The Institute at Columbia has two open positions — one for a creative technologist and one for a database aficionado.
The first person will conduct original “creative research” that expands on traditional forms of journalism and storytelling. They should work easily with teams of journalists, other members of the Brown Institute, and the larger creative community in New York City. The should be well-versed and knowledgeable in design processes and have the technical abilities to produce prototypes of new story forms — helping to bring creative ideas to life. They will also play a high-level role in designing the educational programming at Brown, as well as assist in its grant making efforts. In addition, the Brown is interested in developing bicoastal initiatives with our partners at Stanford University’s School of Engineering and the ideal candidate should have an interest in fostering this collaboration. Read more and apply at brwn.co/create.
The second person will serve as Brown’s lead data scientist. This year, the Brown Institute at Columbia is explicitly supporting three projects that are essentially database research endeavors. One project is focused on acquiring and aggregating reports of human rights violations in Pakistan to enable better reporting on the country. Another project is focused on producing a comprehensive database of maternal deaths in Nigeria, as well as providing systematic assessments of the efficacy of health interventions in the country. And the third project is developing an automated database of the Trump administration’s 3000+ current and former appointees, enabling journalists to report on stories about appointees’ interests and potential conflicts, and how those impact policymaking. As with the first “creative technologist,” this position will help design and lead workshops, provide office hours to Columbia Journalism School, and, of course, work on personal projects that align with the mission of the Institute. This is an exciting new role that will leverage the incredible grants we have funded, as well as our connections to industry and to the academic environment in which we exist. Read more and apply at brwn.co/data.
These are great opportunities! If you have any questions contact browninstitute@columbia.edu.