Funding Opportunities

Grants

Job Openings

 

LOUISVILLE INSTITUTE GRANT PROGRAMS 

History and Purpose

Founded in 1990, the Louisville Institute seeks to nurture inquiry and conversation regarding the character, problems, contributions, and prospects of the historic institutions and commitments of American Christianity. It does so by making grants to individuals and non-profit organizations and by convening selected groups for consultations on important and timely issues.

Research proposals should identify an important and fresh research problem that is significant for the churches and American Christians and should state clearly how the project will contribute to American religious life.  In addition to research grants, the Louisville Institute also makes grants to pastors, religious institutions, and others to support projects intended to contribute to the revitalization of American church life.

Mission

The mission of The Louisville Institute is to enrich the religious life of American Christians and to encourage the revitalization of their institutions, by bringing together those who lead religious institutions with those who study them, so that the work of each might inform and strengthen the work of the other.

Competitive Grant Programs

The Louisville Institute offers funding through six competitive grant programs that address different issues and support different groups of grantees.

Summer Stipends

Offers grants to academics and pastors engaged in summer research projects pertaining to American Christianity, especially those related to the priorities of the Louisville Institute.

Christian Faith and Life Grants

Supports research projects by academics and pastors designed to make more accessible to religious believers the themes of Christian faith in relation to the realities of their contemporary lives. Research periods may range from nine weeks to nine months.

Religious Institutions Grants

Supports research projects by academics and pastors designed to encourage reflection on the nature of and challenges to religious organizations and institutions in the contemporary world. Research periods may range from nine weeks to nine months.

Dissertation Fellowships

Supports the final year of Ph.D. or Th.D. dissertation writing for students engaged in research pertaining to American religion. Preference will be given to those proposals that address the current program priorities of the Louisville Institute.

First Book Grant Program for Minority Scholars

Assists junior, non-tenured religion scholars of color to complete a major research project on an issue in American Christianity related to the priorities of the Louisville Institute.

General Grant Program

The Louisville Institute also offers a modest general grant program that supports a limited number of individual and collaborative projects by academics, pastors, or other religious leaders on current program priorities of the Louisville Institute: Christian faith and life, religious institutions, and pastoral leadership. Such grants, for example, might enable a seminary professor to consult with a group of pastors about a research project or cover the costs of convening a research team exploring the nature of pastoral leadership today.

To receive further information about any of these programs, please contact The Louisville Institute at the address below.

The Louisville Institute
1044 Alta Vista Road   
Louisville KY 40205-1798
Telephone: (502) 992-5432
FAX: (502) 894-2286
E-mail: info@louisville-institute.org
Website: www.louisville-institute.org

Society of the Scientific Study of Religion Research Awards

Jack Shand Research Award:

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion offers an annual research awards competition, for which members are invited to apply. A generous bequest from Jack Shand, a long–term member of SSSR until his death in 2001, has made it possible for SSSR to offer Jack Shand Research Awards to support research in the social scientific study of religion. Each year the SSSR gives research grants in two categories, small and large. Applicants in either category must have finished the Ph.D. degree and must be members of the SSSR. In the case of co–authored requests, one author must be a member. Applicants may not submit proposals to both programs.

Visit the SSSR site for information about this and additional awards and grants

Association for the Sociology of Religion --
Joseph H. Fichter Research Awards

The Association for the Sociology of Religion www.sociologyofreligion.com will make available $23,000 this year for promising research on gender issues, women and religion, and feminist perspectives in the study of religion. Applicants must be members of the ASR at the time of application. Dissertation research is included within the purview of the award. Those who have recently earned the doctorate are especially encouraged to apply.

A proposal of not more than five double-spaced, typed pages should outline the rationale and plan of research. A detailed budget should be attached, as should a vita. Deadline: 1 March postmark.

Further information is available on the ASR Web site at http://www.sociologyofreligion.com/

The Lilly Endowment

The goals of the Lilly Endowment’s Religion division are to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians, primarily by helping to strengthen their churches; to support the recruitment and education of a new generation of talented ministers and other religious leaders; to encourage theological reflection and religious practices that recover the wisdom of the Christian tradition for our contemporary situation; to support scholars and educators who seek to help the American people to better understand contemporary religion and the role it plays in our public and personal lives; and to strengthen the contributions that religious ideas, practices, values and institutions make to the common good of our society. In all these ways, the Lilly Endowment Inc. seeks to support people and organizations striving to generate knowledge, communicate insights, nurture practices, and renew and sustain institutions that provide the religious resources upon which a flourishing and humane society depends.

For further information: http://www.lillyendowment.org/guidelines.html.

The Lake Institute on Faith & Giving

The Lake Institute on Faith & Giving, is offering its first Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship in the area of religion and philanthropy. This is a one year dissertation fellowship intended to encourage research in the area of faith and giving or religion and philanthropy.

See the following link for more information and the application procedures: http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/LakeFamilyInstitute

Engaged Scholars Studying Congregations
A Program of Mentoring, Networking, and Research Support
Supported by the Lilly Endowment, Inc.

For thirty years, the Congregational Studies Project Team has led the way in inviting scholars to engage in serious, rigorous research on congregational life and encouraging religious leaders to draw on academic research to enrich their ability to provide effective leadership to local religious communities. During the next two years, the Team invites younger scholars and religious leaders, from any discipline, whose focus is on the practices of local communities of faith, to enter into a program of research and networking. Participants can enhance their ability to do excellent research that will also provide the wisdom with which gatherings of faithful people and their leaders can see more clearly and act more faithfully. In particular, participants will have the opportunity to:

• Hone research skills that allow them to take the life of faith communities seriously;
• Build a network of interlocutors and mentors who can read and evaluate their work;
• Build a cohort of colleagues who can encourage and stimulate each other in advancing understanding of how engaged scholarship works best; and
• Gain support for significant research and writing and the time to do it.

Since the summer of 2005, the first five cohorts of three "fellows" each year were selected by and interacted with the Team. A "coach" a senior scholar in the person’s field, either from the Team or beyond—worked with each fellow, especially in developing a network of conversation partners and sharpening the research. The project now entertains proposals for the sixth cohort of fellows who will gather with their coaches during two successive summer Team meetings and one fall conference, thereby allowing both a deep conversation about their work and an extension of their networks across overlapping cohorts of fellows, coaches, and clergy and religious leaders.

This round of fellowships will run from 1 June 2011 through 31 December 2012. Fellows will receive research stipends of $9,000 for each of the two summers, plus consultation travel funding of $2,000 during the fellowship period to enhance networking capacity, such as visiting the assigned coach or consulting with another fitting conversation partner. In addition, all expenses associated with the two summer Team meetings and fall conference will be covered.

Who should apply? Relatively new (generally pre-tenure) faculty members in theological schools, colleges, and universities are urged to apply. Likewise, leaders working in religious organizations are welcome to take advantage of this opportunity to enhance their work. In addition, more established scholars who are ―re-tooling‖ to do significantly new kinds of work may also wish to apply.

What sorts of questions do we hope might be addressed? Any topic touching on the practices of congregational life is welcome. Such topics might include:
 What is the role of local faith communities in confronting a world (or a community) in distress? How can they see their task more clearly?
 How do congregations engage with and creatively reinterpret historic religious traditions? What impact does this have on members’ lives?
 How can we understand the basic ritual practices that bind a community together and direct their attention toward God?
 How do sermons shape (or fail to shape) the life of a congregation?
 How do congregations influence everyday decision-making?
 How do faith communities form their children in a faith tradition?

What is expected of fellows? By the end of the fellowship period, each fellow will have completed an article-length publishable piece that is either itself aimed at religious leaders or for which there is a clear plan for a secondary adaptation. Each fellow will also work specifically with his or her coach to address both the academic and practical challenges of engaged scholarship and to enlarge the fellow’s network of interlocutors.

During the fellowship period, attendance by fellows is mandatory at two meetings and may be requested for a third. (a) At the summer meeting of the first fellowship year, each participant will present a summary of her or his research plans. (b) At the summer meeting of the second fellowship year (date to be determined), fellows will present drafts of the written products of their research. They will also contribute a brief essay on the particular challenges of doing engaged scholarship of the type they have undertaken. These essays will focus a variety of conversations about how this kind of work can continue to be encouraged and supported. (c) During the fall of 2011, fellows may also be involved in a conference of scholars, clergy, religious leaders, and others. This conference seeks to expand the network of people concerned about engaged scholarship in congregations.

What is the application process? Complete applications for the 2011-2012 cohort of fellows are due no later than 1 February 2011. To be considered complete, applications must include the following four materials:
(1) A brief essay (not more than five double-spaced pages) detailing the particular research and writing you wish to undertake and the way that research will grow out of and affect local communities of faith.
(2) A budget outlining expected uses for the $18,000 research stipend. This may either be direct research expenses, summer salary replacement(s), and/or other materials or activities that will enhance the goals of your work.
(3) A copy of your curriculum vitae.
(4) The names and contact information for two persons you have asked to write letters of support. One of these should be from someone such as a dean or department chair who can express the endorsement of your institution for your participation in this program. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that these letters themselves are sent directly by your recommenders to the project assistant by the deadline.

Send materials to engagedscholars@hartsem.edu. With the exception of letters of support, electronic submission using e-mail attachment is the only accepted form of submission. Letters of support only should be mailed by recommenders directly to the project assistant:
Christy Lohr
385 York Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Attn: Engaged Scholars

Awards will be announced no later than 1 April 2011.

The Congregational Studies Team includes: Nancy Ammerman (Boston University), Larry Mamiya (Vassar College), Bill McKinney (Pacific School of Religion), Omar McRoberts (University of Chicago), James Nieman (Hartford Seminary) Robert Schreiter (Catholic Theological Union), Stephen Warner (University of Illinois, Chicago), and Jack Wertheimer (Jewish Theological Seminary).

Job Openings, Positions, and Fellowships

Executive Director

The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) seeks qualified applicants for the position of Executive Director. CARA is a national, non-profit, Georgetown University affiliated research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. Applicants should have a doctorate or equivalent in the social sciences or a related field; experience in conducting or utilizing research; demonstrated ability in administration, organization, and advancement. Knowledge of the Catholic Church and its structures is required. Additional information at http://cara.georgetown.edu.

Applicants should submit a letter of introduction and resume by September 1, 2010 to: Sr. Sharon Euart, RSM, Search Committee, CARA, 2300 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20007 or to Bishop Gerald Kicanas at bishop@diocesetucson.org with "Attention CARA resume" on subject line.