The Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities is happy to announce the fourth cohort of our newest initiative—The Lilly Faculty Fellows Program—for mid-career faculty leaders across the disciplines to engage the intersections of Christian thought and practice with the academic vocation. This initiative will:
- refresh and enliven a sense of calling for participants as people of faith, as teachers, and as scholars;
- provide a space for creative exploration of how Christian thought and practice intersect with the academic vocation;
- provide funds for Fellows to develop and pilot Faculty Fellow programs on their own campuses.
Although the Lilly Network has in the past emphasized faculty programs in humanities and the arts, this project especially seeks applicants from STEM, social sciences, and professional fields. We are looking for faculty interested in creative exploration, as well as a rich disciplinary and ecumenical mix of participants. The funded campus projects will be sites for creativity and experimentation that examine, cultivate, and enliven faculty engagement with Christian thought and practice as experienced on church-related campuses.
The Program
We will select up to 7 teams of two Fellows each, from different Network Schools. Each team will participate in a two-year program that includes four conferences in Indianapolis and Chicago. We will also provide start-up funds of $8,000 to each participating team to inaugurate a Lilly Faculty Fellows Program on its own campus. Individual Fellows also will be awarded a $4,000 honorarium for participation. Travel, meals, and lodging for all four conferences will be provided as well as all necessary books and materials. The schedule for the program is as follows:
- November 15, 2023 Applications Due
- February 15, 2024 Fellows Named
- June 24-27, 2024 Inaugural Conference
- October 18-20, 2024 Second Conference
- March 28-30, 2025 Third Conference
- Academic year 2025-2026 Pilot Faculty Fellow Programs on campuses
- June 22-24, 2026 Fourth Conference
Eligibility
- In general, applicants must demonstrate a desire for the Fellowship, creative engagement with the intersections of Christian and academic thought and practice, and established campus leadership.
- Applications are for teams of two mid-career faculty members.
- Applicants must be tenured (or have received the equivalent of tenure at their institutions, typically promotion) at a member school of the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities. Applicants must be teaching faculty.
- At least one member of the team must be in a STEM, social science, or professional field.
- Applicant teams must have approval from their chairs or preferably deans.
- Applicant teams must come from two different academic departments.
- Preference will be given to schools that did not participate in Cohorts 1-3 of the Faculty Fellows Program.
Before applying please click here to read FAQ on eligibility and the application process.
Click here to see descriptions of campus projects from past faculty fellows.
Applications for Cohort 4 are open through November 15, 2023. Click here to submit your application.
Application package must include:
2. Answers to the following questions, written by each applicant individually:
- What are your sources of interest in and motivation for entering the program?
- What is your experience in engaging Christian thought and practice with the academic vocation?
- What is your experience in informal or formal campus leadership? Please provide specific examples.
- Describe a project that you might be interested in leading on your campus, written together by the applicants in 200 words or less. If you envision your campus project being a collaboration or extension of any existing group/center/initiative on campus, please use an additional 200 words to describe this relationship.
3. CVs of applicants
4. Letter or letters of recommendation from Chair(s) or Dean(s) (one letter for the team or two separate letters, one for each team member).
