Radio Play Project in Partnership with the Center for Palestine Studies
The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities (SOF/Heyman) and the Center for Palestine Studies (CPS) invite applications from graduate students at Columbia University for a Public Humanities Fellowship in support of the NO PLACE | LA MAKAN | لا مكان Radio Play Project.
The NO PLACE | LA MAKAN | لا مكان program will commission, develop, translate, produce, and distribute four new radio plays by Palestinian playwrights in 2021-2022, culminating in two fully-realized radio productions of each play (one in Arabic and one in English). The production process will take place simultaneously at Columbia University in New York City as well as at Al-Qattan Cultural Centre in Ramallah, Palestine. The plays will be broadcast in 2022 as part of a month-long festival celebrating this work, alongside conversations, interviews, and events exploring the work's conception and the lived realities out of which it was born. The recordings will be archived on the Center for Palestine Studies website, released as part of an ongoing podcast series, and broadcast worldwide on WKCR 89.9 FM, Columbia University's radio station, as well as through partners in Palestine and around the world. A series of ancillary events will build skills in writing and producing within the audio medium and be open to the public.
Application
The Public Humanities Radio Play Fellow will work closely with members of the LA MAKAN team as they develop and produce four new radio plays by Palestinian playwrights. Experience and/or interest in theatre or podcast sound design, editing, or producing is highly preferred, as the Fellow will be responsible for taking on tasks in this domain during the production phase (Spring 2022) as best suits their skillset. During the development phase (Fall 2021), the Public Humanities Radio Play Fellow will coordinate and lead a capacity-building workshop for the public on a topic of their choice, as part of an initiative to build skills in writing and producing within the audio medium.
Fellows receive a stipend of $4000. The fellowship term is October 2021 through March 2022. Average hours/week: 5 (fewer hours in Fall, more hours in Spring)
Duties include:
- Communicating with the LA MAKAN team during development phase of project
- Taking on a creative/technical role during production phase of project
- Coordinating and leading a capacity-building workshop for the public
- Attending Humanities in Practice Workshops and presenting in the Building Publics series
Applicants must be graduate students at Columbia University and possess the following qualifications:
- Commitment to publicly engaged scholarship
- Interest and/or experience in sound design/editing/producing
- Interest and/or experience in theatre
- Arabic language skills preferred
Applicants are required to submit the following:
Statement of Interest
500 words, including qualifications for the fellowship
Curriculum Vitae
3 pages maximum
References
Name and contact of three references
Fellows will participate in the activities organized by the Radio Play Fellowship and Humanities in Practice
Please contact Simone Rutkowitz ([email protected]) with any questions about the project.
Please submit your application as a single file document. Label the file as follows: Last Name, First Name -- Public Humanities Radio Play Fellow. Send the application file as an attachment in an email to: [email protected].
All proposals must be submitted by September 6, 2021.
About NO PLACE | LA MAKAN | لا مكان
NO PLACE | LA MAKAN | لا مكان is a project of the Center for Palestine Studies produced in partnership with the A. M. Qattan Foundation, with support from Taawon, The Tides Foundation, and the Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University. NO PLACE/LA MAKAN is a platform for Palestinian playwrights to explore contemporary themes through an historic medium of performance -- radio. For the inaugural 2021-2022 season, four plays have been commissioned from artists based in Palestine and in the diaspora, each of which will receive two world premieres in the form of dedicated Arabic and English productions
About the Center for Palestine Studies
The Center for Palestine Studies promotes the academic study of Palestine by supporting research, teaching, and intellectual collaboration among scholars within Columbia University and beyond. CPS provides an institutional home for faculty, post-doctoral researchers, and students at Columbia in fields that include history, literary studies, the social sciences, religion, philosophy, law, archaeology, architecture, and the arts. CPS also builds connections with other institutions and scholars to strengthen the academic study of Palestine and Palestinians throughout the United States and the world.
About the SOF/Heyman's Humanities in Practice Project
A key part of the SOF/Heyman's Public Humanities Initiative, the Humanities in Practice Projects are a space for students and faculty to imagine and develop experimental modes of engaged scholarship and pedagogy—work that spills out of disciplinary-bound methods and emerges from collective forms of knowledge production to interpret and question contemporary social and cultural concerns.