Research Opportunities in Berlin
Stanford-Leuphana Berlin Summer Academy on Media, 2023
Interested in pursuing an independent study abroad and developing a project over several quarters? Ever wondered how media and digital technologies condition how we work with others and how these relations form organizations, economies, and political structures? Interested in traveling back to Berlin in June to present your project at the 2023 Summer Academy?
Stanford and the Leuphana Universität Lüneburg jointly host a Summer Academy on Media in Berlin each June. This week-long workshop hosts faculty and graduate students from both universities as well as 3 Stanford undergraduate Fellows (who begin their research at BOSP-Berlin during winter quarter). The research projects focus on media studies from a humanistic, social scientific, or artistic perspective. Past themes have been “Against Historicism”, “Media and Bureacracy”, and “Scale.” The thematic focus of the 2023 Summer Academy is “Media and Social Change.”
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The Summer Academy offers three competitive undergraduate fellowships annually to winter quarter BOSP-Berlin students, who will complete projects within the annual thematic area and will present them at the Summer Academy in Berlin in June. There are four phases to the undergraduate fellowship:
1) students will define and begin work on their projects with a faculty advisor during winter quarter at BOSP-Berlin enrolling in 2-3 units of Independent Study;
2) they will complete their project on the main Stanford campus during spring quarter, working with a graduate student who will be a fellow of the Academy;
3) they will return to Berlin to present their projects at the Academy in June, and
4) have the option of staying on in Germany for a summer internship under the auspices of BOSP-Berlin’s Krupp Internship Program.
Students may choose to continue their research in the context of an honors or a capstone project in their major departments.
The Fellowship includes a round-trip flight to Berlin, and hotel and group meals for the week of the Academy.
Location:
»Haus Cramer« (BOSP’s H.G. Will Center in Berlin)
Summer Academy Faculty:
Timon Beyes (Leuphana), Shane Denson (Stanford), Marisa Galvez (Stanford), Karla Oeler (Stanford), Claus Pias (Leuphana), and Fred Turner (Stanford).
How to apply:
Submit a 300-word abstract that describes your intended project—how it applies to the theme of the year’s Summer Academy on Media. Include a general timeline with goals of your proposed research & project, including specific theme and prospective genre (written, images, video, etc.) that would span BOSP Berlin Winter Quarter Independent Study, the Spring Quarter Graduate Mentorship, and the presentation of Final Project that will be presented at the Summer Academy in June. The focus can be adapted to some degree as you develop your project, but this proposal serves to name the essential parameters of your project. Students will be matched with appropriate faculty and graduate student mentors in Berlin in Winter Quarter and at Stanford in Spring Quarter. They can also propose their own mentors among the Berlin Winter Quarter and Summer Academy Faculty.
Deadline: Friday, November 18, 2022, by email to mgalvez@stanford.edu and kkramer@stanford.edu
Further questions? Contact mgalvez@stanford.edu or kkramer@stanford.edu
Doing Research in Berlin
Students who wish to do a significant research project in Berlin should submit a two-page research proposal on a Germany-specific topic to the Director of the Berlin Program at least two months before the quarter commences; the proposal should include a definition of the topic and scope of the proposed work and should explain how it resonates with the students’ previous work and overall academic focus. An alternative option is to conduct research as a Krupp intern in a relevant German institution.
Undergraduate Student Grants for Research
Several grants are available through VPUE that can help support research abroad, including the Chappell Lougee Scholarship and Major Grant. For specific details regarding grant deadlines, eligibility, and policies for off-campus research, please visit the Student Grants Website.
Volunteer Opportunities
Stanford students have always been involved in various volunteer opportunities in Berlin. Lately, students have organized small projects in a German-English Kindergarten close to the Berlin Center, called Kinderhaus Tom Sawyer. Past projects have included a singing project, a baking project and a reading project, as well as making ice cream with some of the children. It is also possible to get involved individually with Treffpunkt Hilfsbereitsschaft, a Berlin volunteering network. Students will be matched with this organization to see what opportunities may be available.
Students who would like to get involved in a local volunteering activity while in Berlin, please be in touch with the Student Services Coordinator during the second week after your arrival at the Center to see what kind of work will be available and if you are able to add another commitment to your academic schedule.