Welcome to Vidhika Bansal‘s Interintellect Fellowship page!
Below you will find information about Vidhika’s thesis, why we are excited about it, and what it means for you. At the bottom, you will also find details about upcoming events Vidhika is hosting and work from her fellowship (writing, podcast episodes, and more).
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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!).
Vidhika’s Fellowship Event Schedule
| Date | Type | Title / Details |
| April 5th | Online | Townhall with Interintellect Fellow VIDHIKA BANSAL 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. |
| April 22nd | IRL/ Amsterdam | Amsterdam IRL Hangout ✨ Join Interintellect host and fellow Vidhika Bansal for a cozy, casual afternoon hangout while she’s visiting Amsterdam. Can’t wait to see you! 💛 |
| May 27th | Online | I’ll Be There For You: Exploring the Ingredients of Friendship Join Interintellect fellow Vidhika Bansal for the first in a series of salons about adult friendship. What are the ingredients of friendship? How can we choose our friends wisely? And what does being a “friend” mean, anyway? |
| July 22nd | Online | The Herculean — Or Is It? — Task of Making Friends as an Adult Join fellow Interintellect (and Interintellect fellow!) Vidhika Bansal in this salon exploring the joys, challenges, and how-tos of making friends as an adult. |
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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.