Friendship and Unschooling: New Winners Receive Our Fellowship Award
Our new Interintellect Fellows are Vidhika and Zelda!
Two exceptional Interintellect hosts have been awarded the final two Public Minds microgrants of 2023.
In our new six-month program supporting our hosts and members to research, travel, and take a work break, Vidhika will focus on the art of friendship and Zelda will be investigating what the school of the future looks like.
Big congratulations to this stellar duo!
Zelda Poem and Vidhika Bansal
We're honored to be supporting these fabulous hosts as they develop their projects and host innovative discussions for our community. Check out the projects they’ll be leading below:
1. Vidhika Bansal - The Art of Friendship
Vidhika's Thesis: Vidhika believes that friendship is a beautiful thing: precious but not rare, optional but not replaceable. She sees it as an ideal container for witnessing and being witnessed, understanding and being understood, confessing our joys along with our sorrows, metabolizing feelings together, and genuinely connecting with other humans. She’s convinced that with practice and intention, we can all get better at inviting more of this powerful source of belonging and meaning into our lives.
Why We Think It's Great: Flourishing in human connection is one of the central pillars of the Interintellect mission. Vidhika seeks to explore the concept of friendship — a crucial aspect of human connection — on a deeper level, tackling the topic from both an intellectual and experiential perspective. Through candid conversations on building and strengthening relationships, Vidhika hopes that together we can hone our craft of cultivating connection and, in turn, lead happier, healthier, more fulfilled lives.
What This Means For YOU: Vidhika will host a series of salons centered around topics like: making friends as an adult, how to discern who is “for you” (and who is not), the art of maintaining and deepening friendships, and how to heal from friendships ending. She’ll also invite you to participate in some hands-on exercises to keep building your friendship muscle (stay tuned for more details!).
2. Zelda Poem - The School of the Future
Zelda’s Thesis: Zelda wants to make singular educational paths mainstream. She will use the Public Minds grant to develop content in various mediums and speak on the richness and variety of creating your own learning journey.
Why We Think It’s Great: The Interintellect community is filled with people seeking to enrich and reflect on their learning journey. We believe that the combination of Zelda's forthcoming content coupled with her IRL salon conversations will be a valuable means of providing inspiration for fellow Interintellects who question the way we should educate ourselves and the next generation.
What This Means for YOU: Zelda will host an online salon on “Discovering Your Potential by Crafting ‘Tomorrow’s School,’” a workshop event where she will use artwork to inspire you to start working on the big challenges of the 21st century. In addition, Zelda will hold IRL gatherings in cities around the world (USA, Mexico, and Europe), opening conversations on education with Interintellect members in person.
Stay tuned for updates on these incredible thinkers and creators as they make an impact both on the Interintellect platform and in their own communities and lives.
Congratulations!
— The Interintellect Team
The Interintellect Fellowship highlights up to five stand-out Interintellect members annually, awarding them a $1,000 grant to support six months of a focused project, both on and off the Interintellect platform. Our aim is to further empower the curious minds of the world and Interintellect community who are passionate about teaching the public about arts and ideas.
Want to learn more about the other Fellows and join their salons? Check out their projects on our site:
Bryan Kam:
Mary Bajorek:
Linus Lu:
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What is the Interintellect Fellowship? Interintellect has launched a microgrant program for 2022-2023. Between October 24, 2022 and February 24, 2023, we will be awarding $5,000 to up to 5 Interintellect members, who will become Interintellect Fellows for 6 months each.
What does being an Interintellect Fellow entail? During the 6 months of the Interintellect Fellowship, we expect Fellows to demonstrate progress in their artistic/intellectual practice. Whether your main focus is your book, newsletter, YouTube channel, performances, exhibitions, or academic work, we'd like to hear from you regularly!
The Fellows will get a dedicated channel in the Interintellect Discord where they can keep the community updated on their work and events. We will also host one or two showcase events for Fellows to present their work to the community, and we'll regularly share their achievements in the Interintellect Newsletter to ensure their ideas and talent reach as many people as possible.
During each 6 month Fellowship, the grantees will also stay in dialogue with their growing public via hosting monthly Interintellect events: 4 x public online salons, and 2 x members only online events or IRL meetups, each. (Our Fellows will earn income after their ticket sales, as in the case of any regular salon hosted on our platform, whenever they host public online events. See the Interintellect Knowledgebase for more details.)
How can I follow the Interintellect Fellowship winners? You can follow their progress by signing up for Interintellect’s Substack, Newsletter, Twitter, and keeping an eye on our blog.
Excited and grateful to be part of this fellowship!