University of Indianapolis faculty amplifies impact with Public Voices Fellowship Program
University of Indianapolis faculty will learn to hone their media skills thanks to a Lilly Endowment grant. The grant supports two cohorts of 20 faculty members who will participate in the Public Voices Fellowship Program over the next two years, with the first cohort to begin in Fall 2021.
The Public Voices Fellowship Program is the premier program of the OpEd Project. The major goal is to train faculty, especially those who are underrepresented, on how to get their voices into public conversations through opportunities including opinion-editorials, media appearances, and public conversations. Participating faculty may be experts in literally any topic. They will be trained to use that expertise to become a public thought leader.
“The need for well-informed, expert opinion and analysis is greater than ever in the current media landscape,” said Dr. Amanda Miller, chair and professor of sociology and director of faculty development. “We are thrilled and grateful that Lilly Endowment is supporting this initiative that will allow our faculty to develop their media skills and reach new audiences.”
Dr. Miller noted that the University of Indianapolis is relatively unique among the Public Voices Fellowship Program participants in being a more teaching-focused institution.
“This is an incredible opportunity for faculty to access top-tier media training with a nationally-known program,” she added.
Participants will attend four and a half days of workshops distributed throughout the academic year, along with individual mentoring and coaching from top journalists and monthly calls with media insiders from organizations including TED, the New York Times, CNN, Wikipedia, and more. Participants must attend all events and are expected to produce at least two op-eds. They will also have follow-up access to their pool of journalist mentors.