The application cycle for the 2021-2022 academic year opportunity is now closed.
The Lenz Fellowship is an opportunity for faculty and other professionals planning sabbaticals or other leaves-of-absence during the 2021-2022 academic year. The Lenz Fellow will spend a semester or a full year at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado conducting a research, artistic, social action, or other project that relates Buddhist philosophy and practice to an aspect of American culture or values.
The Frederick P. Lenz Residential Fellowship in Buddhism and American Culture and Values Program is an excellent opportunity for faculty throughout the United States to study Buddhism as it relates to education, leadership, the arts and sciences, and a variety of additional interest areas. Various modes of Eastern thought, including Buddhism, are finding their way into such fields as neuroscience (studies into the cognitive impact of meditation), civic engagement (the application of peacemaking models to community advocacy and dispute resolution), and classroom pedagogy (the development of teaching techniques that address students’ inner journeys along with traditional academic content).
The application cycle for the 2021-2022 opportunity is now closed. To apply, please submit the following by the application due date of January 25, 2021:
1. A cover letter not exceeding four single-spaced pages detailing the following:
2. A detailed resume, curriculum vitae or professional biography.
3. For individuals on sabbatical or other leave from another institution, a letter of support from the applicant’s direct supervisor is required, including a statement about any sources of funding for the proposed leave. Independent scholars, artists and activists should include a letter from a colleague familiar with their work discussing the merits of the proposal.
Hard copy application materials may be sent to:
Lenz Residential Fellowship Program
Office of Academic Affairs
Naropa University
2130 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, CO 80302
Digital application materials may be sent to the Lenz Graduate Assistant.
For more information about the Fellowship or application process, contact Jason Davis.
Fellows will be expected to:
We have attracted Fellows from a variety of disciplines and institutions:
Spring 2021
Elizabeth Maynard, Ph.D.
Embodied Pedagogies for Liberatory Art Practices
This fellowship supports the development of art history and art pedagogies rooted in embodied practices. The alleged meritocracies that govern many higher educational cultures in the United States (often linked to supremacist constructions of individual excellence) contribute to significant rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout among students, especially in BIPOC communities. In reckoning with my personal experience as a student and an adjunct professor, combined with my observation of the experiences of my students at the highly competitive Rhode Island School of Design, my research and teaching-learning methodologies have turned towards the possibilities of body-mind based epistemologies within educational institutions. My work as an educator and scholar have been both personally and methodologically informed by my Buddhist-lineage meditation practice, by way of Jewish Renewal interpretive models. The decentering of Self implicit in both is reflected in the post-Modernist project of art history, while somatic awareness is foundational to exploring alternatives to Englightenment-era Western epistemologies, as well as cultivating spaces for transformative praxis among students and faculty in a neoliberal environment. I plan to produce and publish sharable teaching modules for anti-oppression educators aiming to integrate contemplative and embodied practices into artistic/creative pedagogy.
Spring 2020
Kathy Yep, Ph.D.
Healing Justice and Immigrant and Refugee Detainees: A Video Curriculum
Spring 2019
Stephanie Briggs
Visioning the Eightfold Path: Liberating Contemplative Practical Empowerment for African
American Educators
Spring 2017
Jennifer Woodhull
Working with Violence from an Inclusive Worldview
Spring 2016
Ryūmon Baldoquin, Sensei
Contemplative Somatic Wellness™: A Body-Mind Centered Movement for Spiritual Social
Activism
Spring 2015
Melissa Rolnick, M.F.A.
MEISA: Movement Exploration through Imagery and Sensory Awareness
Fall 2013 - Spring 2014
Douglas Lindner, Ph.D.
Integration of Contemplative Practice into STEM Education in Higher Education
Spring 2013
Sarah J. Heidt, Ph.D.
Contemplative Pedagogies for Literary Studies
Spring 2012
Arturo Bencosme
Heart to Organizations: Contemplativeness-Based Organizational Learning & Strategic
Thinking
Fall 2011
David Loy
The Great Encounter: Why Buddhism and Modernity Need Each Other
Spring 2011
Cary Gaunt, Ph.D.
Cultivating Ecological Enlightenment: Buddhist Pathways to a Sustainable Way of Life
Fall 2010
Philip Meckley, Ph.D.
Raft of Straw: The Epistle of James as Jesus Sutra
Kim Russo, M.F.A.
Contemporary artists and Buddhist practitioners
Elise Young, Ph.D.
History as Dharma: Teaching the Middle East and Africa
Fall 2009
Hillary Stephenson, Ph.D. cand.
Addressing diversity issues through Zen practice
Summer/Fall 2009
John Whalen-Bridge, Ph.D.
Buddhism, literary adaptation and progressive politics
Spring 2009
Elizabeth Lozano, Ph.D.
Non-violent resistance in the U.S. and abroad
Erin McCarthy, Ph.D.
Zen, ethics, and comparative feminist perspectives
Both the foundation and the university are interested in the unique forms of Buddhism taking root in America. The fellowship program continues Naropa’s leadership role as the pre-eminent accredited university in North America for contemplative studies and a provider of education that integrates Eastern and Western traditions of scholarship and practice. Along with the Summer Seminar in contemplative pedagogy for university professors, the fellowship program enables Naropa to support professionals wanting to enrich their work and their home institutions and communities through a deeper understanding of Buddhism.
Of course, Naropa will no doubt be enriched by hosting fellows as well. It is our hope that the fellows will energize the Naropa campus, by providing our students and faculty with new conversation partners, by offering a public lecture or teaching a course, and by serving as ambassadors to their home departments and disciplines. We also know that new institutional partnerships, collaborative relationships and publications carrying the name of the home institution and sponsoring foundation often live on long after the fellows have completed their campus residency and project at Naropa. Sponsoring multiple visiting fellows each year will provide Naropa faculty and students with opportunities to network with individuals representing a variety of scholarly and Buddhist traditions.
Stipends will vary per month depending on the length of the Fellowship. Fellowships are typically for one semester (Fall or Spring) and a Fellow in residence for one full semester will be paid the stipend in five installments, which are subject to any applicable taxes. The total stipend amount set for this application cycle is $16,000. Additionally, Fellows will receive a modest allowance for reimbursement of direct expenses which can include travel costs, books/materials, etc.
Fellows are responsible for locating, and paying for, their own housing for themselves and any accompanying family members. Naropa staff will assist fellows with their housing search and provide information on housing options in the area.
Fellows are considered, by the university, to be Temporary Employees and therefore must complete new hire paperwork and authorize a background check. As a Temporary Employee, the Fellow is not eligible for health or other benefits from the university.