((Scholarships|Closing date)): April 30, 2006

We invite applications for six graduate fellowships from advanced graduate students to take part in a major multi-disciplinary research initiative to explore the “The Meaning of the New Networked Age: Innovation, Content, Society, and Policy.” The ACC theme is intended to convene an multi-disciplinary cohort of scholars to focus on a topic of pressing concern not well addressed in more established disciplinary and departmental institutions. The ACC research program will explore the drivers transforming networked society, their meaning, and their implications for business and government policy. We welcome researchers from various disciplines including anthropology, architecture, the arts, business, communications, computer science, design, economics, engineering, history, international relations, law, library science, neurosciences, political science, rhetoric, and sociology.

The ACC graduate fellowships will provide office space to allow students to complete their dissertations and a $8,000 stipend for the 2006-2007 academic year. Graduate fellows working on theses related to the meaning of the networked age are preferred. Graduate fellows are expected to spend significant time at the ACC and to participate in theme related activities during 2006-07, including a monthly speakers series and weekly seminars.

ACC is a research institute devoted to the study of new media from a multi-disciplinary perspective. We are in a period of fundamental transformation in the nature of the networks that connect people, information, objects, and locations. But, what does it mean and what, if anything, should be done to guide the process? The ACC research program will explore the drivers of these changes, their meaning, and their implications for business and government policy.

The 2006-2007 theme investigates the structure and evolution of today’s political, social, cultural, technological, and knowledge networks. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• How new technology is transforming politics in areas such as redistricting and citizen participation, policy and law for network media access and control
• Communication law and policy
• New models of intellectual discourse and citation
• Peer-to-peer cultural production and distribution
• The emergence of pervasive mobile and wireless networks

Applications should include a CV, a cover letter including a personal statement, and a brief statement of research goals in relation to the theme, a letter of support from your graduate advisor, and the names and email addresses of three references. Address all application materials to Elizabeth Harmon, Annenberg Center for Communication, University of Southern California, 734 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007. Email contact: eharmon@annenberg.edu.

The deadline for receipt in our office is April 30, 2006.

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