Students interested in storytelling, community engagement, and the humanities as a response to mass incarceration are invited to apply for the 2026-28 Lender Center for Social Justice Student Fellowship Program. This interdisciplinary fellowship will support Project Mend, a nationally recognized community-based publishing and multimedia initiative that collaborates with people impacted by the criminal legal system to produce writing, podcasts, films, and other public-facing media.
Five students will be selected to join an interdisciplinary research and creative team working with Patrick W. Berry, the 2026-28 Lender Center for Social Justice Faculty Fellow and an associate professor of writing studies, rhetoric, and composition in the College of Arts and Sciences. Berry is the director of Project Mend, and his work explores how storytelling, publishing, and collaborative media production can create new opportunities for civic participation, public dialogue, and professional development for people impacted by the criminal legal system.
Working with Berry and Project Mend’s community editors, student fellows will collaborate on the publication Mend and new forms of multimedia production. They will also work to develop methods and approaches for community partnerships and public dialogues around incarceration and reentry. In addition, fellows will have opportunities to research community publishing, multimodal storytelling, prison education, digital rhetoric, and the role of the humanities in advancing social justice.
Students from any discipline and background who are interested in writing, editing, design, digital media, podcasting, theater, public humanities, law, public policy, or community-engaged research are encouraged to apply. Over the course of the two-year fellowship, students will work alongside Project Mend’s interdisciplinary team while gaining hands-on experience in collaborative scholarship, community partnership, and public-facing media production. Fellows will present their work at the 2028 Lender Center for Social Justice Symposium.
Selected applicants will participate with the project for two years. Lender Student Fellows will be provided a stipend between 2026-28 ($2,000 for undergraduates, and $5,000 for graduate students). Students will also have opportunities for additional funding and research support. The Lender Fellowship is designed as a collaborative research opportunity to provide an enriching research and engagement experience. Selected Student Fellows will not “work for” the Faculty Fellow, but will collaborate with the whole team to develop and expand research into the topic area.
Application requirements
- Student Fellowship Application, due Friday, Oct. 2, 2026 at 5 p.m.
- Statement of Interest, either submitted with your application or sent separately to lendercenter@syr.edu
- Letter of nomination/support from a faculty member, sent to lendercenter@syr.edu
Questions? Email lendercenter@syr.edu.