About the Fellowship
The Learn4Life, Civic Literacy & Media Influence Fellowship is a 12-week course teaching students – through experiential, project-based and lecture modules – fundamentals in journalism, editorial “narrative” and storytelling.
This course explores how the intersection of media, persuasion, political process, and governing institutions – an intersection known as “advocacy” – completely shapes public discourse to mold and create public policy.
Through conversations, lectures, and experiential/practitioner learning, students will understand the very impactful role of media technologies, practices, and formats in transforming consequential public discourse, political narrative, and policymaking. Students will also learn, and be exposed to, the relationship between media and public affairs institutions, specifically political and governing institutions.
During this process, students will be designated as:
- “Fellows”
- Production staff who will assist in the creation of broadcast, written, social media content for affiliated media platforms.
Students will eventually learn the fundamentals of becoming communication, messaging, and advocacy practitioners.
We will answer the question: How exactly can public discourse, messaging and policy branding converge into the creation of public policy? Students will be exposed to the arena of advocacy, gaining an understanding of persuasion media through a series of guest lectures, readings, class discussions, and projects, as well as use of digital/social media technologies.
Students will learn about constructively and persuasively engaging large audiences, and fundamental skill sets that will serve them well in fields such as media/communications, governance, politics, social work, and community organizing.
Projects/Production Deliverables
Students are designated as both fellows and “associate producers/editors” who are learning and providing technical assistance to public-facing media platforms. They will be required to learn and perform the following project work:
- Performing research on topics/issues for media content
- Drafting/writing content for social media platforms
- Infographic and meme production
- Video production elements for social media and Council of State Government “micro-summits
- Contacting and booking potential guests, including policymakers, experts, and influencers
- Conducting one-on-one interviews
- Drafting/writing weekly blogs for a rotation of one of the following: theBEnote.com, WURDradio.com and ecoWURD.com
- Maintaining a weekly journal of thoughts/reflections on what they’ve learned in the fellowship. Students are required to write 1-2 pages per week in their journal and to then simply combine and polish those pages into aFinal “Capstone” Paper due the final week of the fellowship
Weekly Fellowship Commitments & Conduct
Each student is required to commit a minimum of 10 hours per week to the program (for 5 days a week, that’s 2 hours/day + 1 virtual classroom per week). It is optional for students to commit or dedicate more time to the fellowship so long as it does not interfere with their academic studies.
However, if there is any indication that the Fellowship – which is an extracurricular activity – is negatively impacting a student’s normal academic coursework, that student could be removed from the program.
Students must follow basic classroom rules of decorum and conduct while in virtual settings and maintain professional etiquette at all times when representing the Fellowship, Learn4Life and the media platforms they will be performing work for. Engagement and constructive dialogue, along with critique, is highly encouraged – but professionalism and a high degree of civility must be maintained at all times between every participant (including the instructor) in the Fellowship. Disruptive students not following basic principles of professional decorum will be immediately removed from the program.
Fellowship Certification - Requirements Criteria
Loss of Scholarship – Disclosure
Fellows acknowledge the $1,000 scholarship is contingent on successful completion of the 12-week program, and successful return of any equipment loaned to the student during the duration of the CLMI Fellowship.
Upon successful return of loaned equipment & materials, Fellows will be awarded the $1,000 scholarship.
We are committed to providing a working and learning environment free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying. For more information regarding nondiscrimination, please click here.