Overview
Request for Proposals for Community Stories Fellows
The Crossroads Project at Princeton University’s Center for Culture, Society, and Religion, with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, invites proposals for its Crossroads Fellows Program from from individuals connected to sites and groups such as community centers, museums, libraries, spiritual communities, religious congregations, civic and activist organizations, as well as scholars (independent scholars, graduate students, and holders of Ph.D.s employed in academic and non-academic contexts) for grants for projects related to Black religious histories, communities, and cultures. Fellows’ projects will be presented on SPIRIT HOUSE, the Crossroads Project's companion website.
The Crossroads Project engages the diversity of Black religious history and cultures, past and present, and highlights stories not featured in traditional accounts of African American Religious history. The project engages a geography beyond the US, recognizing the historical and contemporary impact of African American religious connections to Africa and the Americas and the influence of immigration from the Caribbean and Africa on religious life in the United States.
Funded projects are featured on the companion website and provide tools for students, scholars, and interested publics to explore this rich story. The cohort of grantees will have the opportunity to be in conversation with one another and are expected to participate in several virtual meetings with the Crossroads Project team over the course of the grant as they develop their projects.
With grants up to $10,000, Community Stories Fellows will contribute interpretive material about Black religious history and cultures from their grounding in community. Such projects could take many forms tied closely to the particular context, such as a narrative portrait of a spiritual community, congregational, or activist organization, or engage thematic concerns, such as local religious responses to COVID-19, Africana religions and politics, or women’s religious leadership. The project might also serve to connect scholars to religious communities interested in preserving their archives or producing community histories. These projects may have components that serve the local community, as in developing a museum exhibit, but they must also include components that will be housed on SPIRIT HOUSE.
The Crossroads Project anticipates making two to three awards to Community Stories Fellows in the 2024-2025 funding cycle.
Deadline: December 9, 2024
Eligibility and Guidelines
- Individuals connected to sites and groups such as community centers, museums, libraries, spiritual communities, religious congregations, civic and activist organizations, as well as scholars (independent scholars, graduate students, and holders of Ph.D.s employed in academic and non-academic contexts) are invited to apply.
- Community Stories Fellows may apply for up to $10,000 for projects completed within 12 months from the time of the award.
- Applicants may submit proposals for projects that are already underway or that are part of larger projects, but they must be able to be presented in some form on SPIRIT HOUSE.
- These grants will be made as stipends paid to fellows as individuals in two installments over the 12-month grant period. We are not able to make payments to institutions.
Application Requirements
- Three-page proposal narrative with timeline for completion within 12 months of the award. Proposals may be single-spaced or double-spaced, and should use a font no smaller than 12-point.
- CV or resume.
- One-page budget with brief narrative.
- An ethics plan for projects that depend on community engagement, including plans for a formal community agreement or Institutional Review Board approval.
- For graduate students, one letter of recommendation from their faculty advisor.
- Deadline: December 9, 2024
Criteria
Proposals should:
- Address some aspect of the study of Black religious histories, communities, and cultures.
- Contain a clear and feasible timeline for completion of the project within twelve months from the time of the award.
- Contain a clear budget justification.
- Indicate how the project might be presented on SPIRIT HOUSE.
Application Process and Timeline
- All materials must be received through the online application form by 11:59pm EST on December 9, 2024.
- Graduate students should have their faculty advisor send a letter of recommendation directly to [email protected] with the subject line: Recommendation for Your Name.
- Award notifications will be made by February 10, 2025.
- Please direct any questions about the application process to [email protected].
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, July 1829, Drawn on Stone by W.L. Breton.
Image courtesy The Library Company of Philadelphia