Page 10 - 2017 Annual Report
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PROGRAMS & INITIATIVES
CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP
PROGRAM
The APSA Congressional Fellowship Program is a highly selective,
nonpartisan program devoted to expanding knowledge and
awareness of Congress. Since 1953, it has brought select political
scientists, journalists, federal employees, health specialists, and other
professionals to Capitol Hill to experience Congress through fellowship
placements on congressional staffs.
The program lasts nine months, beginning in November and
ending in mid-August. Fellows spend the month of November in an
intensive orientation where they participate in daily seminars with
policy specialists, congressional staff, scholars, and journalists. After
orientation, fellows serve placements in congressional personal
offices or committees of their choosing in the Senate or House of
Representatives. Fellows also participate in ongoing seminars and
enrichment opportunities throughout the fellowship year.
The APSA directly recruits and sponsors fellowships for political
scientists and journalists and for the APSA-MCI Communications
Congressional Fellowship for scholars and journalists. In addition to
fellows from these professions, each fellowship class includes federal
government employees sponsored by their home agencies and
professionals in other fields sponsored by a range of organizations.
The program has achieved a reputation for excellence for the rigor of the fellowship year and the achievements of its
alumni in advancing scholarship, teaching, and public understanding of national politics. It has served as a model for
fellowship programs in all three branches of the federal government and in parliamentary settings abroad.
The Fellowship Class of 2017-2018
The 65th class of APSA Congressional Fellows began orientation in early November. The class this year consists of 30
fellows, including 5 political scientists, 1 journalist, 4 federal government employees, 12 Health and Aging Policy Fellows
sponsored through the John A. Hartford Foundation, 6 Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows, and 1 fellow each
from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Mark O. Hatfield Fellowship Program and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
USA.
In addition to serving their fellowship placements, the fellows also will take part in a wide range of enrichment programs
throughout the year. These enrichment sessions, a hallmark of the Congressional Fellowship Program, include monthly
seminars on US politics, trips to Ottawa, Canada, and Annapolis, Maryland, to study parliamentary and state politics, and
a recently launched exit seminar that helps fellows leverage the fellowship experience in the next phases of their careers.
10 AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION 2017 ANNUAL REPORT