Description

Reviewing the Theology Program’s work in 2007-2008, an external evaluator noted the program’s substantial attention to interreligious educational ventures, particularly in the context of graduate theological education. Following that evaluation, Foundation staff agreed to prioritize, among other things, support for efforts “to strengthen the institutions which prepare leaders to serve in a world of religious and cultural diversity.” 
A more recent evaluation of the Theology Program, completed earlier this year, reflects on the extent to which the program’s grantmaking has done that, emphasizing how program grants contributed significantly to the development of an interdisciplinary field of interreligious and interfaith studies, extending beyond North American seminaries and divinity schools to include colleges and universities.
In their reflections on the 2007-2008 evaluation, Luce Foundation staff had noted that the Theology Program’s emphasis on preparing leaders for service in a religiously plural world was unique among national funders. That has changed, to some extent, in the ensuing decade, with several different funders now actively interested in issues of religious pluralism.
In this changing context, and as the Theology Program seeks to take stock of its support for interreligious or multireligious education, a handful of small grant-funded projects have been launched to support better understanding of, and communication between, existing lines of work. The project being recommended here would add to such efforts. Its attention to ideological diversity across the landscape of interfaith education extends out from, and will hopefully complement, previously supported convenings and publications.
The project will be led by Willemein Otten, a former Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology and the current director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion. Based at the University of Chicago, Professor Otten and the Marty Center will partner will IFYC, a nonprofit Chicago-based organization that has successfully partnered with other higher education institutions on past Luce-funded projects.
The proposal requests a grant of $50,000, and a grant of $45,000 is being recommended. If a grant is approved, the PI will be asked to revise the budget accordingly (with the primary change likely to be the removal of indirect costs).