Dissertation Fellowships Program

Applicants must be candidates for the Ph.D. or Th.D. degree who have fulfilled all pre-dissertation requirements, including approval of the dissertation proposal, by February 1 of the award year and expect to complete the dissertation by the end of the following academic year. The Fellowships are intended to support the final year of dissertation writing.

Eligible proposals should promise a significant contribution to the study of American religion. Preference will be given to proposals that attempt: 1) to describe more fully how the Christian faith is actually lived by contemporary persons and to bring the resources of the Christian faith into closer relation to their daily lives 2) to help us understand more adequately the institutional reconfiguration of American religion, or 3) to explore the nature and challenge of pastoral leadership, with special attention to the conditions of contemporary Christian ministry in North America and the character of pastoral excellence. Proposals on certain other issues of importance to the churches are also welcome. Proposed projects may employ a variety of methodological perspectives, including, but not limited to, history, ethics, the social sciences, biblical studies, and historical, systematic, and practical theology. They may also be interdisciplinary in nature.