Call for applications

Student Fellows 2023-24

The Harvard Catholic Forum offers non-credit courses, public lectures, reading groups, summer seminars, and other programs in which the Catholic intellectual and cultural tradition engages the academy, the professions, and the arts. Student Fellows have a special involvement in the Forum: they join a lively intellectual community, undertake educational projects with the Forum’s support, and are invited to smaller, informal gatherings with Catholic scholars and scientists.

Most Fellows are current students at Harvard (College, FAS, or the professional schools), but current students from other area universities are welcome to apply. Fellows are Catholic or seriously considering becoming Catholic, for example by joining RCIA. The target number of Fellows is twelve, although there may be somewhat more or less. Applications are accepted in two cycles for 2023-24: the first by June 15, 2023 (response by June 30), the second by September 15, 2023 (response by September 30). Applicants being seriously considered will be invited for an interview either in person or on Zoom.

FELLOWS RECEIVE

Invitations to two Fellows Dinners toward the end of each semester, with program speakers and other faculty.
Invitations to periodic Fellows-only lunches or brunches.
Regular communications from the Executive Director or Program Director with early notice of opportunities from the Forum and other institutes offering programs in the Catholic tradition.
Occasional invitations to lunches and dinners with speakers and instructors.

Fellows commit to undertake at least one project, sketched out in the application, consistent with their fields of interest, talents, and goals, as well as with the Forum’s mission. Projects are of two types:

AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, for which the Forum provides venue, announcements, meals/receptions, registration, and books/ honoraria as applicable. Examples:
- A reading group, typically meeting 4-7 times; 10-15 participants read and discuss a work or possibly selections (recently, Waugh, Brideshead Revisited; Augustine, Confessions; Taylor, A Secular Age; Ratzinger, The Spirit of the Liturgy: MacIntyre, After Virtue).
- Planning and organizational support for an invited speaker in a field of interest to the Fellow, usually including a lunch/dinner and reception (recently, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda).
- Instruction in an area where the Fellow has competence (recently, a full-year Introduction to Christian Latin).
- Presentation of research/thesis that engages the Catholic tradition, typically one session with talk, Q&A/conversation, and refreshments.
  
  Fellows are welcome to propose other programs in a variety of formats touching on dimensions of the Catholic tradition, e.g. in science, philosophy, literature and the arts, music, history, medicine and psychology, law, or public policy.
  
  Fellows work out in advance with the Forum the criteria for participation in the Fellow’s program, which may be student-only, undergraduate-only, or general audience. Fellows may and indeed are encouraged to propose programs co-sponsored with other organizations such as university chaplaincies and related groups, departments/institutes, or student clubs/groups of various kinds.
STRUCTURED OUTREACH TO A PARTICULAR AUDIENCE. This role supports the Forum’s mission through organizational efforts and outreach: to an existing Catholic student organization; or to students/faculty, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, within a university interest group (as in area studies, music, or the arts) or in one of the graduate or professional schools. The Fellow would expand and deepen the Forum’s presence with this audience, and draw participants to Forum events, by some combination that may include emailing to a particular list, social media, postering, announcement at meetings and/or liturgies, having the group co-sponsor events with the Forum, and word of mouth.

COMPOSITION OF THE FELLOWS GROUP

The Fellows are a diverse group in their interests and disciplines. They are a mix of undergraduate and graduate students. As a target, three or four may be committed primarily to an outreach project; the remaining eight or nine are mainly committed to an educational project. Fellows are welcome to propose both kinds of projects if they are able and willing to do so.

Find the application below. Questions after reviewing the application? Contact Deacon Tim O’Donnell, Executive Director timodonnell@post.harvard.edu

First Name

Last Name

Phone

College or School

Degree Program

Expected Graduation

Please attach a CV, including secondary and higher education, paid employment, major volunteer activities, and relevant interests, with dates of involvement.

Upload File

Fill out at least one of the following proposals for 2023-24, or both if you are willing/able to offer both, consistent with the descriptions in the Call for Applications. Be as specific as you can, but details can be covered in an interview. Up to 50 words allowed on each.

1. An educational program.

2. Structured outreach to a particular audience.

To the extent this may not be clear on the CV already, Please tell us briefly what in your experience, education, goals, or interests lie behind your offer the projects(s) you have described? (up to 70 words).

Thanks for submitting!