[Air-L] Postdoc Call - Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford

[MORGAN CURRIE]

The Digital Civil Society Lab at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and
Civil Society (Stanford PACS) brings promising new scholars to Stanford for
1-2 year appointments as postdoctoral fellows. The Lab is pleased to
welcome applications for 2018-2019.

About the Digital Civil Society Lab

The Digital Civil Society Lab envisions an independent civil society that
thrives in the digital age through the safe, ethical and effective use of
private digital resources for public benefit. The Lab is an initiative
of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS).

The Lab is led by Lucy Bernholz
<https://pacscenter.stanford.edu/staff/lucy-bernholz/>, senior research
scholar at Stanford PACS, and Rob Reich
<https://pacscenter.stanford.edu/staff/rob-reich/>, professor of Political
Science and faculty co-director of Stanford PACS.

The rapid adoption of digital tools for social and political action has
resulted in a complicated new sphere we refer to as “digital civil
society.” Digital civil society encompasses all the ways we voluntarily use
private resources for public benefit in the digital age. We see evidence of
digital civil society at the intersection of several domains: nonprofits,
associations, and philanthropy; market solutions for social good; political
action; and digital data and infrastructure. These once-distinct spheres
now overlap in ways that require the adoption of a new framework rooted in
the unique characteristics of digital resources and the distinctive values
of civil society.

Digital tools and infrastructure allow individuals to associate, network,
express themselves, and mobilize others at lower cost, larger scale, and
greater speed than ever before. Access to digital infrastructure, the
creation of new digital tools, and smart use of digital data as a resource
expand and strengthen the ways we work together for good.

Civil society organizations are almost everywhere *digitally dependent* on
third party providers for the digital tools and platforms they use. The
majority of digital tools and network infrastructure are built and
maintained by commercial enterprises that are frequently surveilled by
governments. These dependencies challenge the democratic ideal of an
*independent* civil society – a space apart from the government and the
commercial marketplace. Most people cannot have private conversations
digitally, associational activity is more easily tracked than ever before,
and private spaces online are accessible only to the technologically
skilled. Corporations that provide the platforms on which people express
themselves and associate with others are now implicated in protecting and
enforcing free speech, association, privacy, and safety.

Democratic governments and international declarations of human rights all
seek to guarantee the rights of citizens to free expression, association
and privacy, even when the precise interpretation of these ideals differ.
These basic rights inform our democratic systems and constitute core
freedoms for all people. Civil society’s digital dependencies profoundly
shift how these rights are experienced. The Lab’s research draws from the
humanities, social sciences, engineering, computer science and the law to
understand and advance the principles of civil society and democracies in
the digital age.

About the fellowship

We seek to appoint exceptional scholars who are actively engaged in
research on topics related to priority research areas, which include:

   - The key dimensions of digital infrastructure and data and how they
   influence the role of independent civil society in democracies;
   - Understanding, creating, and expanding access to software, hardware
   and digital practices that align with the values of civil society in
   democracies;
   - The nature of digital data donations and/or the governance mechanisms,
   enterprise forms, or legal constructs that such donations require;
   - The role of digital infrastructure, data, and connectivity and their
   influence on relationships between governments, markets, and civil society.

We encourage applications from candidates representing a broad range of
disciplines including the social sciences, humanities, law, computer
science and engineering.

Each fellow will be affiliated with the Digital Civil Society Lab and
potentially a department or school at Stanford University.

The Digital Civil Society Lab is an initiative of the Stanford Center on
Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS). Stanford PACS is an
affiliate of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences
<https://iriss.stanford.edu/> (IRiSS).

The annual fellowship stipend is $63,000, plus the standard benefits that
postdoctoral fellows at Stanford University receive, including health
insurance and travel funds. The fellowship program falls under U.S.
Immigration J-1 Exchange Visitor Visa activities. The start date of the
fellowship will be September 2018, unless otherwise agreed.

How to apply

Application materials should be submitted to the Digital Civil Society Lab
via email to hnrobinson at stanford.edu using the subject line “DCSL
Postdoctoral Fellowship 2018.” The deadline for applications is January 13,
2018. Please include the following items and information in your
application:

   - Cover letter: detailing the reasons for the applicant’s interest in
   the fellowship;
   - Curriculum Vitae;
   - Fellowship proposal: detailing the research that the applicant would
   undertake while at Stanford (three page limit, single spaced);
   - Writing sample: consisting of either a dissertation chapter or a
   recent published paper. There are no specific page length or formatting
   requirements for this sample;
   - Graduate transcript: with proof that the applicant has completed all
   the requirements for the PhD, or a letter from their PhD advisor stating
   when they will do so;
   - Two (or more) Letters of Recommendation.

Please disclose if you have additional funding arrangements.

To assume a postdoctoral fellowship, you must have a PhD in hand by July 1,
2018. We cannot consider applications from scholars who earned a PhD
earlier than May 1, 2016.

Questions about the program, application process or requirements should be
directed to Heather Noelle Robinson, Program Associate of the Digital Civil
Society Lab, at hnrobinson at stanford.edu.


__



Heather Noelle Robinson

Program Associate, Digital Civil Society Lab

Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society

*Stanford Social Innovation Review*



hnrobinson at stanford.edu

650-725-3653 <(650)%20725-3653>

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