Short-Term Collections-Based Fellowships (ISM)

About this program

Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) offers one- to three-month residential, collections-based fellowships to support research on the aural, material, visual, ritual, and textual cultures of religion, with emphasis on sacred music, worship, and the arts using Yale’s non-circulating collections. Fellows gain access to special collections including the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, the Divinity Library special collections, the Yale Center for British Art, the Peabody Museum, and the Yale University Art Gallery; the Morris Steinert Collection of Musical Instruments is closed for renovation during the 2025 cycle, and ISM will not be accepting short-term fellowship applications in 2026. Eligibility is limited to scholars holding a Ph.D. or equivalent terminal degree and to doctoral candidates at the dissertation stage, who must base their projects on Yale’s non-circulating collections and work with relevant curators while in residence.