Call for Fellows 2025-2026

Thank you for your interest in the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement 2025-2026 Fellows Program.

About the Center
  The UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement explores the intersection of expression, engagement and democratic learning and considers what can be done to restore trust in the value of free speech on college campuses and within society at large. 

Born at UC Berkeley in the 1960s, the Free Speech Movement changed the way Americans viewed the First Amendment. Today, a renewed wave of activism, controversy and backlash on college campuses is once again forcing institutions of higher education to grapple with questions of open expression and civic engagement. 

Continuing UC’s legacy of leading edge influence, the Center seeks to help move this conversation from soundbites to thoughtful dialogue. Through research, advocacy, and discussion, the Center is dedicated to ensuring that all higher education stakeholders are prepared to understand, defend, and advance these values.

About the Fellowship
  Each year, the Center selects fellows from a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds such as law, journalism, higher education, social science, technology and government.  

The Center welcomes candidates from all backgrounds to apply, and invites a wide range of innovative projects. As part of the University of California, the Center is committed to promoting diversity and equal opportunity in its education, services and administration, as well as research and creative activity. We are focused on projects that address current issues affecting students, staff, administrators and faculty and will have a direct impact on individuals and communities across campuses. Work products can take many forms such as (but not limited to) qualitative/quantitative research, curricular modules, toolkits or training programs/pilots. To learn about what our current class of fellows are working on, click here. For more information about the work of previous fellows, click here. 

As a Center fellow, you will be welcomed into a community of practitioners, students, educators and scholars who share the common purpose of advancing the mission of the Center. Incoming fellows are connected with former fellows and become part of a larger UC-wide and national network of higher education stakeholders, advocates and policymakers. 

The one-year fellowship will run from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

This year we are particularly interested in the following issues: 

• How best to safeguard academic freedom in response to the national and global climate including legislative assaults and other threats to the creation and transmission of knowledge;
• Exploring the interaction between anti-discrimination laws and expression on campus;
• Navigating values-based polarization and political partisanship in higher education;
• The role of AI and/or social media in the future of free speech and civic engagement in higher education;
• Higher education’s role in supporting democracy and democratic learning;
• Strategies for engaging students, faculty, and staff in democratic governance and policy making at the institutional, local, and national level;
• The relationship between civic engagement and anti-authoritarianism;
• The intersection of climate and expression on campus, including the impact of national and international events;
• The role of civic engagement and service-learning work in restoring public trust in higher education.    

We also welcome additional themes, topics and activities that fit within the Center’s mission. 

This is not a residential fellowship. Selected fellowships will be awarded $20,000 to support their work, and up to $5,000 in research funds will be available as needed.

Fellows are expected to participate in monthly meetings (virtual) and a two-day colloquia at or near a UC campus or at the UC Center in Washington, D.C.. Travel and accommodations will be covered by the Center.

Involvement and interaction with the UC community is critical to the Center’s mission. Over the course of the program, fellows will be provided access to resources and connections throughout the 10-campus UC system as befits their research.

Applications are due by Friday, March 21, 2025 at midnight. If you have questions, please feel free to contact freespeechcenter@uci.edu.