About Us

Mission Statement

The Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts seeks to renew and enhance the connections between Christianity and the academic vocation at church-related colleges and universities.


The Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, based in Christ College, the interdisciplinary honors college of Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, seeks to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning in the twenty-first century. 

The Program sustains three distinct yet integrated initiatives.

The first is a collaborative National Network of Church-Related colleges and universities that sponsors a variety of activities and publications designed to explore the Christian character of the academic vocation and to strengthen the religious nature of church related institutions.

The second is the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program, which supports, during their first three years of graduate school, young men and women of exceptional academic talent who are exploring vocations in church-related higher education.

The third is a residential, two-year Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows Program at Valparaiso University for young scholars who wish to renew their sense of vocation within a Christian community of learning in order to prepare themselves for positions of teaching and leadership within church-related institutions.

Together these programs bring focus, clarity, and energy to a critical aspect of a much larger project: the imaginative reformulation and implementation of an agenda for church-related higher learning in the twenty-first century.

The Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts is funded by Valparaiso University, the LFP National Network of church-related colleges and universities, and a grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., an Indianapolis-based private philanthropic foundation.


Program Purposes

      
  • Identify and publicize highly qualified scholars who seek to explore their academic vocations in church-related contexts.
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  • Nurture intellectual and spiritual virtues in young scholars at the graduate and post-doctoral level as they prepare for teaching careers in church-related institutions.
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  • Prepare academic leaders to serve in institutions with a strong sense of Christian identity and mission.
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  • Generate a national discussion about the relationship between Christianity and the academic vocation.
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  • Encourage and support research and publication about various aspects of faith and learning, the Christian vocation of teaching, and church-related higher education.
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  • Sustain a network of church-related colleges and universities interested in exploring these issues.
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  • Fund seminars, conferences, and various programs on network campuses that directly benefit members of network institutions.

 

For a Downloadable Brochure about the Lilly Fellows Program, Click Here

Noteworthy News

November Lilly Network Update

The Current Lilly Network Update for November 2023 is now available. Click here.


Announcing the winner of the 2023 Lilly Network Book Award

The Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities is pleased to announce Willie James Jennings' After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging as its 2023 Book Award Winner. For more information and to see a complete list of finalists, click here.


Call for applications for the 2024-2026 Cohort of the Lilly Faculty Fellows Program

Applications for the 2024-2026 Cohort of the Lilly Faculty Fellows Program for mid-career faculty are due November 15. For more information and to apply, click here.


Lilly Network of Church- Related Colleges and Universities

If you are interested in learning more about membership in the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities, please contact us here.


New edition of Leading Lives that Matter released

In their second edition of Leading Lives That Matter, editors Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass compile a wide range of texts—from ancient and contemporary literature, social commentary, and philosophy—related to questions of vital interest for those who are trying to decide what to do with their lives and what kind of human beings they hope to become. Leading Lives that Matter has been an important text in many of our fellowship and grant programs, and it contains excellent resources. Click here for more information and an excerpt.