the Sam Jackson College Experience

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is spearheading an internet security task force, working with companies like MySpace, Google, Microsoft, and fifty attorney generals to help identify effective online safety tools and technologies. danah boyd, social media researcher and general awesome person extraordinaire, is soliciting people for a research intern position working with her on the task force.

I have been interning since the fall with Berkman danah boyd helping her to do research, and can attest to her being an amazing person to work with. What’s more, the Berkman Center is a great and vibrant community where you can really have a lot of fun getting engaged about exciting issues.

Snippet about the Task Force:

“The safety concerns posed by the Internet are part and parcel of the safety concerns that arise in human interactions in the physical world. These concerns are not unique to any one service or technology platform; they are shared by the companies that provide Internet services and the individuals who use these services. We should work together – private firms, technologists, experts from the non-profit world, and leaders in government – to solve online safety issues as a joint effort,” said John Palfrey, Executive Director of The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. “We are honored to assume the leadership of this Task Force and excited to convene the broad array of interests represented by the group.”

Anyhow, danah posted to her blog, and John Palfrey posted to the digital natives discussion list, a call for research intern applications. This is a really great opportunity to get involved in a great project, so check it out or send it to people you know who might be interested. Excerpted from danah’s blog below:

Connected to my role in the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, I’m seeking a research intern. The intern would be responsible for:

1. Creating an annotated bibliography of all scholarly research related to the issues taken up by the Task Force (e.g., Internet sexual predators, bullying, identity theft, COPPA, etc.)
2. Creating an annotated list of scholars and institutes working in the field and reaching out to them to see if new research is about to be published
3. Writing the first draft of a literature review of the relevant research
4. Other things that might come up…

The ideal intern will have strong research skills, strong writing skills, and an interest in the topic. Timeliness is also crucial – much is needed to be done by mid-June. The ability to self-motivate/self-direct is also critical; I will be doing virtually no micromanagement and the deadline is not movable.

The intern would officially be an intern at the Harvard Berkman Center and will receive the standard Harvard intern wage; living in Cambridge is not a requirement – most interactions with me will take place through email/AIM. The intern must be a student at a university (either undergrad or graduate level) and have full library access. Preference will be given to those in social science fields who are familiar with and can evaluate quantitative methods. The most ideal candidate would probably be a pre-quals graduate student who is working in this area and would love to be paid to do the literature review they have to do anyhow, but I’m not sure that this person exists.

This position will start the moment I find the right person. It will definitely last through June and can last much longer depending on the person’s interest (there’s plenty of related work through December). Hours are flexible; all that matters is getting the job done.

To apply, send me an email to zephoria at zephoria dot org. Include your CV, the names and emails of 2 professors who can attest to your research skills, a sample piece of writing (class assignments are fine) and a cover letter that includes: why you are interested in this internship, some background on your research skills, and whatever else you think that I might want to know.

Feel free to forward this announcement to anyone you think might be interested.

Definitely check it out! This is a great opportunity to do interesting work with brilliant and interesting people.