“I loved that the workshop size was small, because it made me more comfortable speaking aloud and collaborating with my peers. Matt’s lessons were very accessible and easy to understand. I felt I left with tangible goals in my advocacy work and a bunch of new skills and ideas.” — Art of Advocacy workshop participant, Spring 2022
Come join the third cohort of Art of Advocacy Fellows!
Art of Writing again partners with Berkeley alumnus and communications expert Matthew King to host a series of workshops on the subject and practice of writing as advocacy.
Over five Friday afternoons, 10-12 undergraduates learn how to research, write, and pitch stories on public policy topics of their choosing. Participants who successfully complete the workshop will be “Art of Advocacy Fellows.” Students have the opportunity to rigorously edit and revise their work to meet the standards of the industry’s most discerning editors. In conversation with King and other participants, students explore and experiment with narrative and rhetoric, with shaping a story to move their readers to action and advocacy for a cause, such as climate change, voting rights, food insecurity, and racial equality, among other issues.
Students work in different forms and varied voices, including op-ed, social media campaigns, blog posts, letters to the editor, and more. Prospective fellows should submit their applications by September 30.
About Matthew King: as a student at UC Berkeley in the 1980s, Matthew King majored in two things — English and following the Grateful Dead. He began his professional career in the publishing industry, where he served as executive editor and vice president of the Hollywood Reporter for many years. After transitioning to the nonprofit sector, he led numerous advocacy campaigns as director of communications and marketing for the ocean protection group Heal the Bay. He now operates May77 Communications, where he has led statewide government campaigns to address food insecurity and sea level rise. His work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
Eligibility
UC Berkeley undergraduate students who are able to attend all five sessions of the workshop.
Grant Provision
This five-session workshop meets on selected Fridays in October and November 2024 (Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8) from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (with break). The October 11 and November 8 sessions will be in person and the other sessions will be over Zoom.
To see a schedule of the workshop, please view the Art of Advocacy Schedule .pdf below.
Deadline
September 30, 2024, 11:59 pm
Application Materials
The Art of Advocacy Schedule.pdf 31.17 KB
Complete your Art of Advocacy application on the Submittable website.
Please note that you will need to create a Submittable account to access the application. For technical assistance, please visit submittable.com/contact.
For inquiries about the workshop, please contact Jane Liaw at janeliaw@berkeley.edu.