Short-Term Collections-Based Fellowships

Manuscript detail

Each year the short-term fellows’ program enables scholars to engage in research in non-circulating collections at Yale that focus on the aural, material, visual, ritual, and textual cultures of religions. Fellows may be senior scholars or Ph.D. students working on interdisciplinary projects in sacred music, worship, and the arts. Spanning virtually every age and region of the world, Yale’s collections are among the deepest and widest ranging of any university. They form an integral part of Yale’s mission of teaching and research and are accessible to students, scholars, and the public.

Fellowship Details

Short-term fellowships are available for doctoral students at the dissertation stage, and for scholars who hold the Ph.D or an equivalent terminal degree. These one to three month residential fellowships are restricted to work in Yale’s non-circulating collections, notably at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the special collections of the Divinity Library, the Yale Center for British Art, the Yale Peabody Museum, and the Yale University Art Gallery. The Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments is currently closed for renovations so we are not accepting applications for this collection during the current 2025 cycle. The ISM connects Fellows with relevant curators and collections to conduct their work. Fellows are encouraged to involve themselves in the life of the university while at Yale.

Learn more

Applicants for a short-term fellowship must hold a terminal degree in their field or be in the final stage of dissertation research and writing. The ISM covers the costs of round-trip travel (economy class) from the candidate’s home to New Haven and pays an honorarium for living expenses of $4,500 per month for doctoral candidates (ABD), or $5,500 per month for any scholar holding the doctorate. Fellows are responsible for locating and initially funding their own housing.

Researchers must free themselves of most other work during the fellowship period (including not holding other fellowships simultaneously) and are expected to reside in the vicinity of Yale. Yale faculty, staff, and students are not eligible for these fellowships.  The fellowship period must occur in consecutive months, and only one application per candidate is allowed in a given academic year. Please note that attendance will be monitored and grants will be adjusted to reflect shortened fellowship periods. Only J-1 visas will be granted to fellows requiring immigration assistance to undertake research.

Projects are reviewed by a faculty committee and by the appropriate curator(s). They are judged on the significance to their field, the fit with the ISM’s mission, and the capacity of the collections to support their work.

Applicants for all collections must submit the following:

  • Personal data (including education and professional work).
  • Curriculum-vitae: not to exceed ten pages in length.
  • Project Proposal: A statement of no more than 1200 words describing your proposed scholarly or creative project. 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 should relate to the interdisciplinary mission of the Institute, and explain how the fellowship would enhance this work. A brief bibliography should be included when appropriate.
  • Project Abstract: A 250-word abstract of the proposal.
  • Research List: A detailed list of specific non-circulating items in Yale collections that you wish to research. Please include the name of the Yale collection, any sub-collection or curatorial area that the materials might be catalogued under, and a list of specific items with library call numbers and URL links for each item.
  • Sample of scholarly work: Scholars should submit no more than thirty pages of published writings. Graduate Students must submit an approved dissertation prospectus or proposal. 
  • Letters of reference: Three letters of reference from qualified leaders in the applicant’s field. These should include an evaluation of the applicant’s research proposal and the applicant’s 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@yale.edu.

To look for specific non-circulating items, please consult Yale’s Lux  database or Archives at Yale.

Further inquiries about specific collections can be directed as follows: