Duffy Fellows Program

Mission

The Duffy Fellows Program at Fordham University’s Center on Religion and Culture aims to provide support to a select group of Fordham students and recent graduates to advance the study of issues arising at the intersection of religion and public life. The Duffy Fellows Program will serve as an incubator of new projects, with the goal of stimulating ideas, research, and creative endeavors that foster a culture of encounter as well as intellectual engagement. Duffy Fellows will also work alongside the CRC staff at regular intervals. In this way, Duffy Fellows will contribute to the mission of the CRC and the mission of New York’s Jesuit University.

Eligibility

The Duffy Fellows Program is made possible by a bequest to the CRC by the late Jim Duffy. The Duffy Fellows Program is open to undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent graduates wanting to launch original research or creative projects. This award is not intended to supplement ongoing postgraduate research. The projects can be scholarly, journalistic, literary, or involve another aspect of the creative arts. Applicants can be from any faith tradition, or no particular tradition, but their work must advance the Jesuit mission of engagement with the world and it must contend with issues of culture and religion. Four (4) Duffy Fellows were accepted for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Responsibilities

Each Duffy Fellow will be required to provide a detailed proposal for their project with the aim of presenting their work in a lecture, exhibit, reading, or other suitable framework at the conclusion of their fellowship. Duffy Fellows should be self-starters who will contribute to the execution of CRC events throughout the year. They will be expected to provide content for the CRC’s blog, for example, and CRC programs could be used to inform their work as well as serving as a platform for it. Duffy Fellows will be expected to staff CRC’s events both on- and off-campus and to attend monthly in-person meetings with the program advisor.

Stipend

Each Duffy Fellow will receive stipends of up to $5,000 dollars for the duration of the program, which begins on July 1, 2024 and concludes on June 30, 2025. The stipend would be adjusted according to the scope of the project and contribution.

Applications

Each applicant must submit a resume, a brief research proposal (2-3 pages), and two (2) letters of reference. The proposal should include an explanation of how the candidate would contribute to the mission of the CRC and to the public conversation on religion and culture.

Application deadline is April 19, 2024. All awardees will be notified by May 3, 2024. Please submit applications to David Goodwin, Assistant Director of the Center on Religion and Culture, at [email protected].