How To Apply
The application for the Hart Fellowship 2023-24 is now closed. Applications for the 2024-2025 cycle will open in winter 2023.
Hart Fellows are recent Duke University or Duke Kunshan University graduates who have been out of school for fewer than two years and have not yet earned an advanced degree.
Just as there is no typical Hart Fellows Program experience, there is no typical Hart Fellow. Hart Fellows come to us with a wide variety of interests, experiences and strengths. Fellows have majored in a variety of fields, including public policy, mechanical engineering, religion, and biology. The ideal candidate will have taken courses and participated in experiential learning opportunities that have helped them prepare for working in communities on challenging social issues. A number of Hart Fellows have studied or worked for extended periods in other countries before applying to the program, and were already proficient in one or more foreign languages.
We are interested in students who have had formative experiences working directly with community organizations. Typically the community relationships were developed through service opportunities connected to Duke University courses, such as those offered by the Hart Leadership Program or the Center for Documentary Studies.
The ideal Hart Fellow candidate is mature, self-reliant, open-minded, curious and reflective. They are able to build solid, respectful relationships with people from many diverse backgrounds and perspectives. The Hart Fellowship Program is looking for people who see the world in distinctly original ways, and can communicate their visions and experiences clearly and persuasively.
To become a Hart Fellow you will be required to attend a pre-departure orientation weekend, conduct your fellowship from July through May, complete an extensive research project for a community partner organization, write monthly reflection pieces, research updates and a midterm report, and submit a final report to the Hart Fellowship Program and to your community partner.