2026 Philosophy in Media Fellowships: Application Instructions and Form

The application for the 2026 Philosophy in Media Fellowship is now open (application form below)!

Applicants must fill out the application below and submit a CV and Cover Letter (1-2 pages).  Please watch the video for instructions or read the instruction details below.

1.  For our final year, we are looking for very specific things from our applicants:
   • If you are applying for the essay writing workshop, pitch three ideas you want to write about, and the approximate word length for each of these ideas. An op-ed is 800-1200 words, a featured essay is about 3000 words. Make sure these pitches are in your voice and are in areas you want to write about. They can vary widely in range, you don’t have to be constrained by your research areas. Try to impress us with how interesting a writer you are.
   • If you are applying for the trade book workshop, tell us your idea for a trade book, and why you think it is a good trade book idea rather than a good academic book idea.
   • For the podcasting workshop, we are still looking for people who have or want to start their own shows so tell us about that if that is your plan. But we are also looking for people who have really good ideas for limited-run series, think mini-series or documentary series about a topic, about an issue, about a figure, something like a 6 episode or 8-episode or 10 episode series that will feature you are a host or guide or researcher. Tell us about that idea.
2. People or works that inspire or serve as models for you: Please include names of role models, pieces of writing, or podcasts that you want to learn from, emulate, or admire that inspire you to want to engage with public-facing work. It can be specific articles, figures, magazines, or podcasts, etc. This gives us an idea of what you’re reading, who you’re listening to, and what kind of voice you want to develop.
3. Aspirational plans/goals: Do you have a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year plan? If not a plan, what are your goals and how would you like your public scholarship to unfold? These don’t have to be ambitious, but they should be honest. There’s value in doing both a lot and a little of public philosophy, as there is value in doing both national/international and local/regional/niche work.

Applications close Saturday, January 31, 2026. Successful applicants will be notified by mid-March.

FAQs:

1. I was a former MSF Media Fellow, can I apply again to a different workshop?
   No, we are trying to give other people the same opportunity you got. If you’d like additional help and advice, you may contact Barry directly.
2. I am an international scholar, may I apply?
   Yes, all successful fellows will receive the same $1500 USD as a stipend, and room and board at the venue, without additional travel expenses covered. If you can make it work traveling from far overseas, you are eligible.
3. I do not have a degree or am not part of a degree-program in philosophy, but I consider myself a philosopher, am I eligible?
   No, our funding agencies require that our fellows be affiliated with a degree-granting university, or have been granted an advanced degree in philosophy from such an university.
4. I have a moderately or highly successful public profile already, should I apply?
   The workshop is designed for people who are newer to doing public-facing work, to give them training and networking that can help start their career in the public sphere. It isn’t that people who are already successful are disqualified,  but it is our judgment that they may not benefit from the workshop, especially in comparison to newer people. It is like if a PhD student in philosophy wanted to apply for a summer philosophy program for undergraduates.
5. Last time I satisfied many of the criteria in your call for application, by the areas I want to work in or because of my affiliation with HBCU, Hispanic-serving institutions, under-resourced regional schools, etc. etc., but I did not get selected, why not?
   While our funding does give special spots to particular affiliations and areas, these are not our sole or decisive criteria in our selection process. We are ultimately looking for a high promise of success in the public sphere, as indicated by areas and approaches you indicate in your cover letter. These criteria are very high priorities even though we also have reserved slots for particular affiliations and areas. The selection process is holistic, no particular affiliation or area is a sufficient condition for selection.
6. I’m interested in all kinds of public philosophy, which workshop should I apply for?
   You should choose the workshop that you are likeliest to be committing to and pursuing after the workshop. We are judging the success of this program by the success of our fellows in producing public-facing work. If you know you are likelier to write than to podcast, then don’t select the podcasting workshop. If you know you are better at producing occasional small chunks of content, go for essay writing, if you are the kind of person who likes to take on a big project at a time, go for the trade book workshop. If you have no idea, look to a role model and see how they started.

If you have questions or concerns about the application process, please contact Kori Hensell at kori@marcsandersfoundation.org.

Fellowship Application