Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) Fellowship: Short-Term Fellows Grant

The Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) Fellowship offers short-term opportunities for scholars and artists to engage with Yale's rich collections. This fellowship, lasting one to three months, enables fellows to research various aspects of religious thought and practice. It promotes interdisciplinary collaboration across fields such as anthropology, musicology, and theology. Ideal for doctoral students or scholars with terminal degrees, the fellowship supports projects that align with the ISM's mission of fostering the arts in human flourishing.

Yale Institute of Sacred Music
The Yale Institute of Sacred Music was founded in 1973 by a grant from the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Foundation of Columbus, Indiana. As the successor to the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary in New York City  resituated in one of the world’s great research universities, the ISM has grown from a faculty of three and student body of ten to a vibrant community of well over 100 students, faculty, fellows, and staff.
In partnership with the Yale School of Music, Yale Divinity School, and other academic units at Yale, the Institute and its renowned faculty offer students unparalleled opportunities for in-depth study and interdisciplinary engagement. Students pursuing music degrees receive rigorous conservatory training in choral conducting, organ, or voice. Students in divinity programs study worship, music, literature, and the visual arts in the context of a broad-based, robust theological education. All students create connections between their chosen fields and explore the role of the arts in human flourishing.
ISM fellowships are granted to scholars and artists whose work relates to the mission of the Institute. Relocating to New Haven for one or two academic terms, they are integrated into Institute and university life through teaching and sharing their work.
Short-term fellows are in residence at Yale for a period of one to three months throughout the course of the academic year and summer months to research the aural, material, visual, ritual, and textual features of religious thought and practice. These fellowships are restricted to projects that intend to work in Yale’s non-circulating collections.
Research Areas
The Interdisciplinary research projects that long- and short-term fellows pursue touch a broad array of disciplines, including:
AnthropologyAfrican American Studies Area Studies Art Architecture Composition Creative Writing Ethnomusicology Film Studies History of Art or Architecture Latinx Studies Literature Liturgical StudiesMusicology Native American and Indigenous Studies Religious Studies Ritual Studies Sociology Theatre StudiesTheology

Eligibility

Applications are accepted from doctoral students who are at the stage of dissertation research and for scholars who hold the Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree. Awards are granted for a consecutive one- to three-month period during the academic year or when the relevant collections are open for research.