Announcing FIRE Summer Scholars

To all our current FIRE students,

Earlier this week, I wrote to all summer fellowship applicants to say that we would not be able to host FIRE Summer Fellowships this year. We have been monitoring the situation since March, and while there is still some uncertainty around what the summer will bring, an on-campus summer engagement is not going to be possible this year. Since making that decision, Dr. Killion and I have been thoughtfully considering alternatives. We firmly believe in the value of a FIRE summer experience. We still want the summer to be an opportunity for you to develop a strong relationship with your Research Educator, to deepen the sense of community you feel in your stream, to enhance your understanding of the significance of your research, and to help you develop capacities as a leader. With that in mind, we are excited to announce a brand new opportunity: FIRE Summer Scholars. This is a different experience from FIRE Summer Fellowships. FIRE Summer Scholars is a volunteer-based scholarly engagement that will be offered entirely online over four weeks in the early summer (June 1 - June 26). The weekly commitment is only about four hours per week, and it will consist of a series of scholarly activities and weekly discussions with peers, yours and other stream Research Educators, and FIRE leadership. We are thrilled this is an opportunity we are able to extend to you with no application required. If you are interested, we simply ask that you sign up (the link is on the bottom of the FIRE Summer Scholars page). I know that you may still need time to understand the summer better and formulate plans. With that in mind, you can sign up for FIRE Summer Scholars as late as 9 am on May 20. Thank you, and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. I wish you and your family all the best during this time, and I look forward to seeing you back on campus sometime in the future. Sincerely, Ian Ian Page, PhD Associate Director of FIRE University of Maryland