New Opportunity: Hartford Seminary Peacemaking Fellows

Building on its expertise in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations and continuing the success of its breakthrough International Peacemaking Program, Hartford Seminary proudly announces a new scholarship opportunity: Hartford Seminary Peacemaking Fellows

This scholarship is a one-year, all-expenses-paid residential program of interfaith study and practice for young American Christian leaders seeking to work for peace among the religiously diverse communities of the United States.  Funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, these Fellowships will be awarded through a competitive application process to highly qualified and motivated applicants who are passionate about interfaith relations and peacemaking.

Scholarships include travel, housing, stipend, and full tuition.

The groundbreaking International Peacemaking Program was initiated in 2004, and has since brought more than 30 young leaders from countries where there is interreligious conflict for a year of study and peacemaking practice at Hartford Seminary.  Graduates of the IPP have returned home and are making a real difference in places like Nigeria, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan and India.  Through grants from private foundations, communities of faith, and individuals committed to peace, the Seminary offers up to four annual IPP scholarships to Christian, Muslims and Jews. The program attracts qualified, committed candidates from around the world.

This year, recognizing both the growing religious diversity and potential for conflict within the United States, and the need for Christian leadership in interfaith engagement in American cities, the Seminary launched, with the generous support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, an opportunity for American students to participate in the IPP.  Hartford Seminary Peacemaking Fellows are seminary students, denominational leaders, and NGO employees with a commitment to peaceful religious coexistence in the American context.

Participants in the International Peacemaking Program, along with Hartford Seminary Peacemaking Fellows, spend an academic year studying interfaith dialogue, conflict transformation, and leadership skills.  They live in intentionally interfaith housing on campus, spend time in local faith communities, and receive training in public speaking and engagement.

Upon completion of the required 18-credits (6 full courses), all scholarship recipients receive a Graduate Certificate in either Interfaith Dialogue or Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations.  Fellows additionally conceive and implement a leadership project as part of their program requirements.  These peacemaking programs are designed to be completed within one academic year of full-time study, and it is expected that upon completion, participants return home to put new skills and knowledge into practice.  The Seminary continues to provide support to and promotion of graduates’ peacemaking efforts after the experience concludes.

Here is a sampling of courses students might take during their year at the Seminary:

The following is a sampling of courses students might take during their year at the Seminary:

• Dialogue in a World of Difference
• Building Abrahamic Partnerships
• Religion, Conflict and Peacemaking
• Comparative Religious Ethics
• Global Ethics
• Introduction to World Religions
• Religion and Modernity: Christianity and Islam
• Interfaith Leadership Seminar

For more questions about IPP or becoming a Hartford Seminary Peacemaking Fellow, contact Jonathan Lee, IPP Coordinator at jlee@hartfordinternational.edu or (860) 509-9556.