ISPS Welcomes the First Class of Director’s Fellows

(Updated January 23, 2014)

The Institution for Social and Policy studies is pleased to announce the first cohort of undergraduates for the Director’s Fellowship in Domestic Policy. Sixteen students (sophomores and juniors) have been chosen out of a competitive pool of applicants. The fellowship is designed to build an interdisciplinary community of policy-focused students who wish to bridge the gap between their academic work, future career interests, and real world politics.

The fellowship spans two academic years, but completes in one calendar year. The training will consist of seminars and bi-weekly meetings for the students in the spring semester; a summer internship in government that students are expected to obtain; and a related, academic research project to be completed in the fall semester.

“The Institution for Social and Policy Studies has a long tradition of fostering policy-related research and teaching at Yale,” says, Jacob Hacker, ISPS Director. “We are happy to be able to deepen our engagement in this area by welcoming our first class of Director’s Fellows. These amazing Yale college students bring enthusiasm, intellect, and commendable public spirit to our Domestic Policy Program. We are excited to help them learn how to conduct high-quality social science research that speaks to important public problems, while also fostering their direct engagement with the making and shaping of public policy.”

Rakim Brooks, a first-year Yale Law student, who is also pursuing a PhD from University of Oxford, is the Executive Director of this fellowship program and will be overseeing the progress of the Fellows. Mr. Brooks was a Rhodes Scholar from 2009-2011, a National Science Foundation EDGE Scholar and a John Kenneth Galbraith Scholar in 2008. He has also received training from the Drum Major Institute and Institute for Responsible Citizenship.

The Director’s Fellowship in Domestic Policy, which is tailored for undergraduate students at Yale, complements the ISPS Policy Fellows Program, which started in 2012 and supports Yale graduate and professional students conducting policy-relevant research on domestic issues.

Read the Yale Daily News article about the program.