The Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE), whose mission is to promote ethical leadership and responsibility among professionals, is accepting applications for an intensive two-week programme in Germany and Poland focused on professional ethics and ethical leadership. The programme is designed for graduate students and early-career professionals in Business, the Clergy, Design and Technology, Journalism, Law, and Medicine.
Through interdisciplinary seminars, Fellows learn how professionals in different fields understand and respond to ethical responsibilities. They also examine how emerging technologies are affecting their professions and explore ethical issues that arise where different professions overlap.
The FASPE curriculum is developed in partnership with leading historians, ethicists, and professionals. Each fellowship is led by FASPE staff, two faculty members who are scholars and/or practitioners, and local partners in Germany and Poland.
The fellowship experience continues beyond the two-week programme. Fellows become part of a global network of more than 900 alumni and have opportunities to take part in continuing discussions and learning through in-person gatherings, online programmes, writing, lectures, symposia, and professional and social networking.
FASPE is not a Holocaust studies course or a genocide prevention programme. Instead, it uses history to help Fellows critically examine ethical challenges in their professions today.
The FASPE Journalism Fellowship examines the role of German and international journalists during the Nazi period, including cases where journalists supported Nazi policies through inadequate reporting, misrepresentation, or failure to report crimes accurately. These historical examples are used to help Fellows understand their responsibilities as journalists and the influence they have within their communities.
Each year, FASPE selects 13 to 16 Journalism Fellows who spend two weeks in Berlin and Poland, visiting important sites connected to Nazi history and taking part in daily seminars led by experienced faculty. The programme combines learning from these historical locations with academic study and opportunities for informal discussion and creative exchange.
Journalism Fellows also travel and interact with Fellows from the Medical and Clergy programmes. This provides opportunities to understand how ethical issues are viewed in other professions through shared meals, activities, and interdisciplinary seminars. FASPE Fellowships are fully funded, ensuring that financial circumstances do not prevent qualified candidates from participating.
FASPE seeks Journalism applicants who fall into one of three categories, which include those with some journalistic experience, including experience in a college newsroom or elsewhere, who are currently enrolled in a graduate programme and plan to work as journalists; those who have completed an undergraduate degree and are currently working as journalists; and those who have completed a graduate degree and are currently working as journalists.
Preference will be given to candidates whose journalistic work has been published or broadcast by a recognised news organisation.
FASPE welcomes applicants with different interests and professional backgrounds, including reporters, editors, photojournalists, documentarians, and other storytellers working in local, national, or international settings.
The programme is intended for journalists at an important stage in their professional development. Successful candidates should be open-minded and willing to reflect on their own work, demonstrate leadership potential, and have the capacity to influence their profession.
Applicants should also be willing and able to discuss difficult and controversial issues respectfully and responsibly with other Fellows and faculty members in small-group settings.
FASPE Journalism Fellows will explore a range of ethical issues, including the role and responsibility of German and foreign journalists in reporting Nazi policies and crimes; the impact of technology on journalism; the role of journalists during elections and in holding those in power accountable; the ethics of advocacy journalism; how media coverage can make harmful or unusual behaviour appear normal; the challenge of reporting in an era in which fake news and accusations of “fake news” are common; and balancing the costs and benefits of access tactics to address ethical issues within the journalism community or media outlets.
Applicants must submit an online application form, a résumé, academic transcripts, and responses to short essay questions. The essay questions and required response lengths vary by programme.
Applicants must also provide two letters of recommendation from academic or professional referees.
For students, letters from faculty members who have taught them in their current or most recent graduate programme are preferred. Letters from faculty members from previous graduate or undergraduate programmes are also accepted.
For early-career professionals and applicants with significant relevant professional experience, recommendations may also come from a supervisor or employer.
All recommendation letters must be submitted directly by the referees and are due by January 10, 2027.
All applications must be submitted through the FASPE Submittable application portal. Applicants are encouraged to read all application instructions carefully before beginning the process.
For more information about the six FASPE fellowship programmes, visit the Fellowships section of the FASPE website.
Please visit https://faspe2.submittable.com/submit to go to Submittable and apply. For more information about the entire application process, please visit https://www.faspe-ethics.org/how-to-apply/.
Applications close by January 3, 2027, at 11:59 PM ET.
