Deadline for Western Civilization Fellowships is February 15^th of the year in which they will be awarded.

Early in this century, Jose Ortega y Gassett observed that the mere preservation of a high culture requires the deployment of "incalculably subtle powers." Still greater effort and imagination seem called for today, when the academic guardians of culture have committed themselves to questionable theories that deny the very possibility of knowledge. An enthusiasm for pedagogic multiculturalism has led the professoriate in search of wisdom seemingly everywhere except in their own Western Tradition. Yet very often the ethical "discoveries" made turn out to be nothing but debased forms of originally Western ideas.

Late in the modern age, we have become so alienated from our tradition that the West is terra incognita to us. The Western Tradition constitutes a fragile achievement that liberal ironists ignore at their peril. The ISI Western Civilization Fellowship Program is designed to address our culture’s loss of memory by supporting at the graduate level the study of the institutions, values, and history of the West. The intricate process of renewing our civilization will be immeasurably aided by a new generation of scholars who value the Western heritage.

See the 2006–2007 graduate fellowship recipients.

Application Information

Two fellowships will be awarded per year. Each Western Civilization Fellow will receive a $20,000 grant to pursue studies at the school of his choice. The theme of the required essay is "Liberty and the Western Idea." Applicants must also meet ISI's general fellowship requirements. A downloadable form can be found here.

Western Civilization Fellowship Awards Committee

Robert P. George
McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

James Hankins
Professor of History, Harvard University

Donald Kagan
Hillhouse Professor of History and Classics, Yale University

Wilfred McClay
SunTrust Bank Chair of Excellence in the Humanities, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

For more information on ISI's Western Civilization Fellowship, call (800) 526-7022, fax to (302) 652-1760, or email awards@isi.org.