In partnership with the Harvard College Dean of Students Office, the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics (ELSCE) is pleased to announce the second year of our Fellowship in Values Engagement (FiVE) Program. This program fosters intellectual vitality on campus by promoting ethical reflection and a culture of civil disagreement in undergraduate community life.
We invite Proctors and Tutors from the Yards, the twelve Houses, and the Dudley Community to apply to serve as Fellows in Values Engagement as a complement to the work of their current Proctor and Tutor roles (e.g., Race Relations, CARE, Pre-Career, DIB). Up to two Fellows per house/community will be selected to join the Fellowship cohort and will work with students in the house/community where they serve as a Proctor/Tutor.
Participation in the fellowship program is structured around three elements, which collectively require a commitment of 20-25 hours each semester. These three elements are:
Facilitating Student Conversations: The cornerstone of the fellowship experience is the Fellows' role as conversation facilitators for students as part of their residential experience at Harvard. Two to three times each semester, Fellows will attend public events around the university alongside their student residents and then host post-event discussions for their students. These discussions are designed to provide a relaxed environment for deeper exploration of the topics presented. Fellows will be able to choose from a list of events likely to raise ethically challenging questions on which reasonable disagreement can be expected. Our goal is to engage students in conversations about process values (e.g., civil, constructive disagreement, naming the disagreement and its boundaries) and substantive values (e.g., ethical dilemmas of recent House/Community/College alumni in professional schools; decision points of more seasoned alumni; discussions about race, ethnicity, identity, and religion; values that arise in friendships and dating relationships). Proctors are encouraged to hold recurring challenging conversations with the students in their entryways as well.
Event Creation: The second element of the fellowship is an opportunity to create at least one original, innovative House/Yard/Community event that encourages affiliated residents to grapple with core values in engaging, honest, and meaningful ways. Fellows will receive a programming budget as well as a range of resources — case studies, simulations, values sorts — to support these original events as well as the post-event discussions. Alternatively, Fellows may join with others in their fellowship cohort to convene one larger, more formal event per semester with a House/Yard/Dudley alum or faculty member; separate funding will be available for these events and will be allocated by the Program Director, Professor Eric Beerbohm. We strongly encourage Fellows to consider running simulations or other group experiences that are engaging to students. The Queen’s Head Pub space may be an option for larger events of this type. There is a possibility that undergraduates affiliated with the Center might partner with fellows to develop programming.
Workshop: The third part of the fellowship is participation in a workshop for all Fellows, to be held at ELSCE. The workshop serves as a space for Fellows to share best practices for facilitating values-based conversations, as well as to collectively theorize the challenges and opportunities for encouraging productive values engagement on our campus today. Returning Tutor Fellows will be asked to assist new Fellows in their planning, and to share what they have learned with the other Tutors in their House/Community; returning Proctor Fellows will be asked to disseminate these best practices among the Proctors in the Yard. Fellows will be required to provide feedback about their events to the Center.
Eligibility
Applicants should be current or incoming Proctors and Tutors from the four Yards, the 12 undergraduate Houses, and the Dudley Community. 2023-2024 Fellows are also encouraged to reapply. Please note that applicants should be aware of University and FAS policies regarding multiple appointments and should consult with their current supervisors about their eligibility.
Applicants should ensure that they are able to regularly attend the FiVE workshops, which will be held in the evenings. These will start out biweekly, beginning the week of September 9, and will shift to monthly meetings when feasible. It is essential to the program that Fellows attend these meetings in person.
We currently expect to be able to offer each workshop twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays (subject to change) from 6-7 pm. Workshops will start the week of September 9, and the first sessions will be about 2 hours long.
Awards
Each fellow will receive a stipend of $2,000 for the 2024-25 academic year and will also manage the allocation of programming funds. Stipends will be paid at the end of each semester to all Fellows who have met their program obligations.
How to Apply
First-Time Applicants:
Brief statement describing your interest in bringing best practices for discussions of values to undergraduate community programming (roughly 200-250 words) Curriculum Vitae Short description of a possible values-oriented event you would like to put on in your House or Yard or for the Dudley Community
Returning Fellows:
Brief statement describing what you learned as a fellow this past year and how you hope to apply those lessons to advance the goals of the fellowship in 2024-2025 Curriculum vitae Any event ideas or requests for specific training that you would like to share with the program organizers (optional).
In addition, applicants must provide names and contact information for their Resident Dean as well as someone serving as a reference. First-time applicants are asked to request that their referee send a letter of support to us at ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu with the subject line “FiVE Program Reference.”
If you have questions, please direct them to ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu.
Fellows in Values Engagement
In partnership with the Harvard College Dean of Students Office, the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics (ELSCE) is pleased to announce the second year of our Fellowship in Values Engagement (FiVE) Program. This program fosters intellectual vitality on campus by promoting ethical reflection and a culture of civil disagreement in undergraduate community life.
We invite Proctors and Tutors from the Yards, the twelve Houses, and the Dudley Community to apply to serve as Fellows in Values Engagement as a complement to the work of their current Proctor and Tutor roles (e.g., Race Relations, CARE, Pre-Career, DIB). Up to two Fellows per house/community will be selected to join the Fellowship cohort and will work with students in the house/community where they serve as a Proctor/Tutor.
Participation in the fellowship program is structured around three elements, which collectively require a commitment of 20-25 hours each semester. These three elements are:
Facilitating Student Conversations: The cornerstone of the fellowship experience is the Fellows' role as conversation facilitators for students as part of their residential experience at Harvard. Two to three times each semester, Fellows will attend public events around the university alongside their student residents and then host post-event discussions for their students. These discussions are designed to provide a relaxed environment for deeper exploration of the topics presented. Fellows will be able to choose from a list of events likely to raise ethically challenging questions on which reasonable disagreement can be expected. Our goal is to engage students in conversations about process values (e.g., civil, constructive disagreement, naming the disagreement and its boundaries) and substantive values (e.g., ethical dilemmas of recent House/Community/College alumni in professional schools; decision points of more seasoned alumni; discussions about race, ethnicity, identity, and religion; values that arise in friendships and dating relationships). Proctors are encouraged to hold recurring challenging conversations with the students in their entryways as well.
Event Creation: The second element of the fellowship is an opportunity to create at least one original, innovative House/Yard/Community event that encourages affiliated residents to grapple with core values in engaging, honest, and meaningful ways. Fellows will receive a programming budget as well as a range of resources — case studies, simulations, values sorts — to support these original events as well as the post-event discussions. Alternatively, Fellows may join with others in their fellowship cohort to convene one larger, more formal event per semester with a House/Yard/Dudley alum or faculty member; separate funding will be available for these events and will be allocated by the Program Director, Professor Eric Beerbohm. We strongly encourage Fellows to consider running simulations or other group experiences that are engaging to students. The Queen’s Head Pub space may be an option for larger events of this type. There is a possibility that undergraduates affiliated with the Center might partner with fellows to develop programming.
Workshop: The third part of the fellowship is participation in a workshop for all Fellows, to be held at ELSCE. The workshop serves as a space for Fellows to share best practices for facilitating values-based conversations, as well as to collectively theorize the challenges and opportunities for encouraging productive values engagement on our campus today. Returning Tutor Fellows will be asked to assist new Fellows in their planning, and to share what they have learned with the other Tutors in their House/Community; returning Proctor Fellows will be asked to disseminate these best practices among the Proctors in the Yard. Fellows will be required to provide feedback about their events to the Center.
Eligibility
Applicants should be current or incoming Proctors and Tutors from the four Yards, the 12 undergraduate Houses, and the Dudley Community. 2023-2024 Fellows are also encouraged to reapply. Please note that applicants should be aware of University and FAS policies regarding multiple appointments and should consult with their current supervisors about their eligibility.
Applicants should ensure that they are able to regularly attend the FiVE workshops, which will be held in the evenings. These will start out biweekly, beginning the week of September 9, and will shift to monthly meetings when feasible. It is essential to the program that Fellows attend these meetings in person.
We currently expect to be able to offer each workshop twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays (subject to change) from 6-7 pm. Workshops will start the week of September 9, and the first sessions will be about 2 hours long.
Awards
Each fellow will receive a stipend of $2,000 for the 2024-25 academic year and will also manage the allocation of programming funds. Stipends will be paid at the end of each semester to all Fellows who have met their program obligations.
How to Apply
First-Time Applicants:
Brief statement describing your interest in bringing best practices for discussions of values to undergraduate community programming (roughly 200-250 words) Curriculum Vitae Short description of a possible values-oriented event you would like to put on in your House or Yard or for the Dudley Community
Returning Fellows:
Brief statement describing what you learned as a fellow this past year and how you hope to apply those lessons to advance the goals of the fellowship in 2024-2025 Curriculum vitae Any event ideas or requests for specific training that you would like to share with the program organizers (optional).
In addition, applicants must provide names and contact information for their Resident Dean as well as someone serving as a reference. First-time applicants are asked to request that their referee send a letter of support to us at ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu with the subject line “FiVE Program Reference.”
If you have questions, please direct them to ethics_fellowships@fas.harvard.edu.