[Air-L] Summer Internship Program 2012, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Rebecca Tabasky
rtabasky at cyber.law.harvard.edu
Thu Jan 12 15:58:50 PST 2012
Hi there,
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is
preparing to welcome another stellar crew of students to join us as
summer interns!
We are looking to engage a diverse group of students who are interested
in studying -- and changing the world through -- the Internet and new
communications technologies; who are driven, funny, and kind; and who
would like to join our amazing community in Cambridge this summer for 10
weeks of shared research and exchange.
Information about the summer program, eligibility, and links to the
application procedures can be found below and at
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/internships_summer. *
The deadline for summer 2012 internship applications is Sunday, February
12 2012 at 11:59 p.m. ET.*
Please share word of the opportunity to great candidates, and help us
continue developing our shared network of movers and shakers working to
advance scholarship with impact.
All best,
Becca
-----
*Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Summer Internship Program 2012*
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/internships_summer>
Each summer the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard
University swings open the doors of our big yellow house to welcome a
group of talented and curious students as full-time interns - Berkterns!
<http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=berktern> - who are
passionate about the promise of the Internet. Finding connected and
complementary research inquiries among their diverse backgrounds,
students represent all levels of study, are being trained in disciplines
across the board, and come from universities all over the world to
tackle issues related to the core of Berkman's research agenda,
including law, technology, innovation, and knowledge; the relationship
between Internet and civic activity; and technology, law, and development.
Summer interns jump head first into the swirl of the Berkman universe,
where they are deeply and substantively involved in the operation of our
research projects and efforts. Becoming invaluable contributors to the
Center's operation and success, interns conduct collaborative and
independent research under the guidance of Berkman staff, fellows, and
faculty. Specific roles, tasks, and experiences vary depending on Center
needs and interns' skills; a select list of expected opportunities for
Summer 2012 is below. Traditionally, the workload of each intern is
primarily based under one project or suite of projects, with
encouragement and flexibility to get involved in additional projects all
across the Center.
In addition to joining research teams, summer interns participate in
special lectures with Berkman Center faculty and fellows, engage each
other through community experiences like weekly interns discussion
hours, and attend Center-wide events and gatherings with members of the
wider Berkman community. As well, each year interns establish new
channels for fun and learning, such as organizing topical debates,
establishing reading groups and book clubs, producing podcasts and
videos, and hosting potlucks, cook-offs, and BBQs (fortunately for us,
people share).
The word "awesome" has been thrown around to describe our internships,
but don't take our word for it. Zack McCune, a summer intern from 2008,
had this to say
<http://thames2thayer.com/blog/in-the-spirit-of-the-the-olympics-how-i-learned-to-row-from-an-olympic-all-star/#more-39>:
"it has been an enchanting summer working at the berkman center for
internet & society <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/>. everyday, i get to
hang out with some of the most brilliant people on the planet. we talk,
we write (emails), we blog, we laugh, we play rock band. and when things
need to get done, we stay late hyped on free coffee and leftover food.
it is a distinct honor to be considered a peer among such excellent
people. and i am not just talking about the fellows, staff, and faculty,
though they are all outstanding. no, i mean my peers as in my fellow
interns, who are almost definitely the ripening next generation of
changemakers."
*Time Commitment:*
Summer internships are full time positions (35 hours/week) for 10 weeks.
Our Summer 2012 program runs from Monday, June 4 through Friday, August 10.
*Payment:*
Interns are paid $11.50 an hour, with the exception of a number of
opportunities for law students who are expected to receive some version
of summer public interest funding (more about these specific cases at
the link for law students below).
Please be forewarned that payment may not be sufficient to cover living
expenses in the Boston area. No other benefits are provided, and interns
must make their own housing, insurance and transportation arrangements.
*Commitment to Diversity:*
The work and well-being of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at
Harvard University are strengthened profoundly by the diversity of our
network and our differences in background, culture, experience, national
origin, religion, sexual orientation, and much more. We actively seek
and welcome applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQ
community, and persons with disabilities, as well as applications from
researchers and practitioners from across the spectrum of disciplines
and methods. The roots of this deep commitment are many and,
appropriately, diverse. We are not nearly far enough along in this
regard, and we may never be. It is a constant process in which there
remains much to learn. We welcome your inquiries, comments and ideas on
how we may continue to improve.
*Eligibility:*
- Internships are open to students enrolled across the spectrum of
disciplines.
- Internships are open to students at different levels of academic study
including those in bachelors, masters, law, and Ph.D programs (some
flexibility with high school students is possible). Some positions will
require that interns be enrolled in a particular kind of academic program.
- Summer interns do not have to be U.S. residents or in school in the
U.S., and we welcome and encourage international students to apply.
- Summer interns do not need an existing affiliation with Harvard
University.
*To Apply:*
We know what you're thinking. /Yes please. I want that. That sounds
magical. Did I mention that I make a mean artichoke dip?/ Here's what
you should do...
/Law students:/ If you are a law student interested in conducting
research with the Berkman Center this summer, please find important
additional information and application instructions here
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7314>.
/Students from all other disciplines:/ If you are a student from any
discipline except law interested in conducting research with Berkman
this summer, please find more information and application instructions
here <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7315>.
Required application materials for all include:
- A cover letter describing your skills and interests. When developing
your cover letter, you may wish to consider the following questions:
What has led you to pursue research with the Berkman Center and the
issues we study? What would you like to gain from working with us this
summer, and what will you contribute? How do you think the experience
might influence your future efforts? Please feel welcome to address
these and/or other topics you would like to share with us.
- A current resume.
- The contact information for two references (professional or academic).
*The application deadline for all students for Summer 2012 is **Sunday,
February 12 2012 at **11:59 p.m. ET. *
We look forward to hearing from you!
Questions? Email Rebecca Tabasky at rtabasky at cyber.law.harvard.edu
<mailto:rtabasky at cyber.law.harvard.edu>.
----
*Select Expected Summer 2012 Opportunities: *
/Broadband /
Interns with the the Broadband Project will conduct primary and
secondary research into fiber deployment, both in the US and abroad.
Research topics may include municipal fiber networks, how competition
impacts price and speed, and the role of spectrum in the broadband
debate. More information about the Broadband Project can be found at:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/broadband.
/Civic Engagement in Developing and Transitioning Countries
/Interns will undertake a variety of research and writing around the
use, impact, and design of digital tools for civic engagement in
developing and transitioning countries. Inquiries will be broad-based,
but particular attention will be given to the study of the promotion of
topics such as transparency, accountability, justice and human rights,
with a focus on Nigeria.
/Cloud Computing Law and Policy /
In Spring 2012, the Cloud Computing team at the Berkman Center in
collaboration with KEIO University (Japan), the NEXA Center (Italy), and
the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) will make public its
wiki-based repository of analyses, resources, and case studies on
emerging issues, law, policy and current trends related to cloud
computing. Building upon this foundation and under the guidance of
Executive Director Urs Gasser, we will be developing specific research
and analysis that leverages our international collaboration and existing
resources, and ideally creates briefing materials that are useful to
policymakers, industry participants, civil society members, and other
actors. Interns will work directly with the team to develop associated
research.
/Cyberlaw Clinic
/Interns with the Cyberlaw Clinic contribute to a wide range of
real-world litigation, client counseling, licensing, advocacy and
legislative projects covering a broad spectrum of legal issues involving
the Internet, new technology, intellectual property law, youth online
safety and child protection. The Clinic provides high-quality, pro-bono
legal services to appropriate individuals, small start-ups, non-profit
groups and government entities regarding cutting-edge issues of the
Internet, new technology and intellectual property. Interns in the
Cyberlaw Clinic can expect direct hands-on experience working with
clients under the supervision of the Clinic's staff attorneys. More
information about the Cyberlaw Clinic can be found at:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/teaching/cyberlawclinic.
Interns with the Cyberlaw Clinic will be students currently enrolled in
a J.D. program in the United States.
/Cybersecurity/
Since Spring 2010, the Berkman Center team has been developing a
cybersecurity wiki under the guidance of Jack Goldsmith. The wiki
provides a set of evolving resources on cybersecurity, broadly-defined,
and includes an annotated list of relevant articles and literature. This
summer, we will be seeking to update this wiki by adding key resources
that have been released since 2010. We also have a series of potential
next steps, including, for example, an survey course and an analysis of
the 'rhetoric' of cybsecurity, that we also plan to pick up and develop
with summer interns.
/Digital Libraries /
Summer interns working on digital library issues will conduct research
related to library users, content, governance, funding, publishing
models, and related issues; stay abreast of developments in the digital
library field (including news related to e-publishing, copyright, linked
open data, and other areas); blog regularly on these issues; and
contribute to the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) wiki
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/dpla/Main_Page> and website
<http://dp.la/>. Depending on summer needs, they may also have the
opportunity to create multimedia for the DPLA website. Summer interns
will also conduct research on the legal aspects and considerations
related to these issues. More information about DPLA can be found at:
http://dp.la <http://dp.la/>.
/Digital Media Law Project /
Summer interns at the Digital Media Law Project will work on a wide
range of legal research and writing projects relating to media law,
intellectual property, and the intersection of journalism and the
internet. In past years, interns have updated the Legal Guide
<http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide> to media law topics, developed
entries for the database of threats
<http://www.citmedialaw.org/database> against online publishers,
commented on current issues in law and media on the blog
<http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog>, and provided research and drafting
assistance on amicus briefs
<http://www.citmedialaw.org/about/cmlp-amicus-efforts>. Interns may also
be asked to assist with the operation and expansion of the Online Media
Legal Network <http://www.omln.org/>, an attorney referral service for
digital publishers, and with other projects that the DMLP undertakes in
conjunction with its partner organizations around the world. More
information on summer internships with the DMLP can be found on the DMLP
website at: http://www.citmedialaw.org/about/summer-internships.
/Freedom of Expression /
Summer interns for this suite of projects, which includes Herdict,
Internet & Democracy, OpenNet Initiative, Global Network Initiative, and
others, will blog regularly about issues concerning online freedom of
expression; contribute to related data gathering efforts using online
sources; conduct research on internet filtering, monitoring, and control
efforts around the globe; update project Twitter and Facebook accounts;
and assist international partners. In the past, freedom of expression
interns have also contributed to literature reviews, hand coded online
content, and supported research on foreign language blogospheres,
Twitter and online communities in Russia, China, Iran and the Middle
East. More information about some of Berkman's work on freedom of
expression can be found at the following links:
http://www.herdict.org/web/ ; http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/idblog/ ;
http://opennet.net/ ; http://globalnetworkinitiative.org/.
/Geek Cave /
Help Berkman's geek team keep the Center running. Interns joining the
Geek Cave may extend open source software, build scalable websites, or
manage the mixed desktop network that keeps us moving. If you've been to
a Berkman site, you've seen the work of the geeks; we also work with
partners across Harvard University. Our team works with ruby, perl, php,
bash, jQuery, PostgreSQL, MySQL and a slew of other tools, and you can
find more information at Berkman's github:
https://github.com/berkmancenter.
/Harvard Open Access Project (HOAP) /
HOAP fosters open access
<http://www.earlham.edu/%7Epeters/fos/overview.htm> (OA) to research
within Harvard, fosters OA beyond Harvard, undertakes research and
policy analysis on OA, and provides OA to timely and accurate
information about OA itself. Interns with the HOAP will will add
relevant information to the Open Access Directory (OAD), a wiki-based
encyclopedia of OA; and will contribute to the the Open Access Tracking
Project (OATP), a social-tagging project organizing knowledge about OA.
There may be opportunities to write research reports on commissioned
topics, draft submissions to public-policy consultations, and help
organize OA-related events on campus.
/H2O /
Interns working with H2O, a platform that allows professors to create
entirely online casebooks that are easily sharable and remixable, will
assist in the development of new casebook instances. Following the
successful pilot of Prof. Jonathan's Zittrain's Torts Class Casebook in
the Fall of 2011, this summer we will create several additional
casebooks with other Harvard Law School professors. Classes may include
Advanced Civil Procedure and Criminal Law. Law students who have an
interest in deepening their knowledge in these subjects, as well as
extremely dedicated aspiring law students, will work closely with the
professors to deliver an entirely online casebook. More information
about H2O can be found at: h2odev.law.harvard.edu
<http://h2odev.law.harvard.edu>.
/Information Quality in the Digital Age /
Under the guidance of Executive Director Urs Gasser, this project will
focus on the multi-faceted phenomenon of "information quality" in the
digital age. Building upon previous research efforts, the next stage of
exploration will focus on electronic media and work towards a theory of
information quality in the digitally networked environment, with a
particular interest in the role and interplay of law, social norms,
technology, and markets. Interoperability In June 2012, Urs Gasser and
John Palfrey will release their book on /Interoperability: The Promise
and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems/. The book is inspired by
their 2005 study and paper---"Breaking Down Digital Barriers: When and
How Information and ICT Interoperability Drives Innovation"
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2007/Breaking_Down_Digital_Barriers>
---which examined the relationship between interoperability and
innovation in the ICT environment.
A key input into the process has been the development of supporting case
studies that focus on lessons learned from sectors where
interoperability is critical, such as transportation, currency markets,
and energy. Interns will help to finalize existing cases for release,
develop new ones, and also contribute to developing a set of associated
online resources online, including a wiki and blog. More information
about our Interoperability research can be found at:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interop/.
/metaLAB /
The metaLAB is a research unit dedicated to innovation and
experimentation in the arts, media and humanities, and metaLAB work
ranges from inquiry into the history of media to advanced, open-source
software development to installation art practices using hacked sensor
devices. Summer interns will participate in current core research areas,
including: modeling new forms of multimedia publishing and documentary
art practice; creating augmented exhibitions using digitized cultural
heritage and library collections; and organizing interdisciplinary
gatherings of humanists, technologists, artists, legal scholars and
other experimental thinkers. More information about the metaLAB can be
found at: http://metalab.harvard.edu/.
/Special Projects - Professor Urs Gasser /
A summer intern will work on a variety of projects undertaken by
Berkman's Executive Director Urs Gasser (e.g. work on privacy,
globalization of law, cyberliability). Tasks include research for
presentations, op-eds, and articles. This position requires the ability
to find, absorb, critically analyze, and debate large amounts of written
and other media materials from sources including scholarly articles,
news articles and blogs, and interviews. Knowledge in German or an Asian
language is a plus. More information about Urs' research can be found
at: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/ugasser.
/Special Projects - Professor Jonathan Zittrain /
A summer intern in this position will work on a variety of projects
undertaken by Professor Jonathan Zittrain, assisting in a variety of
research areas (e.g. human computing, mesh networking, and Internet
filtering). Summer contributions include research for conferences and
presentations (including, for example, JZ's recent Colbert Report debate
<http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/403466/december-01-2011/stop-online-piracy-act---danny-goldberg---jonathan-zittrain>);
brainstorming article outlines; fact-checking materials; and reviewing
original article or paper drafts. This position requires the ability to
find, absorb, critically analyze, and debate large amounts of written
and other media materials from sources including scholarly articles,
news articles and blogs, and interviews with public policymakers. More
information about JZ's research can be found at:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/jzittrain.
/Youth and Media Lab /
During a summer at the Youth and Media Lab <http://youthandmedia.org//>,
interns will contribute to various research, advocacy, and development
initiatives around youth and technology. By researching young people's
interactions with digital media such as the Internet, cell phones, and
video games, we seek to address the issues their practices raise, learn
how to harness the opportunities their digital fluency presents, and
shape our regulatory and educational frameworks in a way that advances
the public interest.
A summer intern will work for one of the Lab's three main tracks:
exploratory research, curriculum development, and tool development. The
research track includes literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, and
one-on-one interviews to better map youth's usage of technology.
Building upon these findings, the curriculum track aims to develop and
test educational modules in collaboration with youth, designed for both
formal and informal learning settings. The modules address youth's
awareness and understanding of their technology usage and bear important
policy implications. Third, the Lab's team seeks to develop a set of
media literacy tools ("navigation aids for cyberspace") including an
application to assess news quality, a set of badges, etc.
Spending a summer with the Lab means joining a diverse and creative
team. Past summer interns have brought expertise and enthusiasm for
human-computer interaction, digital art, filmmaking, radio production,
joining team members excelling in areas such as law and policy,
communications, and the social sciences. The Lab's intellectual
diversity encourages collective brainstorming and discussion of how each
individual team member can advance the Lab's agenda. More information
about the Youth and Media Lab can be found at: www.youthandmedia.org
<http://www.youthandmedia.org/>.
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