Faculty Research Grants

The Lilly Project for the Theological, Spiritual and Ethical Exploration of Vocation is a university-wide program dedicated to helping students to engage the larger questions of meaning and purpose, and to discern their vocation -- their calling in life. Funded by a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., the Lilly Project is embedded in the intellectual and residential life of the university, offering opportunities for members of the community to consider issues of vocation, service, meaning-making and life choices through a variety of academic and co-curricular programs.

Vocation, as we are using it in the context of the Lilly Project at Willamette, does not mean strictly religious vocations; neither does it refer to building a skilled workforce. Rather, it means the way in which we live out our passions in the world, the way in which our values, our commitments and our beliefs are embodied in our choices about work, about family, about our political and social lives. Exploring vocation means talking about engaging the larger questions of meaning and purpose, questions that, we hope, inform students’ decisions and shape their lives, both during their time here and after graduation. We are talking about vocation in the context of a liberal arts education, one that opens up choices and options, one that teaches students how to think critically, inquire freely, lead wisely, serve generously and live with integrity.

Faculty Research Grants

The Lilly Project provides stipends for summer research and creative projects related to the exploration of vocation. Grants of $3,000 are available to all Willamette University faculty. The goal of these grants is to promote scholarly and creative activity that explores a wider understanding of vocation as the way in which our gifts, skills and commitments find expression in the world through work, study, service, and other human activities. Proposals should have the intent of seeking outcomes that include presentation outside the campus (publication, exhibition), as well as furthering the conversation about vocation on campus. Priority will be given to proposals that show promise of ongoing contributions to the Willamette community.

Previous Grant Recipients

Mark Conliffe (Russian): "A Russian Conscience: Korolenko as Literary and Social Critic"
Nathaniel (Nacho) Córdova (Media and Rhetoric Studies): “Media Constructions of Vocation After the Catholic Church’s Pedophilia Crisis”
Rebecca Dobkins (Anthropology): “Exploring Ethical and Cultural Dimensions of Museum Professions”
Ludwig Fischer (German): “From Myth to Text to Film: From the Oral Tradition to Literary Criticism to Visual Literature”
Ronald Loftus (Japanese and Chinese/History): "Choosing Peace: Exploring Three Japanese Women's Road to Peace
Pamela Moro (Anthropology): "Our Voices Win Freedom: Vocation in the GALA Choral Movement"
Ann Nicgorski (Art History): "Christian Art and Iconography as an Ecumenical Mission"
William Smaldone (History): Completion of three chapters of a draft book manuscript, On the Edge of the Abyss: German social Democrats and the Defense of the Weimar Republic, 1029-1933
James Thompson (Art): "Spirit Made Manifest"
Patricia Varas (Spanish): "Vocation and Mythic Character in the Bandit Novel Polvo y Ceniza"
Juwen Zhang (Japanese and Chinese): "Traditional Chinese Belief Encountering Christian Belief: A Case Study of the Role of Spiritual Life in Constructing Identity as Seen in Everyday Practice of the Chinese in Oregon"

Application Process for Grants

The Lilly Advisory Board accepts proposals for faculty projects on an on-going basis.

Proposal Format and Procedures

Please keep in mind that readers of your proposal may be from outside your discipline. Proposals will be reviewed by the Lilly Advisory Board and perhaps additional faculty readers. Please use the Lilly Faculty Research Grant Application*:

Evaluation criteria

Depth of engagement with the themes of theological, ethical and/or spiritual exploration of vocation.
Quality of the proposal with respect to planning and articulation of purpose.
Value to the Willamette community, the profession and the Lilly Project.
Promise of far-reaching impact on the Willamette community.

Grantees will be expected to provide:

Accounting of expenses using Lilly Project reporting format and guidelines.
Timetable for publication/presentation.
Progress reports at regular intervals.
A copy of the final monograph or project.
A final report on the project.

Expected outcomes should include:

Publication of research in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.
Performance or exhibition, in the case of creative projects.
Presentation of research results to the Willamette University community, through lecture, workshop or other means.

*The form necessary for this application requires Microsoft Word. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, please contact the Lilly Project office to have a copy of the forms mailed to you.