The Henry Luce Foundation is pleased to announce more than $5,500,000 in grants to 19 organizations. These grants, awarded in six program areas, reflect the Foundation’s commitment to broadening knowledge, fostering new leaders, and enriching public discourse.

The American Art Program awarded five grants that will fund three collection-based exhibitions and support efforts to increase curatorial capacity in the field of American art. Seven grants from the Asia Program further its goals to develop expertise on East and Southeast Asia, encourage dialogue between the U.S. and Asian countries, and promote public understanding of Asia.

The Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs awarded four grants in support of field-building initiatives and for research projects that will examine Islamic thought and practice in contemporary society and politics.

A grant from the Higher Education Program will fund collaboration opportunities between policymakers and higher education leaders, while a Public Policy grant will support a program that nurtures college women interested in global policy careers. Finally, the Theology Program provided renewed support to a leadership program that prepares faith leaders to address and engage with issues beyond their local religious communities.

The grants awarded by the Foundation’s programs are described in more detail below.

View the full list of new grants

American Art

The five grants awarded by the American Art Program focus on strengthening the pipeline for curatorial professions in American art and supporting collection-based exhibitions. A grant to the National Museum of the American Indian will support an Associate Curator of North American Archaeology while the Smithsonian American Art Museum will establish a curatorial fellowship program to provide graduate and postdoctoral scholars with on-the-job training and mentorship.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will mount a collection-based exhibition featuring nine never-before-exhibited drawings by John Singer Sargent of his principal model of eight years, Thomas McKeller. A grant to the Library Company of Philadelphia will fund an exhibition exploring the social dynamics and cultural biases that have shaped the library’s long-standing graphics collection. And finally, as part of its 175th anniversary, the St. Louis Mercantile Library will use a grant to reinterpret and reinstall its permanent collection, known for its regionally significant works of art.

View the new American Art grants

Asia

The Asia Program awarded seven grants in support of Asia-focused teaching and research in higher education; policy projects relevant to U.S.-Asia relations; and public education about Asia. A grant to the University of California, Davis will support research on the history of music in the Indonesian archipelago. Yale University will further collaborative efforts with Shanghai’s Fudan University in cultural sociology, and the National University of Singapore will launch a series of training workshops on law and society for Asian and American lawyers and scholars.

A grant to Seton Hall University will renew support for U.S.-China policy dialogues on the South China Sea, while the Pan-Asian Scholars Program of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation aims to encourage more integrated policy on Asia by connecting young academics and policy professionals who work on East and Southeast Asian topics.

An exhibition organized by Montana State University will present Chinese, Japanese, and Korean art to audiences in the Rocky Mountain region, and a grant to Round Earth Media will support the Asia Reporting Project, to provide training programs to early-career journalists and undergraduate students in the U.S., Indonesia, and Thailand.

View the new Asia grants

Higher Education

A grant from the Higher Education Program to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation will continue support for a fellowship program that brings together state policymakers and higher education leaders to discuss policy and collaborate on higher education projects.

View the new Higher Education grants

Public Policy

The Public Policy Program made a grant to the Public Leadership Education Network in support of the Women in Global Policy Program, which provides college women with knowledge, skills, and networks to help them succeed in global policy careers.

View the new Public Policy grants

Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs

The Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs awarded four grants in support of scholarship and greater understanding of religion in global affairs. Emory University will launch a research initiative in on the idea of “moderation” as understood in Islamic thought and in contemporary Muslim-majority countries, with case studies in Indonesia, Morocco and Egypt. A grant to Musawah, a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, will support an initiative on egalitarian ethics and jurisprudence in marriage, examining Islamic thought, legal systems and gender inequality in the everyday lives of Muslim men and women. Reset Dialogues will hold an international conference and summer school in Casablanca, Morocco for scholars, media professionals and activists to explore diverse understandings of religious pluralism within the Islamic context. Finally, a grant to the Social Science Research Council will support an initiative to nurture a new generation of scholars focused on two contemporary issues in relation to religion–social justice movements and global environmental change—and the ongoing work of SSRC’s online platform, The Immanent Frame.

View the new Religion in International Affairs grants

Theology

A grant to Auburn Theological Seminary will provide renewed support for the Auburn Senior Fellows Program, which aims to prepare faith leaders to take theological perspectives beyond their local religious communities to address the world’s needs and problems.

View the new Theology grants