Apply Now!
We are pleased to announce that Next System Studies is now accepting applications from George Mason University students to the Spring 2026 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. A fellowship involves:
- Internships with a partner organization, union, or research group, or with one of our projects at Next System Studies at Mason (Democratizing NOVA, Digital Commonwealth, Next Constitutions).
- Preparation for a career in social and public service, organizing, research, technology development, cooperative and social entrepreneurship, teaching, and more.
- Learning about and engaging 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.
- Joining a cohort of students taking multiple courses together. For graduate student Next System Fellows, there are two required courses. For undergraduate student Fellows, there are two required courses and two electives:
- Social Change and the Next System Seminar (required)
- Internship Practicum (required)
- Big Data, Technology, and Society (elective)
- Power, Politics, and Society (elective)
- Social Movements and Political Protest (elective (Fall of 2025 or 2024 course will count))
- Sociology of Human Rights (elective (Fall of 2025 course will count)
- Cooperatives and Social Enterprise (elective (Spring of 2025 course will count))
We provide a $1000 honorarium to each Next System Fellow to support their participation in extra-curricular research and community engagement.
A Next System Fellowship becomes your Spring 2026 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.
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 15th.
October 16, 2025