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Life Worth Living is an initiative of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School.
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Invitation to join
Guide your students integrate the best of their intellectual energies with their most profound existential questions.
The Life Worth Living Network offers fellowships to encourage undergraduate education on enduring questions about the shape of flourishing life. We connect faculty and graduate students like you, who seek to design and facilitate courses that equip students for the lifelong process of discerning the good life. Together, we envision an educational landscape in which students and faculty learn alongside each other how to ask and respond to life’s biggest questions.
Fellowship benefits
Pedagogy retreat
Fellows have the chance to learn alongside other educators in our in-person, week-long pedagogy retreat. This interactive retreat will explore how you can teach in ways that help your students wrestle with and respond to life’s big questions.
Course Development workshops
Our virtual series of six weekly course development workshops provides fellows a chance to receive and share feedback with colleagues around the world who share a vision for teaching for transformation.
Funding
As intentional course (re-)design work takes time, fellows receive funding to empower thoughtful engagement in this work.
Community
Fellows become members of a diverse community of like-minded teachers who are eager to see students equipped to discern, articulate, and commend visions of lives worthy of our shared humanity.
Select Your Fellowship Pathway
Applications for the 2025 cohort will open soon.
Faculty Course Development Fellowship
Fellowship Description
From September 3 until December 2, 2024, the Life Worth Living Network will be accepting proposals to develop courses that equip undergraduates for the lifelong process of discerning the shape of flourishing life. These courses should be aligned with the “Life Worth Living Approach” (defined above through an articulation of key principles), enlivened by instructors’ passions, and attuned to their campus’s culture, curriculum, and needs.
Proposed courses may be adaptations of existing Life Worth Living courses at Yale University or other institutions; may make use of existing Life Worth Living readings (e.g., Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most); or they may break new ground in terms of course materials and structure.
Successful applicants will be supported in the design and implementation of their course through a course development fellowship exploring LWL pedagogical values. The fellowship kicks off with an in-person summer retreat of approximately one week followed by a virtual series of six weekly course development workshops. Travel costs for the in-person retreat are covered separately from the applicant’s fellowship stipend (see FAQs for summer intensive travel costs).
Maximum Honorarium: $15,000
Eligibility for honoraria is dependent upon successful completion of the following milestones:
- $1,500 upon receipt of post-summer retreat survey response
- $1,500 for participation in ongoing summer series of virtual course design workshops
- $3,000 upon October 1st submission of a revised course design based on feedback received through the virtual course design workshops
- $4,500 upon submission of a complete course proposal to your institution
- $4,500 upon submission of interim reports, surveys, and a final report.
Application Process
The deadline for consideration for the current cohort is December 2, 2024. The timeline is as follows:
Deadline for Application
December 2, 2024
For courses taught beginning
AY25-26 or AY26-27
Award decision
February 3, 2025
In-person pedagogy retreat
Summer 2025
(dates and location TBA)
Virtual course development workshops
July-August 2025
Syllabuses and corresponding materials due
October 1, 2025
The final fellowship competition will occur in fall 2024.
Fellow Roles and Responsibilities
Fellowship recipients will be expected to:
- Participate in a hybrid teaching workshop, including a one-week in-person pedagogy retreat (summer 2025) and a series of six weekly course development workshops;
- Develop a course to be taught at least twice at their institution;
- Contribute to the development and/or implementation of evaluation tools; and
- Submit a final report at project end.
Selection Criteria
As many as 18 proposals will be selected by the project team for participation in the 2025 cohort. Successful proposals will demonstrate:
- alignment with the “Life Worth Living Approach,” as described in the key principles above;
- attunement to the proposed campus’s culture, curriculum, and needs; and
- feasibility for successful implementation.
Additionally, priority will be given to proposals that help us foster a diverse network.
Successful proposals will be notified no later than February 3, 2025.
Graduate Pedagogy Fellowship
Fellowship Description
From September 3 until December 2, 2024, the Life Worth Living Network will be accepting applications from advanced doctoral students to participate in a hybrid teacher training and course design fellowship. Fellows will design syllabuses and corresponding lesson plans that equip undergraduates for the lifelong process of discerning the shape of flourishing life. These syllabuses should be aligned with the “Life Worth Living Approach” (defined above through an articulation of key principles), enlivened by future instructors’ passions, and attuned to their prospective campus’s culture, curriculum, and needs.
Proposed syllabuses may be adaptations of existing Life Worth Living courses at Yale University or other institutions; may make use of existing Life Worth Living readings (e.g., Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most); or they may break new ground in terms of course materials and structure.
Fellows will participate in a pedagogy fellowship exploring Life Worth Living pedagogical values. The fellowship kicks off with a summer workshop consisting of an in-person retreat of approximately one week followed by a six-week series of virtual course development workshops and a one-to-one meeting. Travel costs for the in-person retreat are covered.
Note: Yale doctoral students interested in the Life Worth Living Pedagogy Fellowship should reach out to Program Director Matt Croasmun (matthew.croasmun@yale.edu) for more information on what the fellowship looks like for Yale students.
Stipends: Up to $4,500
- $1,500 upon receipt of post-summer retreat survey response
- $1,500 for participation in ongoing summer series of virtual course design workshops
- $1,500 upon submission of required materials (syllabus, assignment prompts, unit lesson plans, etc.)
Application Process
The deadline for consideration for the current cohort is December 2, 2024. The timeline is as follows:
Deadline for applications
December 2, 2024
Award decision
February 3, 2025
In-person pedagogy retreat
Summer 2025
(dates and location TBA)
Virtual course development workshops
July-August 2025
Syllabuses and corresponding materials due
October 1, 2025
Fellow Roles and Responsibilities
Fellowship recipients will be expected to:
- Participate in a hybrid teaching workshop, including a one-week in-person retreat (summer 2025) and six weekly course development workshops during the summer;
- Participate in two one-to-one meetings tailored to your goals;
- Create a syllabus and corresponding materials that will be made available to the broader Life Worth Living network.
Selection Criteria
As many as 7 graduate student applications will be selected by the project team for participation in the 2025 cohort. Successful proposals will demonstrate:
- alignment with the “Life Worth Living Approach,” as described in the key principles above;
- evidence of preparedness for course design and development.
Additionally, priority will be given to applications that help us foster a diverse network.
Successful proposals will be notified no later than February 3, 2025.
2023 and 2024 fellowship cohorts
Apply for the fellowship program
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Help your students integrate the best of their intellectual energies with their most profound existential questions.
Supported by the John Templeton Foundation
Life Worth Living is made possible in part by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
Frequently asked questions
Who is running the program?
The Life Worth Living Network is administered through the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and is supported by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
What's the difference between the faculty course development fellowship and the graduate student pedagogy fellowship?
The Course Development Fellowship includes a commitment to teach the newly designed course at least twice and, therefore, also requires that applicants have the opportunity to propose and teach new courses at their institution. In contrast, the Pedagogy Fellowship supports graduate students in their pedagogical development. Graduate students will design but not necessarily teach new courses.
How similar to an existing Life Worth Living course could my proposed course be?
Your proposed course can be very similar to an existing LWL course at another institution, such as one of the three Yale courses: the flagship Life Worth Living course, Education and the Life Worth Living, and What Matters Most. We value learning from one another!
Will my travel, accommodations, and meals for the summer retreat be covered?
Most necessary travel expenses will be covered. More details on coverage will be provided as this year’s itinerary is finalized.
Could I request funding to support the redesign of an existing course?
Yes. Sometimes this is the best way to introduce a new approach into the curriculum.
Must I be a ladder-track professor at an institution of higher education?
No. Lecturers and post-docs, as well as tenured and tenure-track faculty, are all welcome to apply. What is required is that you have the opportunity to design and teach a new course or substantially redesign an existing course. Advanced graduate students are invited to apply for the Graduate Pedagogy Fellowship for teacher training and course design aligned with the Life Worth Living approach.
What if I am no longer a grad student?
Tenured and tenure-track faculty, as well as lecturers and post-docs, are all welcome to apply to the related Faculty Course Development Fellowship. Course development fellowship applicants must have the opportunity to design and teach a new course or substantially redesign an existing course.
What if I am a grad student at Yale?
Yale graduate students interested in the Life Worth Living Fellowship should reach out to Program Director Matt Croasmun (matthew.croasmun@yale.edu).
Who can I reach out to for more information?
Please reach out to lifeworthliving@yale.edu at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture.
Life Worth Living Network Partners
