Description

In June 2021, the Luce Foundation’s board of directors approved a grant of $100,000 to support the launch of a multimedia project on religion and technology. Based at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA – where the project’s PI, John L. Modern, is Arthur & Katherine Shadek Professor of Religious Studies – the project has been anchored by a podcast called “Machines in Between.” Creative and form-bending, the project has drawn on participation from a wide range of scholars working on religion and technology (including several current Luce grantees), while simultaneously cultivating a series of local engagements in Lancaster, particularly through the launch of a “Vinyl Church” exhibition and related event series. 
 
Modern and his colleagues now seek to extend this work at the intersections of religion, technology, and the arts, through the establishment of a new interdisciplinary institute. Based at Franklin & Marshall, the institute has recently received a commitment of support from the college, including a new and more expansive space for its operations. The Luce Foundation’s grant would supplement this support during an exploratory launch period, joining contributions from F&M’s Department of Philosophy, where institute co-director Nick Kroll serves as department chair. Details on the anticipated use of funds are included in the grant proposal. 
 
The Luce Foundation’s Religion and Theology Program seeks to deepen knowledge of religion’s complex and contested place in public life, and in conjunction with this goal one program objective is to promote more curious public conversations. Encouraging connections among scholars and a range of other public knowledge makers – including artists and media producers – the program’s strategies include support for exploratory and experimental initiatives working to reimagine public and community engagement through inventive uses of media. The work to be supported by this grant aligns well with this program objective and strategy.