Global Fellows

The Global Fellows Program supports WPI faculty to reimagine research and pedagogical practices using digital media strategies.

Applications for AY 24/25 (A-term through D-term) are due 1st December and can be submitted HERE.

Apply Here

Each year, the Global Lab hosts Global Fellows to spend a term, with course release, working on a project that integrates creative media and visualization techniques to add new dimensions to their teaching or research. The Fellowship offers recipients the opportunity to learn, experiment, develop, innovate and reflect on ways that interactive, visual, and audio forms of media and storytelling can enhance course activities, allow students to support project partners around the world with compelling deliverables, and help translate insights from research in impactful ways. Fellows are invited to take advantage of the Lab’s resources and expertise to develop websites, podcasts, videos, serious games, immersive experiences, animation, and innovative data visualizations, and to learn transmedia communication strategies.

A Global Fellowship is a great opportunity to have the time and space to pursue ideas you’re interested in developing or exploring further, or projects you don’t usually have time to work on.

Eligibility

We invite full-time tenured, tenure track, and non-tenure track WPI faculty from all departments to apply. We are seeking a cohort of Fellows that come from diverse schools and departments of WPI.

Priorities

In keeping with the Lab’s commitment to creative scholarship in the service of global engagement, the program prioritizes applications that:

put into practice collaborative, community-engaged research or storytelling
emphasize justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity
critically reflect on or assess the value of creative media and visualization techniques in teaching and research
advance “knowledge-for-action” that directly supports community partners and their goals for positive social change
contribute to the professional goals of the fellow and show likelihood of informing the fellow’s future teaching and research activities

Expectation

As an outcome of the Fellowship term, Fellows are asked to share their project developments through engagements at the Lab, such as a podcast conversation or a presentation for the community, to prepare a short summary of their outcomes for summary on the Global Lab website, and to make available products of the fellowship term. In addition, Fellows are invited to participate in discussions among Global Fellows and other interested faculty to share ideas and foster learning.

Application Instructions

Applications for AY 24/25 (A-term through D-term) are due 1st December and can be submitted HERE. The application includes a description of the proposed Fellowship project (3 pages max). That statement should address the following:

Context and motivation for the project: Is there a particular need for the project, or an opportunity to elevate existing practices? Did the project develop from past teaching, research or community engagement experiences or observations? Are there precedents or inspirations for this project among wider communities of practice?
Project description: What are the goals and objectives for the project? Is there a final output or deliverable you hope to achieve? What are the major activities you’ll undertake during the term? Is there a sequence of activities you’ll undertake, and rough timeline for those activities? Would you benefit from the assistance of a Global Lab media assistant, and if so, how?
Outcomes and impacts: What value will the project have for yourself, as a teacher, scholar, artist or practitioner? What value will the project have for wider communities of practice, either within or outside WPI?