Applications are currently being accepted for the 2024 Tribal Water Media Fellowship program, hosted by the Four Corners Water Center at Fort Lewis College and KSUT.
Students not need to be tribal members to be accepted into the program, nor do they need to be current Fort Lewis College students, but preference will be given to students enrolled in a local degree granting institution. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The program will begin notifying selected participants on a rolling basis starting in March. The priority deadline is February 15.
The 2023 project fellows explored law, history, personal narratives, music, art and more in their projects. They leveraged their skills and passion to document tribal water topics across the map. View some of the finished projects here.
The Tribal Water Media Fellowship is a Walton Family Foundation funded collaboration between Fort Lewis College, KSUT, and Rocky Mountain PBS that gives students the opportunity to research, create, and present multimedia projects centering on water, water usage, and desert communities. Student applicants to the fellowship can be from a variety of academic backgrounds, including, but not limited to; journalism, media, science, and/or cultural studies.
The fellowship is made up of two programs, and acceptance into the fellowship gives students access to both programs. The first program is a 14-day summer intensive that takes place in May 2024 at Fort Lewis College, where room and board will be provided for students on campus. During the intensive, students will attend a 4-day river trip down the San Juan River, led by Fort Lewis on the Water (FLOW). Also, during this intensive, the applicants will attend a series of workshops on campus. These workshops will focus on topics such as media preparation, production, as well as cultural studies, and research workshops that discuss water issues, science and policy, with a focus on Tribal water issues.
The second part of the Tribal Water Media Fellowship is an independent project. Students will conceive, research, produce, and deliver a media project centered on water from May 2024 to October 2024. This program includes a mentorship where the applicants will be paired with a mentor from a specific field of media (video, print, podcast, etc.) to facilitate the applicant’s project to completion. This program will culminate with the students presenting their projects to the public at a symposium held on the Fort Lewis campus in October 2024.
Besides the 10-day May intensive and subsequent mentorship, applicants accepted for the fellowship will receive a $1000 stipend. This stipend will be split, with $500 for the summer intensive, $500 for the Fall showcase project. In addition to the stipend, the students will also have access to equipment, as well as workshops from the KSUT Tribal Media Center. The workshops at KSUT will focus on video and audio production, and mastering projects for public consumption.
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please email: tribalmediacenter@KSUT.org.