Call for Applications - NOW CLOSED FOR 2023 CYCLE: Emerge July 2023 Hybrid Disability Studies Workshop for Disabled Activists, Artists, Cultural Producers, Filmmakers, and Academics
Overview:
The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University proudly announces Emerge, a three-year initiative made possible thanks to a generous $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. This support will allow the Longmore Institute to lead a month-long July workshop for 10 emerging Disability Studies scholar-activists, held three consecutive summers at San Francisco State University with an option for hybrid participation.
Emerge seeks to promote scholar-activism: the bridges and relationships that allow academics and activists to better support each other in the shared pursuit of social change. This initiative will cultivate relationships among the next generation of Disability Studies leaders, further diversify the conversation, and promote more scholar-activism in the field.
Each Emerge cohort will consist of scholars, artists, cultural producers, filmmakers, or activists whose work enriches the field of Disability Studies with projects that explore disabled people’s experiences intersecting with further marginalization by race, gender, sexuality, incarceration, or immigration. Each group of ten will be invited to SFSU’s campus from across the U.S. on the basis of their 4-5 years’ experience in disability-related scholarship, arts/culture/filmmaking, and/or disability justice activism. They will receive support for working on new projects grounded in scholar-activism, an assigned mentor, and opportunities to meet with the Bay Area’s disability arts, rights, and justice organizations. Throughout the month, we will facilitate conversations for the Emerge fellows with local disabled changemakers about what scholar-activism means to them and the challenges they face in their work today. The summer will culminate in a hybrid-model symposium presenting the Emerge fellows' work to the broader Disability Studies community.
Key details of Emerge fellowship:
- $10,000 July Stipend to support your own personal project in scholar-activism and associated costs with the fellowship. Additional funding for travel/lodging/meal plan for your stay at SFSU with accessible dorm accommodations provided. If you cannot join us in person because of safety or accommodation needs, a digital means of participation will be provided.
- Project mentor to be provided, including weekly meetings during July and monthly meetings for ten months following the Emerge workshop.
- For an example of who we are hoping to support, see the Ford Foundation’s Disability Futures Fellows and know that applicants with similar levels of accomplishments to the Ford Futures Fellows would likely be turned away. Rather, we are seeking people who have the passion and ideas to grow into precisely these sorts of leaders but aren't there yet and would benefit from the Emerge opportunity to help them move in that direction.
- Accommodation support for your participation (if you’d like to discuss your specific needs before applying, contact beitiks@sfsu.edu. We will look forward to working with you to make this program accessible and have budgeted for ASL, live captioning, and some financial support for personal care assistant needs).
- The schedule will be determined in collaboration with the selected fellows and their access needs. Fellows will be expected to be available each weekday for a 3-4 hour synchronous meeting, including a bio-break. In addition, this commitment will include time for independent work on your proposed project as well as occasional additional meetups for excursions (performances, museums, etc, alway hybrid participation possible). Once the workshop concludes, fellows agree to participate in monthly one-hour check in calls with Emerge cohort from August to May 2024, time TBD based on cohort availability.
- All applicants must identify as disabled and be working in an area that centers on disability intersections with race, gender, sexuality, incarceration record, and/or immigration status.
- Fellows will be selected by a four-member selection committee bringing together people with disabilities who represent the similarly diverse fields that we are hoping our Emerge cohort will represent. Fellows will be selected based on their past accomplishments, proposed individual projects, expressed commitment to scholar-activist practice, and the perceived impact from participation in the Emerge opportunity.
You can find a list of frequently asked questions and answers providing more guidance on the application questions and Emerge opportunity here. Please read through before applying: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTei9cS5xXu-_MGh1bf8N3KU2QwsP2rmKJQxbu-18seR2spV59iPDCZVnlmtqGz1Et0glhQh-rta_QF/pub
Attend watch a Q&A recording with the Longmore Institute’s Interim Director, visit:
Passcode: R3mLj7!4
The recording has the auto captions, but this link has our live transcriber's much better transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTyziWoyB0EAvbLmN7zey1TidrnFIG8zySGcLSskrBYn2zubpsN7ssdrMsYBI-KOOBUn6joihTATx_e/pub
Apply now at: https://tinyurl.com/EmergeApply
Other Inquiries: contact Interim Director Emily Beitiks, beitiks@sfsu.edu or 415-338-6010. *Please do not contact our selection committee. Also, please note that Emily will not serve on the committee, so please refrain from reaching out unless you have a legitimate need for assistance with the application process. She cannot review project ideas, CVs, etc.
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