The next Religious Worlds of New York summer institute will meet from July 8 – 26, 2024, at Union Theological Seminary in the Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Applications will be available on this page in early November 2023, and will be due in early March 2024. Please click here to join the Interfaith Center of New York’s email list, and you’ll be the first to know when applications are available. This page includes detailed information about the application process and eligibility criteria for our 2022 institute, which will remain largely same in 2024.
Eligibility Criteria
NEH summer institutes are designed for a national audience of full- or part-time K-12 educators who teach in public, charter, independent, and religiously affiliated schools, or as home schooling educators. Project directors may also admit a limited number of educators who work outside the K-12 classroom, and who can demonstrate that their participation will advance project goals and enhance their professional work.
At least five institute spaces must be reserved for teachers who are new to the profession (those who have been teaching for five years or less).
Participants must be United States citizens, residents of U.S. jurisdictions, or foreign nationals who have been residing in the United States or its territories for at least the three years immediately preceding the application deadline. U.S. citizens teaching abroad at U.S. chartered institutions are also eligible to participate. Foreign nationals teaching abroad are not eligible to participate.
A participant need not have an advanced degree in order to take part in an NEH institute. Individuals may not apply to participate in an institute whose director is a family member, who is affiliated with the same institution, who has served as an academic advisor to the applicant, or who has led a previous NEH-funded Seminar, Institute or Landmarks program attended by the applicant. In any given year an individual may apply to a maximum of two NEH summer programs but may attend only one.
Participants may not be delinquent in the repayment of federal debt (e.g., taxes, student loans, child support payments, and delinquent payroll taxes for household or other employees). Individuals may not apply to participate in a seminar or institute if they have been debarred or suspended by any federal department or agency.
To be considered for selection, applicants must submit a complete application as defined below on this page. Click here to find these eligibility criteria on the NEH website.
In addition to these NEH eligibility criteria, COVID vaccination is required for all participants in the Religious Worlds institute, with the exception of those who have specific, documented medical conditions that preclude vaccination. The health and safety of our summer scholars and our fellow New Yorkers comes first. Click here for more details about our COVID safety policies.
Selection Criteria
The Religious Worlds institute is open to classroom teachers from public, private, and faith-based schools, as well as school leaders, librarians, other school-based educators, and a limited number of educators working in nonprofit organizations, libraries, or other settings. Applicants who are not classroom teachers should use their application essay to describe how their work in the institute will impact teaching and learning in their school and/or community.
The institute is open to all K-12 teachers, but our conversations will primarily be oriented towards middle- and high school curricula. Elementary school teachers who are interested in participating should use their application essay to explain how the institute’s focus on “lived religion” will contribute to their teaching on religious diversity.
We welcome applications from teachers who teach (or plan to teach) about religious diversity in a wide range of curricula, including stand-alone comparative religion courses, as well as courses in global studies, world history, American history, literature, philosophy, the arts, and other fields.
Teachers at faith-based schools in all traditions are more than welcome to apply, but the institute is designed to support the secular, academic study of religion, rather than courses focused on devotional practice or faith formation. For example, we would welcome an application from a Catholic school religion teacher who teaches (or plans to teach) a course on world religions or comparative social ethics, but a teacher who only teaches courses on Catholic theology or church history would not likely benefit from the Religious Worlds institute.
We welcome applications from teachers of all religious and secular backgrounds — you don’t need to be religious to apply! The institute is focused on the academic study of religion, not the religious or spiritual lives (if any) of our summer scholars.
Above all, we welcome applications from teachers who are willing to experiment with the lived religion pedagogies the institute will model. Applicants do not need any previous experience teaching about religion, but they must have future plans to do so, as well as an interest in enriching the conventional “world religions” curriculum through the study of contemporary religious life.
At least five of the twenty-five spaces in the institute will be reserved for teachers who have been teaching for five years or less. Past participants in NEH summer programs are eligible to apply, but first consideration will be given to applicants who have not previously attended an NEH seminar or institute. When choices must be made between equally qualified candidates, preference will be given to candidates who would enhance the diversity of our learning community.
Stipend and Conditions
All participants in the Religious Worlds institute (and other 3-week NEH summer programs) receive a stipend of $2,850 to help pay for their travel, housing, meals, and academic expenses for the duration of the institute. The stipend is considered taxable income. Click here for more details about these stipends, and the expectations that accompany them.
Participants are required to remain through the entire period of the institute and participate on a full-time basis. If special circumstances oblige a participant to depart before the end of the institute, or to miss a substantial portion of the program, they will receive a prorated share of the stipend, and may be required to return a prorated share of the stipend they have already received.
Upon successful completion of the Religious Worlds institute, participants will be eligible to receive three graduate credits from Union Theological Seminary (equivalent to a semester-length course). Summer scholars will need to pay UTS fees for these credits, and the NEH does not provide funding for these costs. Click here for more details about these credits.
During the school year following the institute, all participants will be eligible to apply for grants of up to $750 to support dissemination activities — sharing insights or information from the summer institute with their peers.
Principles of Civility
NEH summer programs are intended to extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the humanities by focusing on significant topics, texts, and issues; contribute to the intellectual vitality and professional development of participants; and foster a community of inquiry that provides models of excellence in scholarship and teaching.
NEH expects that project directors, faculty members, and participants will take responsibility for encouraging an ethos of openness and respect, upholding the basic norms of civil discourse. All institute presentations and discussions (including discussions in online forums) should be:
- firmly grounded in rigorous scholarship and thoughtful analysis
- conducted without partisan advocacy
- respectful of divergent views
- free of ad hominem commentary
- devoid of bias based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or other criteria of identity
Click here to find these principles of civility on the NEH website. NEH welcomes comments, concerns, or suggestions on these principles by email at questions@neh.gov.
These principles are particularly relevant to the Religious Worlds institute, as our work together will touch on politically charged questions about religious diversity, religious liberty, and the role of religion in public life. The institute director, faculty, and staff will work to create an environment for respectful discussion of these issues, and we expect our summer scholars to do the same.
Application Timeline and Materials
Applications to the Religious Worlds institute are due by 11:59 pm ET, on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Applicants will be notified of the admission committee’s decisions on Friday, March 25, 2022. If you are admitted, you will have until Friday, April 8, 2022 to accept or decline the offer of admission. Once an applicant has accepted an offer to attend any NEH summer program, they may not accept an additional offer or withdraw in order to accept a different offer.
Application materials should be submitted through this Google Form, with the exception of a reference letter which your referee must email to institute@interfaithcenter.org by the application deadline. Do not send your application to NEH — applications sent to NEH will not be reviewed. A complete application consists of the following four items:
- basic information about you and your teaching, provided on the Google Form
- a resume or curriculum vitae (not to exceed three pages) detailing your educational qualifications and professional experience
- an application essay, described in more detail below
- a confidential letter of reference, described in more detail below
Your resume and essay can be uploaded through the Google Form, or imported from Google Drive. Your reference letter must be emailed by your referee to maintain confidentiality. Applications without all four components will be considered incomplete, and will not be reviewed.
Application Essay
Your application essay should be no more than four double‑spaced pages. The essay should address:
- your reasons for applying to the Religious Worlds institute, including your interest in the subject of religious diversity, and its significance to your school and/or community
- your effectiveness and commitment as an educator, including any professional experience in diversity education, community-based education, or other areas relevant to the institute
- any special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would allow you to make a distinctive contribution to the institute’s learning community
- above all, evidence that participation in the institute will have a long-term impact on your teaching, including discussion of any specific courses or programs that will be enriched by your participation
Applicants do not need to have any previous experience teaching about religion, but they do need to have future plans to do so, as well as an interest in enriching the conventional “world religions” curriculum through the study of contemporary religious life. Your essay should demonstrate this potential for curricular innovation.
Reference Letter
One confidential letter of reference must be emailed by your referee to institute@interfaithcenter.org by the March 1 application deadline. If possible, this letter should be written by a senior colleague or administrator at your school or institution (eg, your department chair, principal, or supervisor). It should speak to your qualifications as an educator and scholar, as well as your school or institution’s support for your teaching on religious diversity.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
Programs supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. For further information, write to NEH Equal Opportunity Officer, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024. TDD: 202/606‑8282 (this is a special telephone device for the Deaf).