NOTE: Othering & Belonging Institute programs are operating remotely. The 2025 Summer Fellowship will be held remotely for the safety of all staff and fellows. Fellows will work from their home locations for the entirety of the fellowship, and all fellowship meetings and activities will take place online. 

The Fellowship
The Othering & Belonging Institute Summer Fellowship is a paid research experience for individuals seeking to develop their research skills by engaging with the Institute’s multidisciplinary research, analysis, policy, and strategic narrative work. The purpose of the fellowship is to build the capacity and network of the next generation of researchers and community leaders who are committed to social and racial justice by providing mentorship and hands-on experience with social science research. In addition to working directly with their staff supervisor on an individual research project (see “Summer Projects” below),  fellows engage as a cohort in weekly meetings or workshops on Institute frameworks, research methodologies, and contemporary social justice issues throughout the summer.

• Applications open: December 15, 2024
• Applications close: January 12, 2025 at 8pm PT
• Fellowship period: May 14 to August 14, 2025
• Time Commitment: Part-time, 20 hours per week
• Location: The 2025 Summer Fellowship will be held remotely.               
  • Working Hours: Fellowship programs and meetings will be held during the Institute’s working hours from 9am-6pm Pacific Time.

    
   

• Compensation: Each fellow’s hourly compensation rate is based on years of education completed, the University’s fixed pay scale and equity standards. Rates range from $26-31/hr

About OBI

The Othering and Belonging Institute (OBI) advances groundbreaking approaches to transforming structural marginalization and inequality. We are scholars, organizers, communicators, researchers, artists, and policymakers committed to building a world where all people belong.

Eligibility

The summer fellowship is open to traditional and non-traditional students. As of May 2025, students must be one of the following to be eligible: 

• Currently enrolled in community college or an undergraduate program, or graduated within the last two years (only May 2023 graduates and later are eligible)
• Currently enrolled in a Master's program or graduated within the last two years (only May 2023 graduates and later are eligible)
• Doctoral students in their first or second year (as of May 2025)
• International students are also eligible, but are responsible for securing their own U.S. work permit/visa by mid-April 2025

Summer projects

Summer fellows dedicate most of their paid work hours to their individual summer projects. Each fellow will be paired with a lead staff researcher to work on a predetermined summer-long project for a specific research area. Summer projects primarily involve independent, online research oriented toward public policy, systems change, and/or strategic narrative. Tasks will include: 

• Background research for new or emerging projects, such as developing research databases, conducting interviews, or writing literature reviews, case studies, and brief research memoranda
• Supporting ongoing research, such as data gathering, data analysis or assisting with writing sections of a book, reports, discussion papers, or other Institute publications
• Translating academic work into newsworthy pitches using accessible language and knowledge of current affairs

Each summer fellow will be matched with one of the following programs based on alignment between their skills, experience, interests, and each program’s project needs:

1. Climate and Agrarian Just Transitions

This summer fellow will play a key role in developing the Global Justice Program's Asia-Pacific Just Transitions survey, partnerships, and analysis. Building on the Global Justice Program’s 2023 African Just Transitions Project, this summer fellow will conduct multi-lingual background research and stakeholder mapping in order to assess how climate, agri-food, and environmental organizations across the Asia-Pacific are combating the drivers of the climate crisis, managing the impacts of the climate crisis, and forging strategies to build climate resilience. Skills needed: excellent research and writing skills, familiarity with climate justice frameworks and cultural competence with communities most affected by climate crisis, ability to conduct research in language across Asia-Pacific region (pref. Mandarin, Indonesian, Malay, Vietnamese, Bengali, and/or Hindi).

2. Enlightenment Research

This fellow will research liberalism, enlightenment-based epistemologies and practices and how they have been critiqued or countered in various sciences and social sciences in the last century. This includes disciplines such as psychology, complex systems theory, quantum mechanics, ecology, and more. Skills needed: excellent writing and organizational skills, ability to synthesize information from multiple sources. 

3. Gender and Authoritarianism Across Europe and North America

The summer fellow, through case studies, will help OBI's Democracy and Belonging Forum team build a repository of narratives and policies, proposed or enacted by authoritarian populist leaders and movements and their positioning on gender issues across Europe and North America. Skills needed: research analysis, literature review, legal and policy analysis, and additional language skills are a plus

4. Racial Disparities Dashboard Project

The Equity Metrics program is actively engaged in and has an extensive fair housing/social equity related body of work that includes but is not limited to racial residential segregation, disparate impact, zoning reform, and access to opportunity. This summer fellow would assist in research/qualitative/quantitative analysis that encompasses one or more of these fair housing issues. This year we plan to focus on expanding on our Racial Disparities Dashboard model. Skills needed: familiarity with racial justice and housing justice frameworks, excellent research skills, quantitative analysis skills

5. Radical Imagination as a Tool for Belonging

This project is part of the OBI Arts and Cultural Strategy’s program research on Radical Imagination. Given the new political climate and the state of global affairs, the Othering and Belonging Institute will engage in a two-year research project to develop a framework and toolkit on Radical Imagination as a strategy to build a world where everyone belongs. Skills needed: ability to conduct independent research, knowledge of arts & cultural strategy practices, ability to use editing software like Adobe and InDesign

6. Social Housing Policy Research

The project, in collaboration with the Community Power and Policy Partnerships program, will focus on social housing policy research to inform emerging California state planning and legislation. The specific questions and scope will respond to the needs and visions equitable housing advocates, and the relevant frameworks and research already underway at OBI. Skills needed: excellent research and writing skills, familiarity with housing policy issues

7. Audience Research and Engagement Strategies

The fellow will play a crucial role in shaping OBI communication's team content strategy by gaining a deeper understanding of our audiences, their needs and preferences. You will design and implement a reader survey of our email subscribers, analyze survey results to identify key trends and insights, and you will compile your findings into a comprehensive report that highlights who our audience is, what they want from OBI, and how they discovered the Institute.   You will collaborate with our team to translate survey insights into actionable recommendations, helping us create content that resonates with our audience and strengthens our community. Skills needed: strong written and verbal skills, experience with online survey tools like SurveyMonkey and Google Forms, and experience with data analysis
 

Application Process

To apply, please complete this form and submit the materials listed below to the portal by 8pm PT on Sunday, January 12, 2025.

COVER LETTER. Maximum 2 pages. Please address the following questions:

1. How have your lived experiences and personal goals informed your interest in working with the Othering & Belonging Institute as a summer fellow?
2. Which OBI program(s) (two max) are you most interested in working with and why?
3. What relevant academic or professional experience and skills would you bring to your work with the specific program(s) you're interested in?

RESUME. Maximum 2 pages

WRITING SAMPLE. Maximum 5 pages, double spaced, of which you are the sole author (multi-authored works are not acceptable). This may be an excerpt of a longer piece; if so, please provide a one sentence description of the original purpose of the piece (for example, that it is two chapters of a thesis that comprises twelve chapters in all, or what course, project, and/or assignment it was written for). Please also include the full title of the piece and date of submission. A title page, table of contents, bibliography, or works cited page does not count toward the 5-page limit.

Applications submitted after 8pm PT on Sunday, January 12, 2025, or without a cover letter, resume, and/or writing sample will not be considered.

Please visit the FAQs page for additional information. If your question isn’t answered in the FAQs, contact the Othering & Belonging Summer Fellowship Committee at summerfellowshipcommittee@berkeley.edu.