to/enhance his or her research and/or teaching, and what kind of placement would be most useful in this regard.

Completed applications are due no later than Monday, February 28 2011 and should be sent Larry Gross (lpgross@usc.edu). Students who have been accepted will be notified by Monday, March 14, at which point the placement process would begin.

The Washington DC Summer Fellowship Program is a project of the Consortium for Media Policy Studies (COMPASS) and is made possible through the generous support of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.

COMPASS Codirectors:

Michael X. Delli Carpini, Annenberg School for Communication, U of Pennsylvania
Susan Douglas, Depart of Communication Studies, U of Michigan
Larry Gross, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, U of Southern California
Robert McChesney, Department of Communication, U of Illinois Urbana-Champaign