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New institute will encourage research on role of religion in American life and history

The role of American religion in a rapidly changing world will be one of the major themes explored by scholars affiliated with the newly formed Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion, which has been established at Yale through a $2.2 million gift from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

A university-based research forum, the institute has a four-fold mission: to focus public, academic and ecclesiastical attention on the role of religion in American life and history; to encourage scholars to confront profound issues about the role of religion in national and global society; to address moral and spiritual concerns of leadership in national and international contexts; and to disseminate information to diverse communities of learning and of faith.

"The goal of the initiative is to bring together teams of scholars from different disciplines who will share insights with one another while pursuing individual research projects," says Harry S. Stout, the Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Christianity and the John B. Madden Master of Berkeley College, who is co-directing the new institute with Jon Butler, the William Robertson Coe Professor of American Studies and History, and professor of religious studies.

Nurturing new generation of scholars in religion. These teams will include one junior and two senior fellows, the first group of whom will be in residence at Yale during the 1999-2000 academic year. Beginning with the 2000-01 academic year, the institute will also award non-residential dissertation and postdoctoral fellowships to encourage the work of young scholars. "In a time when peer-reviewed fellowships for scholars, especially for younger scholars, is on the decline, support like that provided by the institute is essential," Butler points out. "Beside providing support for senior scholars, we see the institute as nurturing a new generation of scholars in religion."

Stout and Butler have already done much to encourage young scholars through another program they administer, The Pew Program in Religion and American History, a $3.2 million project also funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. "In some ways," Butler continues, "the new institute extends the work begun by The Pew Program in Religion and American History in 1993." The two scholars also oversee "The Works of Jonathan Edwards," a project funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, Lilly Endowment and The Henry Luce Foundation, and published by Yale University Press.

Religion, race and ethnicity. Each year, a different theme will be explored at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion. The first theme, which will be the focus of work undertaken in the 1999-2000 academic year, will be "American Religion, Race, and Ethnicity."

"The issue of race has been widely studied from social, political, economic, and cultural perspectives, but much less has been done on race and religion," says Stout. "In this program, scholars can look at the ways in which American religion, past and present, has integrated or segregated races, or, conversely, the ways in which racial or ethnic identity has contributed to the evolution of religious beliefs and practices."

The second year's theme will be "American Religion and Economic Policy."

"It is exciting to envision an integrated research community of Institute fellows, faculty, staff, and students working together in seminars, symposia, lectures, and scholarly presentations, all within the context of the broader Yale community," notes Divinity School Dean Richard Wood, a member of the institute's advisory board. "I look forward to being a part of this ambitious project."

Candidates for residential and non-residential fellowships are invited from all academic disciplines, so long as religion is a key component or variable of their research and their research is related to the theme of "Religion, Race, and Ethnicity." The application deadline for 1999-2000 residential fellowships is Dec. 1 of this year; the deadline for 2000-01 residential and non-residential fellowships is Nov. 1, 1999.

For more information, contact The Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion at Yale, Yale University,
P.O. Box 208298, New Haven, CT 06520-8298, or call 432-4040.