The Yale Institute of Sacred Music seeks a group of Fellows from around the world to join its community of scholars and practitioners for one year. Scholars, religious leaders, or artists whose work is in or is turning toward the fields of sacred music, liturgical/ritual studies, or religion and the arts are invited to apply.
Scholars in the humanities or in the social or natural sciences whose work is directly related to these areas are also encouraged to apply.
Fellows will have the opportunity to pursue their scholarly or artistic projects within a vibrant, interdisciplinary community.
Target Group
The quality, significance, and focus of the work fellows propose to do during the residency are of paramount importance in the selection process. Each fellow will undertake a substantive and original project that relates to the mission of the Institute. This could be original scholarship, an art exhibition, a musical composition, or work of creative writing, etc.
The Institute especially seeks fellows whose accomplishments have already established them in their field, although applications will be accepted from scholars and practitioners at all career levels. For those at academic institutions, tenure is a desired qualification. An applicant should typically hold the terminal degree in her or his field, although exceptions to this rule may be made in some artistic disciplines. The work applicants propose to pursue must support the mission of the Institute; fellows are expected to work primarily on this project during their year in residence.
Duration
The fellowship year lasts from September 1 to May 15.
Scholarship Value
Fellowships are typically half of the fellow’s regular annual salary up to $60,000 per year. Stipends are paid directly to the fellows in regular monthly installments and are not paid directly to the fellow’s institutions. Fellows may apply for research funds, and the Institute will reimburse relocation expenses for fellows and their families up to a sum of $5,000. In rare cases (e.g., in the case of international or independent scholars or artists) Yale may provide health benefits.
Application
The application requires:
- Personal data (including education and professional work).
- Curriculum-vita, not to exceed 10 pages in length.
- A statement of not more than 1400 words describing the proposed scholarly or creative project intended for the year. The body of the proposal should describe the project, explain the significance of the topic, and place the work within the context of relevant disciplines. This project must relate to the mission of the Institute. The proposal should describe in detail the relationship to the mission, and explain how a year’s residence at the Institute would enhance this work. A brief bibliography should be included when appropriate.
- A 150-word abstract of the proposal.
- A sample of scholarly or artistic work. Scholars should submit no more than 30 pages of published writings. Religious leaders and artists should submit a roughly equivalent example of their creative work (for example, sermons, liturgies, artwork, plays, compositions, etc.).
- For those who wish to teach, please include a brief description of one to three courses and the departments or schools in which these courses might be taught as well as a course title, weekly lecture topics, and short reading list. Additional information may be required of fellows after they have been invited to come.
- Three letters of reference from qualified leaders in the applicant’s field. Letters should include an evaluation of the applicant’s research proposal and his or her capacity to fulfill it. The online application requires a list of the names, positions, and contact information of recommenders who will be asked to submit their letters online. If a recommender has no access to email, the applicant should notify us at ismfellows [at] yale.edu (please replace [at] with @).
Application deadline for receipt of all materials is 20 September 2010.
