Candidates selected for the Harlan Intern Program will work closely with our Board of Directors to help develop our two major initiatives, FantasySCOTUS.org and YourConstitution.net.
Please send a resume and a writing sample to [email protected]. If your application is selected, you will receive a brief telephone interview.
Candidate Qualifications:
The Institute is looking for candidates with an interest in the Supreme Court, the constitution, and most importantly, in liberty. Entrepreneurial spirits and out-of-the-box thinkers are ideal candidates. While our operations are headquartered in Washington, D.C., a big part of our mission is reaching out to educators across the country, so we encourage people from outside of the Washington, D.C. area to apply. As for qualifications, the Institute is looking for candidates with a variety of skills and backgrounds:
- Legal, Political Science, & Government- The Institute is looking for candidates with an interest in constitutional law, who keep abreast of current Supreme Court cases, and can explain cases in plain English
- Technology- All of the Institute’s lesson plans are driven by technology. Candidates with a background in web development (HTML, PHP, MySQL), graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator), and a good grasp of Web 2.0 (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.) are in demand.
- Education- An important component of the Institute’s initiatives is teaching, primarily high school students. Candidates with a background in education, and those with teaching experience, are in demand
- Business- The Harlan Institute needs skilled candidates who can plan, market, and raise funds for this exciting new product to a national audience. A background in marketing, advertising, or finance can help shape the roll-out of the Institute’s products.
Responsibilities:
FantasySCOTUS.org:
- Research cert grants and cases pending before the Supreme Court for the 2010 October Term
- Summarize the cases and questions presented in plain English
- Reduce the case to one or two primary issue
- Gather all relevant precedents, statutes, and other resources
- Prepare lesson plans for teachers to use to teach case
- Formulate blog posts for each class, and scoring rubric
- Investigate Justices’ voting histories on that topic to allow students to make informed predictions
- Work on developing the league and setup for the September school year
- Integrate site with YourConstitution.net
- Develop weekly SCOTUS trivia tidbits
- Prepare other related research projects for students
- Promote and market FantasySCOTUS.org
- Develop grassroots network of teachers nationwide (e-mail, message boards, direct mail if needed)
- Reach out to home-schooling market
- Research different advertising opportunities and ways to get in classroom
- Fundraise and help develop donors for FantasySCOTUS.org and the Harlan Institute
YourConstitution.net:
- Utilize the Library of Congress and other D.C. Libraries to locate photographs and other materials dealing with the people behind famous constitutional Supreme Court cases
- Research famous Supreme Court cases, summarize them in plain English, focusing on the human element of the cases
- Obtain photographs for each of the cases
- Manage the YourConstitution.net ConWiki
- Reach out to famous constitutional litigants, through phone, e-mail, and direct mail, and schedule interviews with the Institute
- Manage copyright issues and ownership of photographs
- Communicate with historical societies, records halls, and other organizations that may have photographs
- Assist with Harlan Institute publication, Constitutional Places, Constitutional Faces
- Promote and market YourConstitution.net in various educational markets as a resource for students to learn