Description

The Religion and Theology Program seeks to deepen public knowledge of religion and to draw on the wisdom of faith traditions to advance shared understanding. Partnering with scholars of religion, faith leaders, journalists, artists, museum curators, and communities of faith, our work strengthens understanding of religious diversity, promotes more curious and civil public conversations, and stimulates faith-rooted efforts to envision and build a more just, compassionate, and democratic world.      The program seeks to deepen knowledge and understanding of the diversity and complexity of American religion, and to promote more curious and civil conversations about faith and religion among diverse knowledge makers, communities, and publics. In keeping with these objectives, program grants have supported a wide range of projects making innovative use of media to share knowledge and engage new audiences.     While the Luce Foundation’s attention to the role of media in strengthening public understanding of religion is not new, it nonetheless informs an approach to grantmaking that has evolved and grown considerably over time.    One key driver of this approach was the Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs (HRLI), launched in 2005, and the Initiative’s extensive media partnerships continue to reverberate in the current work of the Foundation’s Religion and Theology Program, including through recent grants.    At the same time, the Religion and Theology Program has taken strategic steps to expand the range of its partnerships, perhaps evidenced most clearly by the ten new grants approved in November 2023 through an RFP for projects seeking to advance public knowledge on democracy, race, and religion in America – several of which were awarded to first-time grantees of the Foundation.    As our new statement of Values and Commitments emphasizes, “We recognize that knowledge takes many forms and that knowledge makers pursue their work in many different ways, and so we cast a wide net, looking both to established and to emerging or under recognized thinkers.” Even as we continue to partner with and support established institutions, one leading edge of the Religion and Theology Program’s current work involves an expansion of its funding for emerging and under recognized leaders and organizations.    Both special grants being recommended in January 2024 – to the Nearness and the Aspen Institute – aim to deepen understanding of the range of new and innovative work being conceived and built at the intersections of religion and media, and thus to position the program, its partners, and other field leaders to better understand the emerging landscape of voices and organizations working in this area. These grants will help the two organizations carrying out the grant-funded work, while simultaneously broadening the Luce Foundation’s field of vision, deepening our own understanding of the current state of play, and informing our strategic thinking and future grantmaking.