Description

Since 1993, the Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology program has supported the scholarly projects of seminary and divinity school faculty members representing dozens of theological schools throughout the United States and Canada.  Administered by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), and consistent with the Luce Foundation’s commitment to broadening knowledge, the program has sought projects of high scholarly quality that could advance theological inquiry and strengthen religious leadership, while also reaching wider public audiences.  With this year’s selection of the 2017-2018 cohort of fellows, and a conference in the fall of 2018, the Fellows in Theology program will formally conclude, having supported 160 Fellows over 24 years.  As the program moves toward completion, and following encouragement from the Foundation, ATS has proposed a project that would assess its impact and celebrate its accomplishments, while also exploring future possibilities for theological scholarship.
To celebrate the accomplishments of the Fellows program, ATS proposes to gather a large group of fellows for a half-day conference, prior to the 2019 meetings of the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature.  Sessions at this gathering would focus on the character and future of theological scholarship.  The Association also proposes to assess the impact of the Fellows program, focusing on both the vocations of individual fellows and their fields of study.  A survey of fellows will explore a range of questions about the fellowship’s value and outcomes.  Brief interviews with select scholars will capture their experiences in greater detail.  Bibliographies of work by fellows, for both the academy and broader audiences, will be developed and analyzed, and a study of citations of publications by fellows will seek to identify the scholarly footprint of their projects.
This work of assessment will be situated within a wider exploration of future possibilities for theological research by faculty at ATS member schools.  Over the course of three years, an ATS Council on Theological Scholarship and Research will engage issues related to the future of theological scholarship.  In 2018, a seminar on theological research will gather scholars, media experts and other practitioners to explore joint research possibilities and multiple models of public scholarship.  Following the seminar, small groups of selected researchers will receive support to pursue pilot projects and share their findings.  Through these thematically focused projects, four small groups will explore both novel approaches to collaborative theological scholarship and innovative ways to disseminate that scholarship to a broad range of publics.  For each project, a senior scholar, likely a Luce Fellow, will be recruited to lead a team of as many as five younger scholars.  Teams will gather and communicate regularly in the second half of the grant period, and ATS will award sub-grants to support the work of their joint projects.
The Luce Foundation’s grant would provide funds for travel and lodging associated with the 2019 gathering of fellows, for the work of an assessment consultant and researchers, and for annual meetings of the Council on Theological Scholarship and Research, as well as for stipends for the Council’s co-chairs and guest presenters at its meetings.  The Foundation’s grant would also support project staffing, a two-day seminar on theological scholarship, and four pilot projects, with sub-grants of $50,000 for each project.