Summer 2026 Collegiate Instructor

Freedom Summer Collegiate (FSC) recruits, trains, and funds doctoral candidates to design and facilitate summer seminars in their field of study. FSC instructors support Fellows in using disciplinary frameworks and concepts to analyze and transform their world. FSC instructors play a critical role in our programs. Not only do they teach important ideas, but they build relationships of study and action with Fellows. Through their coursework, Fellows will be exposed to the culture of a college classroom, explore different fields of study, and apply this learning to their own situations in the world. Instructors will support Fellows in bringing this learning to the wider community in our end-of-summer showcase, and will participate in our end-of-summer college trip on June 30th.

Although we will fully consider any proposal, in Summer 2026 the Freedom Project Network is specifically seeking course proposals that either:

• support young people to make meaning of and contextualize the current conjuncture 
• support young people to grow as leaders and organizers, and to build resilient organizations

Strong course proposals will:

• deal with topics or issues that are relevant to our students’ experiences
• support participants to apply their learning

Examples of strong course proposals might include:

• Economics/History/Education: a course that involves young people in a research project to critically analyze the history and political economy of 16th Section land in Mississippi
• English: a course that explores narrative nonfiction and supports young people to write their own narrative nonfiction
• Sociology: a course that teaches young people to conduct interviews of workers in their community to connect their stories with the history of labor in the US South
• Public Policy: a course where young people conduct participatory action research to understand design issues in the infrastructure of their local community and propose a solution

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

• A commitment to the organization’s mission of empowering Mississippi youth and a willingness to learn, grow, and develop as part of a team working towards that mission. 
• A commitment to engage in transformative study and practice
• Some knowledge of the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Freedom Struggle in Mississippi and the United States. 
• The ability to enroll others in a mission and outcome and to work collaboratively as part of a small team. 
• Ability to plan, organize, and implement various projects with crucial deadlines affecting students’ overall experience.
• Vision, creativity, charisma, flexibility, compassion, patience, and trustworthiness.
• Must be a student working toward a graduate level degree

SALARY & BENEFITS:

• $4,000 stipend to cover living expenses
• Housing will be provided