Scholarship and Mentorship Program

This summer, the Human Rights Campaign  and the Carpenter Program in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality at Vanderbilt Divinity School will co-host a week-long intensive seminar/workshop on LGBTQI issues and religion aimed at seminary students interested in working on these issues as activists and/or as academics.  Students whose seminaries do not offer particularly rich resources in this area of study are especially encouraged to apply; details available here. The Vanderbilt event is part of an HRC project to launch an annual seminary scholarship and mentorship program to nurture and promote promising religious scholars and theologians interested in LGBT studies.  Working in partnership with participating seminaries, schools of divinity and universities, HRC hopes to

build welcoming learning environments where intellectually and spiritually groundbreaking work at the intersections of religious studies, sexuality, gender identity and justice work can flourish.By bringing financial resources, scholarly networks and mentorship opportunities to the next generation of LGBTQ and allied scholars, this project will help a new generation of scholars of religion and theologians promote and develop how LGBT issues and religion are discussed in seminaries and schools of religion.  And, by extension, they will help recast the conversation about LGBT and religion in our congregations and communities.

The application deadline for the Summer Institute is March 31.The website also has information about a dissertation scholarship that "will provide support to doctoral students advancing research on LGBT issues in religious and theological studies.  It is intended to provide financial help, mentorship and a network of collegial support to students working at the final stages of their dissertation... Preference will be given to students who self identify as LGBTQ or gender non-conforming."