The Greeley International Internship honors the Rev. Dana McLean Greeley, AB '31, STB '33, who believed that people of all backgrounds and faiths are deeply connected to one another and should work together for positive social change. The internship is intended to support interreligious understanding.
Beginning in November, applications for one summer internship will be accepted from HDS students who wish to intern with an organization outside of the United States that is dedicated to the promotion of interreligious understanding, peace, and social justice. It is expected that the summer internship will last a minimum of eight weeks. The deadline for internship applications is Saturday, April 6, 2024.
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for the Greeley International Internship, a student must have completed their first year at HDS by June and be continuing studies at HDS in the next academic year in either the MDiv or the MTS program. Preference will be given to students who have exhibited financial need (indicated by receipt of institutional aid at HDS).
Selection and Award
The selection committee will judge the applications on the basis of the student's interest in interreligious understanding, peace, and social justice; the strength of the internship proposal; the student's financial need (indicated by receipt of institutional aid at HDS); and the student's academic performance.
Each internship recipient will receive a $5,000 stipend to cover costs associated with the summer internship, including airfare, meals, and living expenses. Any costs beyond that amount are the student's responsibility.
Finalists will be required to register their travel itineraries in the Harvard Travel Registry.
Application Requirements and Deadlines
The deadline for internship applications is Saturday, April 6, 2024.
All applicants must submit:
- A completed CSWR/HDS 2024 Greeley International Internship Application form;
- Two recommendation letters from Harvard faculty members in support of his/her proposed plans for the summer (to be sent directly to the CSWR by the faculty members);
- A copy of the applicant's most recent Harvard grade report (a printout is acceptable);
- A letter from the host organization documenting approval/support of the applicant as an intern;
- A Curriculum Vitae or Résumé;
- A statement of purpose (not to exceed three pages) written by the applicant, describing the proposed internship (the proposed plan of work, including objectives, activities, location, dates, rough budget; how it relates to interreligious understanding, peace, and justice; how your experience has prepared you for this internship; how the internship relates to your vocational/professional goals; and how the project will contribute to your learning as a part of your academic program at HDS).
Email applications with PDF attachments are preferred.
Faculty recommendations should be sent separately to the CSWR by the recommending faculty member to the Associate Director of the CSWR, Gosia Sklodowska at gsklodowska@hds.harvard.edu.
Applications should be submitted by email to the Associate Director of the CSWR, Gosia Sklodowska at gsklodowska@hds.harvard.edu.
Internship Sites
Students may design their own internships in cooperation with any host organization, as long as the internship contributes to interreligious understanding. The CSWR has begun to compile a list of organizations appropriate to the goals of the Greeley International Internship that have indicated willingness to accept an intern. These organizations are:
- Asha in India (organization providing education and healthcare access in the Delhi slums);
- Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia;
- Interfaith Encounter Association in Jerusalem, Israel;
- Institute for Religion, Culture, and Peace at Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand;
- Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center in Amman, Jordan; and
- JUST: International Movement for a Just World, Selangor, Malaysia.
Students wishing to intern with an organization not on the above list should also provide background information about the host organization adequate to evaluate its appropriateness and an explanation of how the organization's work and the proposed internship relate to the goals of the Greeley internship.
Post-Internship Obligations
Within one month of returning to the U.S., Greeley Fellows must submit a written report (not to exceed 10 pages) on their summer experience to the Associate Director of the CSWR. In the fall, the Greeley Fellow must present that report orally in two settings: to the CSWR Associate Director (in September) and to the HDS community (in October).
Past Greeley Internship Recipients
Summer 2023: Yanqing Cao is an MTS student at HDS, specializing in Comparative Studies. Yanqing graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai, China with a B. Phil degree in Religious Studies. Between January and June 2020, Yanqing participated in an exchange program at the Faculty of Theology at the Universitetet i Oslo, Norway. As part of the Greeley International Internship Program, Yanqing did summer field work with the Interfaith Encounter Association in Jerusalem. The program allowed Yanqing to explore methods used in Religious Studies to promote social change, by facilitating discussions about various religious beliefs and practices.
Prior Greeley Internship Recipients
Summer 2019: Sara Sidime interned with ACCORD, the African Centre for the Constructive Resolutions of Disputes, in Mount Edgecombe, South Africa.
Summer 2018: Shannon Boley interned with the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Bangalore, India.
Summer 2017: Daniel Kraft interned with the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakόw, Poland. The intent of his project was, “To challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions typically associated with the Jewish past in Poland and to educate both Poles and Jews about their own histories, whilst encouraging them to think about the future.”
Summer 2016: Hal Edmonson interned at the Shinmeizan Center for Interreligious Dialogue in Kumamoto, Japan. His project involved an extended inquiry into how monastic practice can both enrich and complicate inter-faith dialogue.
Summer 2015: Gabrielle Goodman interned with the Jezreel Valley Regional Project in Israel. Her project was titled "Digging In The Past, Building For The Future."
Summer 2014: Parameshwaran Ramakrishnan interned at the Indus World School in Haryana, India. His project was titled "Developing Curriculum on Inter-Faith Education for School Children in India." His work was later published in the Journal of Religion and Health, which can be accessed through PubMed here and in PDF form here. Adriel Borshansky interned at the Seeds of Peace Organization in Jerusalem and Jordan. His project was to initiate programming by directing an oral history program in Jerusalem and helping with an educator’s workshop in Jordan.
Summer 2013: Johannah Murphy interned at the Asha Institute in New Delhi, India. Her project was titled "Building One's Own: Creating Self-Sustaining Women's Networks in New Delhi." Jared Oubre interned at the ProNica Organization in San Marcos, Nicaragua. Oubre worked with the children of the Los Quinchos orphanage outside the capital city of Managua. The title of his project was "Humbling Myself: Learning from Nicaraguan Street Children."
Summer 2012: Melissa Nozell worked with the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center in Amman, Jordan, while Zachary Kerzee worked with the Daya Center in Hyderabad, India.
Summer 2011: Sierra Fleenor worked with the East of England Faiths Council in Cambridge, England, an organization that works regionally to increase communication and understanding in faith communities, while Emily Clawson traveled to Hyderabad, India, to work with the Henry Martyn Institute, International Center for Research, Interfaith Relations, and Reconciliation, in Hyderabad, India.
Summer 2010: Adam Ortman spent the summer with Sarvodoya, an organization in Sri Lanka with an interfaith perspective that works for peace and in community building. Maytal Saltiel worked at the Henry Martyn Institute, International Center for Research, Interfaith Relations, and Reconciliation, in Hyderabad, India.
Summer 2009: Charles Carstens worked with the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Peace at Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Summer 2008: Stephanie Almozara received the first Greeley International Internship, working at the Henry Martyn Institute, International Center for Research, Interfaith Relations, and Reconciliation in Hyderabad, India.