About the Next System Fellows program

Applications for the 2026 Next System Fellows are now closed. 

Applications for 2027 will open in the fall. To receive notification about those, sign up for our Newsletter. 

 

About the Fellows: The Next System Fellows are GMU undergraduate and graduate students participating in Mason's selective Arlington Fellows Program. Fellowships involve:

  • An internship-practicum 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).
  • Joining a cohort and taking multiple courses together.
  • Preparation for a career in social and public service, organizing, research, technology development, cooperative and social entrepreneurship, teaching, and more.
  • 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.
  • Support: We provide a $1000 honorarium to each Next System Fellow to enable their participation in extra-curricular research and community engagement.

Requirements: All Next System Fellows take two required courses:

    • Social Change and the Next System Seminar (SOCI 401, INTS 475)
    • Internship Practicum 
  • Undergraduate student Fellows also take two additional electives:  
    • Big Data, Technology, and Society 
    • Power, Politics, and Society
    • Social Movements and Political Protest (Fall 2025 & 2024 courses count)
    • Sociology of Human Rights (Fall 2025 course counts)
    • Cooperatives and Social Enterprise (Spring 2025 course counts) 

Join us in building the next system! 

Join us in building the next system! 

 

Recap from the Spring 2024 Fellows

Recap from the Spring 2024 Fellows

The 2024 Next System Fellows spearhead diverse and innovative community-driven projects, demonstrating their collective commitment to social transformation and equity.

The first Next System Fellows at Arlington

The first Next System Fellows at Arlington

The original Next System Fellows leaflets posed several thought provoking questions to their readers: “Where is our society going, and where does it need to go? How do we get there, and what must we do to get there?” By posing these questions, the program implies it can provide answers to them. And perhaps it can. But essential is the pedagogy involved. By calling students to address the systemic challenges of the 21st century, the Next System Fellows program invites students to become a part of creating solutions. 

Pearl, David, Dr. Ben, Frehiwot, Steph, Eden, and Finn take a break from class sessions during the 2023 Next System Fellows experience at the Mason Square GMU campus in Arlington.
Pearl, David, Dr. Ben, Frehiwot, Steph, Eden, and Finn take a break from class sessions during the 2023 Next System Fellows experience at the Mason Square GMU campus in Arlington.