Fellowship Description

From October 5 until December 18, 2026, 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 for the Life Worth Living Good Life Course Development Fellowship 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 retreat travel costs).

To help create a “professionally intergenerational” fellowship, a small number of proposals from advanced doctoral students will be accepted. For these proposals, while feasibility to offer the course is a strength, it is not strictly required. Rich proposals that function instead primarily as professional development for the student will be considered.

Note: Yale doctoral students interested in the Good Life Course Development Fellowship should reach out to the Life Worth Living Program (lifeworthliving@yale.edu) for more information on what the fellowship looks like for Yale students.

Good Life Fellowships are contingent on the receipt of additional grant funding which we hope to receive by late October.

Join us for a 2027 Life Worth Living Fellowship info session on Zoom:

• Tuesday, November 10 at 3:00pm ET—Register here
• Friday, November 13 at 9:00am ET—Register here

Maximum Honorarium: $3,000

Eligibility for honoraria is dependent upon successful completion of the following milestones:

• $1,000 upon receipt of post-summer retreat survey response
• $1,000 for participation in ongoing summer series of virtual course design workshops
• $1,000 upon October 1st submission of a revised course design based on feedback received through the virtual course design workshops

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Eligibility

• Anyone able to offer new or redesigned courses at an institution of higher education is eligible to apply, regardless of academic rank. (That said, the feasibility of offering the (re)designed course on an ongoing basis will strengthen the proposal.)

• Additionally, advanced doctoral students regardless of feasibility to offer the (re)designed course (though again, in the case of doctoral students, opportunity to teach the (re)designed course will strengthen the proposal).

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Fellow Roles and Responsibilities

Fellowship recipients will be expected to:

• Participate in a one-week in-person pedagogy retreat (June 2027);
• Participate and contribute to a series of six weekly course development workshops;
• Develop a course to be taught at least twice at their institution (there is some flexibility for graduate students designing courses without guarantee of being able to offer the course twice)

Selection Criteria

As many as 20 proposals will be selected by the project team for participation in the 2027 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.

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In the case of graduate student applicants, the first criteria will carry the most weight.

Additionally, priority will be given to proposals that help us foster a diverse network.

Successful proposals will be notified no later than February 12, 2027.