ACLS Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future

The ACLS Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future program provides summer work opportunities for PhD students to address practical problems and explore potential future careers related to the study of religion. Current PhD students from across all eligible fields of the humanities and social sciences whose dissertation topic relates to the study of religion are encouraged to apply for this fellowship.

ACLS will hold a webinar on December 8, 2025 for applicants to the 2026 ACLS Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future, offering real-time feedback on questions about eligibility, the online application, and the fellowship review and selection process. The recording is available here.

**Please note that ACLS is closed from December 20, 2025-January 4, 2026. Be sure to send any timely or urgent questions via email to [email protected] before this closure, or be prepared to wait for a response until staff return from the winter holidays on Monday, January 5, 2026.**

Internship Details

• Stipend: $15,400 for in-person positions; $14,000 for remote positions.
• Relocation: Up to $2,000 in relocation funds for awardees who relocate for in-person positions.
• Tenure: 9 weeks beginning in June 2026.
• Applications will be accepted only through the ACLS Online Fellowship Application system. Please do not contact any of the organizations directly.
• Application deadline: January 14, 2026, 9:00 PM EST.

Summary

The American Council of Learned Societies is pleased to announce the inaugural competition of the ACLS Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future program, which seeks to build a pipeline of leaders prepared to continue work in the changing religious and spiritual infrastructures inside and outside of the academy.

The program places current PhD students studying religion in organizations working in communities across the country, where fellows can contribute to their critical work and explore potential future careers. We aim to demonstrate how the capacities honed in the course of doctoral education, including through advanced research and teaching, have significant practical value beyond the academy. This initiative is made possible through the support of the Templeton Religion Trust.

We expect the internships to foster mutually beneficial partnerships between fellows and their hosting organizations. Each applicant may apply for up to two of the available opportunities. There is a separate selection process for each internship opportunity.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be current PhD students in a humanities or social science department in the United States, whose research focus or dissertation topic relate to the study of religion. Applicants’ PhDs may be in any field in the humanities or social sciences. Please refer to our FAQ and our guidance on eligible fields below before applying.
• Applicants must be able to take up a 9-week internship in the Summer of 2026, released from normal coursework, assistantships, and all teaching responsibilities. Awardees will also be required to attend a seminar with other participants in late August 2026, and virtual programs in academic year 2026-2027.
• PhD students at all stages of study are eligible to apply, though they must be enrolled at the time of application, and not planning to graduate before May 2027.

Application Guidelines

Applications must be submitted online and must include:

• A completed application form, including the required short answer questions.
• A cover letter tailored to each selected position and addressed to the host organization. Each cover letter should not exceed one page in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font and should have one-inch margins on all sides. Applicants applying for two positions will submit two distinct cover letters.
• A résumé and contact information for a professional reference. The résumé should not exceed two pages in Arial or Helvetica 11-point font. Your reference should be on a separate page following your résumé, and the document should therefore be no more than three pages in total. Applicants applying for two positions will submit two résumés but need only provide one reference. No reference letters will be accepted. If applicants proceed to the interview stage, host organizations may elect to contact their reference. See our FAQ for more information, including resources on preparing a résumé.

Review Process and Selection Criteria

The selection and placement take place over three stages: The first round is a peer review process conducted by PhDs with experience in relevant sectors beyond the academy. Finalists emerging from this round will be interviewed by host organizations, who will send rankings and feedback to ACLS. Based on this feedback, ACLS makes the final offer of the internship position.

First-round reviewers will evaluate applications based on:

• Demonstrated ability to connect academic and non-academic skills and capacities to the qualifications and responsibilities of the applicant’s selected project(s).
• Demonstrated interest in and commitment to understanding contemporary issues and challenges in American religious and spiritual life.
• Willingness to partner, collaborate, listen, and learn from others.
• Applicant’s academic and extra-academic accomplishments.
• The capacity of an award to advance ACLS’s commitment to inclusive excellence in all our programs.

Internship hosts will select the awardee from amongst the finalist candidates based on individual qualifications listed in each project description, as well as how well the fellow demonstrates their interest and commitment to the project, and alignment with the goals and values of the hosting organization and the ACLS Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future program.

Most internships will require in person work in the city listed in the project description, and awardees will receive a slightly higher stipend than those in remote internships—$15,400, versus $14,000 for remote internships. If awardees do not currently live in commuting distance of the project location, they must relocate and up to $2000 will be provided in relocation funding. Project descriptions that are marked as “remote” do not require relocation. See individual project descriptions and our FAQ for more details.

Internship Project Descriptions and Host Organizations

The PDFs of the full internship project descriptions, which include detailed information on the host organizations, the projects, and requisite applicant qualifications, are available below. Download all of the project descriptions as a combined PDF here.

Eligible Fields

For the purpose of the winter 2026 competition of the ACLS Graduate Internships in the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future competition, PhDs in any eligible field in the humanities or related social sciences may apply. The humanities and related social sciences include but are not limited to American studies; anthropology; archaeology; art and architectural history; biblical studies; Buddhist studies; classics; economics; ethnic studies; film; gender studies; geography; history; languages and literatures; legal studies; linguistics; musicology; philosophy; political science; psychology (excluding organizational, clinical or counseling psychology); religious studies; rhetoric, communication, and media studies; sociology; and theater, dance, and performance studies. PhDs in interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary humanistic studies are welcome.

Students at divinity schools are eligible as long as they are pursuing a PhD; MDiv and MTS students are not eligible. Most PhDs in Education are not eligible unless the focus is the anthropology, history, or sociology of education. PhDs in Higher Education, Educational Leadership, and Educational Policy are not eligible. EdDs are not eligible degrees for the purposes of this program. This program also does not accept applications from students receiving a PhD in the fields of business, public policy or public administration, education or arts education, clinical or counseling psychology, creative writing, journalism, library and/or information sciences, law, social work, social welfare, urban planning, public health, filmmaking, performing arts, or any field of pre-professional or applied study. Master’s students, even if a Master’s is the terminal degree in the field, will not be eligible.

If your degree field is not listed above, or if you have questions about your eligibility, please contact [email protected]. For more information about eligibility, visit the FAQ page.