We are pleased to announce that Next System Studies is now accepting applications from George Mason University students to the Spring 2025 cohort of Next System Fellows!
Are you seeking a career in public service, research and education, social enterprise, community building, activism, or advocacy? Are you hoping to build practical experience and career networks in fields relevant to social change? Do you want to make a difference in the world – right here, right now?
If so, you should apply to become a Next System Fellow. The Next System Fellows are a part of Mason's prestigious Arlington Fellows program. As a Fellow you will:
- Intern with a partner organization, union, or research group, or with Mason’s own Democratizing Northern Virginia, Next Constitutions, or Digital Commonwealth projects.
- Set yourself up for a career in social and public service, organizing, research, technology, cooperative development, social entrepreneurship, teaching, and more.
- Learn about and engage directly with real world next system projects such as worker cooperatives and solidarity economy initiatives, community owned enterprises and services, campaigns for abolition and political democracy, transition and resilient communities, democratic and sustainable technologies, non-violent conflict resolution and restorative justice projects, and more.
Join a cohort taking multiple courses together (2 required courses, 2 electives)
- Social Change and the Next System seminar (required)
- Internship Practicum (6 credits) (required)
- Power, Politics, and Society (elective)
- Big Data, Technology, and Society (elective)
- Social Movements and Political Protest (elective)
A Next System Fellowship becomes your Spring 2025 semester. You study with the same students. You work closely with our core faculty. You emerge at the end of the semester having completed a transformative educational process. This is the kind of college experience many of you are looking for. We invite you to read more about our courses, internship program, and the new field of Next System Studies - a truly transdisciplinary approach to preparing for a transition to a better society that unites the social sciences and humanities, business and management, environmental and biological sciences, and technology and computer sciences. Read about last year's cohort, our first Next System Fellows. Take a look at this short video to get a sense of one of the types of activities experienced by our Fellows.
Consider this opportunity and, if it feels right, apply soon! The final application deadline is November 15th, but our admissions committee begins formal review of applications on October 1st.