Description

RECOMMENDATION: Discretionary grant of $30,000 to the Graduate Theological Union to support activities organized in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Center for Islamic Studies. In November 2013, the Luce Foundation approved a grant in support of leadership programs of the Center of Islamic Studies (CIS) at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU). This grant followed an earlier grant to the GTU, approved in March 2010, in support of the development of a Master of Arts Degree Program in Islamic Studies. Partially as the result of these two grants—and in no small part due to the efforts of the Center’s dynamic director, Dr. Munir Jiwa—CIS has flourished, and in the 2017-2018 academic year it will celebrate its 10th anniversary. In conjunction with this anniversary, and as it looks to the future, CIS seeks funds to support a range of activities, outlined in the June 14 letter from Dr. Jiwa. These include academic and public programs, a library exhibition, a student symposium, an evaluation and related strategic planning, and a resultant publication. In addition, CIS would organize and host a workshop for faculty in Islamic Studies who are teaching in North American theological schools. This last activity, which would make up a third of the grant budget, responds directly to a request on the part of the Foundation, and to wider challenges within the field of theological education. It would build on a previous panel at the American Academy of Religion, drawing in a small but growing network of faculty, many of whom have been involved in projects supported by the Theology Program. Despite a longstanding presence in the United States, it is increasingly recognized that American Muslims currently lack strong and well-developed institutions for religious and scholarly training, and for the cultivation of new leadership. There are, however, some signs that this is beginning to change, and in recent years the Theology program has provided support for multiple exploratory ventures. Often envisioned, at least in part, as attempts to provide more diverse educational experiences at historically Christian seminaries—in an effort to prepare future religious leaders for service in a religious plural world—these projects have simultaneously surfaced what seems to be a growing interest in expanding the educational repertoires for engagement with current and future Muslim leaders. In this interreligious context, CIS has emerged as a leading center of graduate education and public engagement, and a bridge between theological education and Islamic studies scholarship in more “secular” contexts. It benefits both from its situation within the GTU and its proximity to the University of California, Berkeley. A final report on the 2013 grant to support CIS has recently been received, and it is anticipated that this grant will soon be formally closed. The GTU is among the group invited to submit proposals in the 2017 round of the Luce Fund for Theological Education, and its proposal is currently being evaluated by the Luce Fund’s advisors.