Fulbright Program: New Opportunity

The U.S. Department of State and the National Geographic Society are partnering to launch the inaugural competition for the Fulbright-National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship.  The new component of the Fulbright Program will offer up to five awards to U.S. citizens for nine months of overseas travel and multi-media storytelling on globally significant social or environmental topics. Fellows will focus their digital stories on one of the program’s eight themes: biodiversity, cities, cultures,disasters, energy, food, oceans, and water.

The Fulbright-National Geographic Fellowship will provide a unique platform for U.S. Fulbrighters to undertake an in-depth exploration of a globally relevant issue, comparing and contrasting how that issue is experienced across borders. Utilizing a variety of digital storytelling tools and media, including blogs, photography, video, and social media, Fellows will share their stories by providing content to a National Geographic blog and other platforms with the support of National Geographic’s editorial team.

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1946, the U.S. Department of State’s Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program, designed to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and people of other countries. The Fulbright Program annually supports more than 8,000  students, scholars, artists and professionals from the United States and more than 155 countries to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas, and find solutions to shared international challenges. 

“Inspiring people to care about the planet” since 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions in the world, promoting exploration and on topics such as geography, natural science, and conservation. Operating across a diverse set of media platforms, National Geographic is a trusted leader in digital storytelling.

With complementary missions, Fulbright and National Geographic are distinctively suited to deliver this Fellowship opportunity.  This Fellowship will allow Fulbrighters to tell stories from around the world and advance U.S. public diplomacy goals while bringing new voices to National Geographic and expanding its in-depth coverage of pressing transnational issues. 

IIE will cooperate with the U.S. Department of State in recruitment and application review. For more information and to apply for the Fulbright-National Geographic Fellowship, visit: us.fulbrightonline.org/fulbright-nat-geo-fellowship

Interested? The deadline for applications is February 28, 2014.