2026 Karel Fellowship Application

Watch this video of Ann Christiano and read the following text explaining what the field of public interest communications is to answer the final essay question.

“Public interest communications is an emerging field that uses strategic communications grounded in research and science to achieve sustained and positive social change in areas ranging from climate change and racial justice to health care access and housing policy. It borrows from its sister fields of public relations, advertising, journalism and marketing and is informed by sociology, psychology, neuroscience and political science. The issues to which public interest communications is applied transcend the interests of any single organization. The idea is to create lasting change by going beyond just raising awareness to motivating people to effect positive societal change.”– The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication

You may also read this article to provide you with more context of the field.