The prestigious Annenberg Fellowship will allow one
young Johns Hopkins scholar to spend the
2009-2010 academic year as a teacher, mentor and coach at
Eton College, one of England's best-known
private schools for boys. Applicants for the fellowship may
be male or female.
Typically a student taking a year off before, during
or after graduate school, the Annenberg
Fellow acts as an American ambassador to Eton while also
taking on "the academic and pastoral care of
a small tutorial group of pupils," according to a job
description by A.R.M. Little, Eton's headmaster.
Room and board and round-trip travel are covered in
addition to a stipend of not less than 19,000
pounds (about $27,000). The fellowship was established by
Walter H. Annenberg, a U.S. ambassador
to the Court of St. James's from 1969 to 1974.
This is the first time in the program's 24-year
history that Johns Hopkins has been chosen to
field an Annenberg Fellow. The current fellow is from Yale,
and past participants have hailed from
MIT, Harvard, Princeton and Stanford, where John Latting,
dean of undergraduate
admissions at Homewood, earned his undergraduate degree
in 1987. Latting was working in Stanford's Admissions
Office when he was named an Annenberg Fellow in 1989.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for our students,"
Latting said. "And since they want to deal
with top institutions, this is also a vote of confidence in
Johns Hopkins."
Fellows have some teaching duties that are based on
their own studies, as well as in American
literature, history or current affairs. They are also asked
to coach, preferably crew, but other
options include rugby, soccer, track or tennis; they are
welcome to become involved in other activities
like drama. And while they have no specific duties in the
residence halls, Annenberg Fellows have the
chance to meet with students informally, acting as a mentor
and adviser.
"Because you live on the grounds, students come to see
you after dinner to talk about their
work, about the world and one-on-one to expand their
horizons," Latting said.
While Latting describes the experience as one that
occasionally made him feel as if he was
working from dawn to dusk, he nevertheless paints a
romantic picture of his time at Eton. The school
is situated across the River Thames from Windsor Castle,
and as a rowing coach, Latting was given
access to castle grounds.
Besides being impressed by the stature of the school,
its social prominence and strong
traditions, Latting was struck by the great education Eton
provides its students.
"Students at Eton find their niche so that when they
go on to a university somewhere, they
know what they are good at," he said.
Besides benefiting the Johns Hopkins student who
becomes next year's fellow, Latting said that
the university will benefit by having an advocate on the
ground there among Eton's students, perhaps
leading to an increase in applications to Johns Hopkins
from Eton graduates.
Candidates for the Annenberg Fellowship should submit
a resume and cover letter outlining
their interest in the position, why they are applying and
how they might fulfill the expectations of the
position in terms of teaching, coaching a sport or offering
guidance in another extracurricular activity.
Materials must be sent to
annz@jhu.edu by Monday, Feb. 16. A short list of
candidates will be
interviewed in April.