Catherine Medalia Johannet Summer Intern Fellowship
The Institute for Comparative Literature and Society will award the Catherine Medalia Johannet Summer (Intern) Fellowship annually to a CPLS or MLS major. The fellowship will support volunteering at organizations that offer summer internships or work opportunities relevant to the fields of literature or medical humanities.
The fellowship amount is $2000, with $1000 awarded at the start of the summer (late May) and the remaining $1000 no sooner than 2 weeks after the beginning of the internship, contingent on receipt of a written report from a supervisor. Awardees are required to submit a final description of the work that they have performed, including a statement for the ICLS website. The fellowship can be used to meet living and traveling expenses in any location. Applicants are responsible for securing internships themselves, but ICLS can help to put students in touch with appropriate nonprofit organizations, local public libraries, public museums, small publishers, etc.
Criteria for Selection
- Eligible candidates are CLS or MLS majors in their sophomore or junior years.
- The successful applicant must demonstrate a strong commitment to using literary, linguistic or translation skills to address social inequalities, conflict and injustice.
- They must have an excellent academic record and strong written and oral communication skills.
How to Apply
Application forms will be found on the ICLS website when it opens in the Spring semester. The 2020 application deadline is April 30.
Applicants must provide details about the organization for which they propose to work as well as a statement from the organization outlining the tasks that will be assigned.
The successful applicant will be selected by a committee consisting of the Director of ICLS, the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Director of the MLS program.
Exclusions
The fellowship does not support individual academic research projects, but fellows may, in some cases, serve as research assistants for Columbia University faculty projects.
About Catherine Medalia Johannet
Catherine Medalia Johannet was a graduate of Columbia College, class of 2015. She had a lifelong passion for literature and a strong commitment to social justice. As a major in the Medicine, Literature and Society Program, Catherine was inspired to see literature as a means to change perceptions of people with disabilities. She received departmental honors for her senior thesis on the fiber sculptor Judith Scott, an artist who confronted the challenges associated with Down syndrome and deafness. Catherine was tragically killed while traveling abroad in 2017. The summer fellowship is made possible by a generous donations from Catherine’s family and friends.
