Tikvah Academic Fellowship

Tikvah has long recognized the shortcomings of leading American universities. We have spent years building educational programs to offset ideological distortion and to supplement the limited quality of educational offerings that even the most prestigious campuses offer. Tikvah convenes students committed to Jewish excellence and dedicated to the preservation of American principles into a community that honors moral courage and genuine inquiry. For over a decade, the most intellectually ambitious students have looked to Tikvah to bolster, or in many cases provide, a serious liberal education.

However, Tikvah and institutions like it cannot do it all. For the future of both the West and America, it is imperative for higher education institutions—the very institutions responsible for stewarding civilization—to re-dedicate themselves to educating rising generations through the careful study of the history, literature, religious traditions, political thought, and philosophical inquiries of the West. This is only possible if there are enough of the right kinds of professors to teach such a curriculum. At present, too few faculty members are prepared for the task. Tikvah is committed to helping ensure this changes.

Building the Pipeline

Through the Tikvah Academic Fellowship, Tikvah aims to tap our curated network of talented and ambitious young men and women who have a deep appreciation for the West and for Jewish ideas. By helping them navigate their way through the publication and job application processes, we will build a talent pipeline of professors to help restore departments, disciplines, and academic institutions. To that end, our new Fellowship will provide mentorship, financial support, conference and community-building opportunities, and clear, high expectations that our fellows meet exacting standards of professional development.

Our goal is to help exceptional academic fellows secure tenure-track positions across the country in our core areas: religion and theology, Jewish history, Bible, political thought, literature, Middle East studies, international relations, and national security. We aim to help fellows become competitive for positions at various types of Anglophone institutions, including liberal arts colleges or professional schools as well as research universities.

Each year, we will accept six to ten new Fellows. The Fellowship is open to doctoral candidates who have received approval for their dissertation projects and recent PhDs who have received their degrees within the last two years. We believe that the period between prospectus approval and the first few years after graduation is the right moment to help Fellows produce the peer-reviewed publications they need to be competitive in the academic job market.

Pillars of the Academic Fellowship

Over the course of the year, the Academic Fellowship will provide assistance in four areas key to the success of aspiring tenure-track scholars.

1. Publications

The core deliverable of the Academic Fellowship is the production of an excellent scholarly article, book manuscript, or book chapter in a leading academic journal or by a leading academic publisher. To receive the final stipend installment, Fellows must confirm acceptance of their work for publication (actual publication does not need to occur during the Fellowship period). Drafting and journal or publisher selection will be conducted in consultation with an assigned mentor, with an eye toward the peer-review process.

2. Mentorship

Each Academic Fellow will be mentored by a first-rate professor, vetted by years of experience teaching in Tikvah programs, and with a proven track record of success in the traditional academy. Mentorship will focus not only on the goal of publication but also on preparing Fellows for careers in the academy. Mentors will meet monthly with Fellows one-on-one, with the opportunity for additional group meetings in person or online according to thematic or disciplinary focus.

3. Community

The talent pipeline will be strengthened by time spent face-to-face. Fellows will meet once a year for their own academic conference, where they will present their work in progress for rigorous feedback. The conference will include prominent professors and academic leaders, encouraging Fellows to meet high standards and creating a lively environment where the slow schedule of academic publication does not hamper success.

4. Research

In fields such as history and international relations, success in the academy is contingent on the completion of independent archival research, including trips to historical archives housed in the United States and abroad. Tikvah will support a small number of exceptional Fellows in their pursuit of archival research on a case-by-case basis each year.