2024 Fellowships

Building on the work we’ve done with the Philadelphia Audiovisual Collections Evaluation and our workshop series, we are offering two nine-month paid fellowships for 2024: the Philly Resistance Histories Research Fellowship for young activists and the Preserving and Archiving Community Media Fellowship for community media practitioners. We envision these fellowships as part of our goal to help develop a sustainable and collaborative infrastructure around the sharing, critical understanding, and long-term care of Philly’s community media.  These fellowships are a commitment from us to creating spaces for learning and navigating the inherent tension between traditional archival practice and the need to shape, share and honor our own community stories together. We are excited to invite people who feel passionately about caring for and reckoning with the past as a way to build a better future to shape these programs with us along the way.

Applications are due by November 30th!

Philly Resistance Histories

The People’s Media Record invites people ages 16 to 23 to apply to the Philly Resistance Histories research fellowship, which explores how stories of resistance movements in Philadelphia are created, captured, and passed down over generations, and which exists to recognize and uplift histories of people resisting oppression in our city. Stories shape what we know about the past and what we can imagine for the future. Stories shape how we see ourselves, others and the world around us. Stories are powerful, but they are also shaped by power; whose stories are told, whose experiences are silenced, and how we build collective knowledge are all shaped by the conditions in which stories are created. 

Between March and December, 2024, fellows will participate in two workshops per month, where they will learn how to conduct research within existing collections and archives that document Philly’s movements for change, justice and liberation. Led by Philly-based educators, organizers, media makers, memory workers, and storytellers, these workshops will build fellows’ skills in understanding the past and connecting it to the present through a critical lens that centers the relationship between power, resistance, and storytelling. In the summertime, fellows will participate in and assist in curating Neighborhood Story Nights–a series of media and archival storytelling events uplifting histories of resistance in specific neighborhoods. Fellows will also work with teaching artists to create an original project that reimagines and redefines documentation, representation, and preservation on their own terms. 

Program Goals: 

The overall goal of this program is to empower you to connect your experiences in the city with the stories of people, communities and movements fighting for change in Philly’s past, so that you are armed with these stories in your own fights for justice and liberation. By the end of this program fellows will: 

• Be able to think and communicate about how storytelling shapes the ways we understand ourselves, where we come from, and what we are capable of. 
• Learn about how the stories of Philly’s movements have been documented, represented, and preserved; and be able to analyze how patterns of power, domination, silence and erasure have shaped these stories and their connection to our shared and unique histories. 
• Conduct original research that engages the documentation, representation, and archiving of a movement or campaign or issue of their choosing, ideally one in which they are personally involved and invested. 

Schedule and Stipend Information: 

• Beginning in March 2024, fellows will be expected to attend 1) in-person workshop once a month, and 2) a Zoom meeting once a month, for a total of two (2) meetings per month. We will use the availability you list in your application to establish the meeting schedule. During the summer months we may adapt to the needs of individual projects and the Record’s Neighborhood Story Nights, but we will maintain a consistent space to meet, workshop ideas and learn together. 
• Fellows will receive a stipend of $150 per month ($1,350.00), which will be paid monthly. 
• Fellows will receive reimbursement for all transportation costs. 

Applications will open on October 27th, and are due on November 30th, 2023, and selected fellows will be notified of acceptance by mid January, 2024. Applications will be selected by a committee made up of staff, advisory board, and community members. To apply visit this form.

Preserving and Archiving Community Media Fellowship

Do you have many hours of media documenting community stories, cultural work, or activism  that need to be digitized and preserved? Have you been recording your group or organization’s history for a long time, but are not sure how to preserve it? Are you a community-based or led organization that’s interested in learning more about the ins and outs of media archiving and preservation?

The People’s Media Record invites you to join us for a nine-month fellowship to build archiving and preservation skills and plan alongside a group of your peers for the long-term care of local neighborhood, community, and movement histories. We know that people trying to preserve community media face many barriers. We offer this fellowship to you because we believe that you deserve to be supported and empowered in this work. From March to December of 2024, you will meet with a small group of fellows to engage in training in archiving and preservation, and to consult with practitioners around the specific needs of the materials in your collection.

Training will be monthly, online and in-person, and will cover essential topics such as digitization, digital preservation, record management, metadata, copyright, and storage and handling. We will be offering a monthly stipend of $1,000.00 over the nine months to be awarded to each fellow ($9,000.00 total). 

Program Goals:

The overall goal of this program is to empower you as a community media steward with the preservation and archiving skills necessary for the long-term care of your collection and build  trust, cooperation, and community around these practices in Philadelphia. By the end of this program fellows will: 

1.    Gain proficiency in preservation best practices, from digitization and cataloging to metadata and copyright, to ensure the long-term viability and accessibility of media materials. As part of this work, fellows will produce a detailed preservation plan for their collections.

2.   Learn how to navigate limited funding and resources to ensure the sustainability of their projects, and gain skills and knowledge in advocating for the importance of community media preservation, especially for marginalized groups.

3.   Develop relationships with other community media practitioners while fostering cooperation and knowledge exchange.

Who is a good fit for this fellowship, and how to apply:  

• PMR welcomes applications from people who are responsible for taking care of a substantial collection of community media. Community media is wide-ranging: it can include the production of community media centers like PhillyCAM and Scribe Video Center, community newspapers like Philadelphia Gay News, the recording of performance and open mic series, and even podcasts.
• PMR especially welcomes applications from people whose collections focus on at least one of the following formats: analog audio, analog video, digital audio, digital video, print, and digital photographs.
• PMR especially welcomes people with limited formal expertise and training in archiving and preservation, and those who experience individual, organizational, or structural marginalization from educational opportunities.
• PMR especially welcomes applications from people working within groups or organizations that either do not have funding for, or which have limited funding for, archiving and preserving their media content.

Applications will open on October 23rd, and are due on November 30th, 2023, and selected fellows will be notified of acceptance by mid January, 2024. Applications will be selected by a committee made up of staff, advisory board, and community members. To apply, use this form.