PHI News  Fellowship

Humanities New York sits down with Josie Whittlesey of Drama Club and Cameron Rasmussen and Ryan Burvick from the “Beats, Rhymes and Justice” program. They discuss the Action Grant-supported projects they offer to incarcerated youth (men and women under the age of 21) on Rikers Island. Humanities NY s a partner of the Heyman Center on our Public Humanities Fellowships, many of which have gone to graduate students whose supported projects took them to Rikers.

The Rikers Coding Project is a student-run initiative that brings students of Barnard College and Columbia University to the Rosen M. Singer Center (part of Rikers Island jail in NYC) to teach a series of coding workshops. We believe learning to code is an important practical skill, and is empowering as one learns how technology works. Coding education is also inaccessible to many because of a lack of financial resources, bias against one’s gender or orientation, or emotional encouragement and support. The Rikers Project is designed to open up the world of code for students at Rikers, and demonstrate that the high-paying jobs in tech are within their reach. Our custom written curriculum aims to teach all the skills necessary to build a website from the ground up--including HTML and CSS, as well as principles of design, communication, and entrepreneurship. The program was founded with the support of the Athena Digital Design Agency, and the Heyman Center and has a strong focus on justice through coding education by and for students.

The Center for Justice at Columbia University announces the June Jordan Fellowship, named in honor of the renowned Harlem-born poet and activist. In each of the next two years, fellowships will be awarded to literary, visual, musical and performance artists who are committed to public engagement. “This fellowship was a dream of the Center for Justice from the very beginning of our work in harnessing the resources of Columbia University to reduce mass incarceration and promote alternative approaches to safety and justice,” said Geraldine Downey, Director of the Center for Justice. “We hope that bringing the various parts of our community together in an artistic endeavor will yield concrete proposals and actionable results on how the literary and performing arts can act as a catalyst for social change.”

An endowment gift of $500,000 will allow Columbia University to establish the Edward W. Said Fellowship. Animated by, and aiming to promote, the spirit of Professor Said, this Fellowship will support promising scholars early in their careers to produce scholarship that crosses disciplinary boundaries, promotes humanistic inquiry in the service of intercultural communication and understanding, and engages the public.

2017-2018 Heyman Center Public Humanities Fellowship, in Partnership with Humanities New York The Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University and Humanities New York (formerly, the New York Council for the Humanities) announce a call for applications for the 2017-2018 Heyman Center Public Humanities Fellowship.  Please note that only current Columbia graduate students and recent doctoral recipients (PhD awarded after January 2016) are eligible to apply.