ATLANTA — The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) is pleased to announce it has selected 16 doctoral students of color to join its long-standing community of theological scholars.
Students will either receive the Fellowship for Doctoral Students of African Descent or the Fellowship for Latino/a, Asian and First Nations Doctoral Students. Each Fellow will receive a living stipend up to $25,000 to support their PhD or ThD program in religion, theological or biblical studies beyond the coursework stage.
“We received a record number of applications making this year’s selection process the most competitive year-to-date,” said Dr. Patrick B. Reyes, FTE senior director of learning design. “The work being done by each Fellow in the 2020 class is exactly what we need during these uncertain times. Their collective projects honor their communities of accountability and cast a vision for an academy that cares deeply about the world we all hope to inhabit.”
As part of the fellowship award, Fellows will have the opportunity to attend the 2020 FTE Forum for Theological Educators, held November 18-20, in Boston, Massachusetts, prior to the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature. The Forum will provide opportunities for networking, professional development, vocational exploration and mentoring.
FTE welcomes the following recipients into the 2020 class of Doctoral Fellows:
In addition to its fellowships for dissertation stage doctoral students, FTE provides professional development opportunities for PhD and ThD students in the first two years of their studies. FTE developed these doctoral initiatives to help accelerate the completion of doctoral degrees among students of color and to foster diversity in the academy across North America.
Since 1999, FTE has awarded more than 550 fellowships to students of color and has maintained a 97 percent retention rate among its Doctoral Fellows.