Open Call for FASPE Clergy & Religious Leaders Fellowship Program

Program Overview

Clergy and religious leaders engaged in a study program on ethics, participating in seminars and visiting historical sites in Berlin and Poland.

The Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) is inviting applications for its Clergy & Religious Leaders Fellowship Program. This program selects 13 to 16 individuals who are pursuing or have recently graduated from graduate-level religious training at divinity schools, seminaries, chaplaincy programs, or other related institutions.

FASPE is an intensive, two-week study program in professional ethics and ethical leadership. It is designed to challenge Fellows to critically examine constructs, current developments, and issues that raise ethical concerns in their professions, particularly within contemporary settings.

Program Details

Fellows spend two weeks in Berlin and Poland, visiting key sites of Nazi history and participating in daily seminars led by specialized faculty. The program couples the power of place with academic rigor and many informal opportunities for creative exchange.

FASPE draws on a diverse pool of applicants, enriching discussions both inside and outside the seminar room. Clergy Fellows travel with Medical and Journalism Fellows, allowing them to broaden their understanding of the role of professionals through shared meals, activities, and several interdisciplinary seminars. FASPE Fellowships are fully funded, ensuring that financial ability does not affect participation.

Topics Covered

The complicity of clergy in the execution of Nazi policies, including by failing to speak out.
The role of confession, apologies, and reconciliation.
The right and responsibility of religious leaders to be ethical educators.
Pastoral leadership in a diverse community.
Religious faith, exclusivism, and the temptations toward prejudice and intolerance.
Interfaith work and dialogue.
Navigating multiple loyalties to institutional authorities, religious doctrine and policies, lay leaders, community needs, and more.
End-of-life decisions and discussions (structured as an interdisciplinary session with Medical Fellows).

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must either be enrolled in graduate school preparing for work as a religious leader at the time of application, or they must be working as a religious leader with a relevant graduate degree received in May 2020 or after. Those applying as students may be studying at a seminary, divinity school, rabbinical school, Muslim chaplaincy program, or other graduate program related to religious or theological training.

Applicants do not need to be ordained or planning to pursue ordination to be eligible. Applicants from all faith traditions are encouraged to apply.

FASPE seeks Clergy Fellows with diverse interests and backgrounds, including those pursuing careers as religious leaders of congregations, as chaplains at universities, hospitals, prisons, corporations, in the armed services, and in other settings.

Application Process

FASPE seeks Fellows at a formative stage of their professional lives, who are open-minded, self-reflective, demonstrate leadership capabilities, and possess the potential to influence their fields. Fellows are selected based on their academic background, personal and professional experiences, capacity for leadership, and ability to contribute to the Fellowship program and the alumni community.

For more information, visit the FASPE website.