Center for Religion and the Human receives $750,000 from Henry Luce Foundation

Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Provost Professor in the Department of Religious Studies; affiliate professor of law in the Maurer School of Law; director of the Center for Religion and the HumanFounded in January 2019 to administer an initial five-year $1 million grant from the same foundation, the Center for Religion and the Human provides material and intellectual support for innovative scholarship that seeks to reshape academic and public conversations about religion’s relevance to fundamental and emergent questions about what it means to be human.

“Religion specializes in what it means to be human,” said Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Provost Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Center for Religion and the Human. She expressed gratitude for the Henry Luce Foundation’s generous support and called it deeply affirming of the work that she and her colleagues have done so far. “This is a collective project,” Sullivan emphasized. “Together with IU students and faculty participants from other universities, we’re excited to continue the Center’s research, creative activity, pedagogical innovation, and programming, building off of what we’ve developed in the first five years of our existence.”

Over the past six years, the Center for Religion and the Human has received $2M in total support from the Henry Luce Foundation’s Religion and Theology Program: $1M in 2018 for “Being Human: Public Scholarship as Theological Anthropology,” $250,000 in 2022 for “Unstately Black Religion: A Three-Year Study,” and $750,000 in 2024 to support the Center for Religion and the Human’s ongoing projects.

The Henry Luce Foundation is a philanthropy that advances knowledge and understanding in pursuit of a more democratic and just world. Jonathan VanAntwerpen, Program Director for Religion and Theology at the Henry Luce Foundation, was enthusiastic in support of the award:

“Supporting scholars who are working together with a wide range of partners and communities to produce new knowledge about religion, the grantmaking of the Luce Foundation’s Religion and Theology Program is oriented by an appreciation of the extraordinary diversity of religion in American public life, by a recognition that the vast and complex story of religion in America is often overlooked or misunderstood, and by a dedication to investing in organizations, networks, and individuals who create, care for, and share knowledge for the benefit of their communities and the wider world. The Center for Religion and the Human at IU Bloomington has been, and continues to be, an important partner in these efforts. We are delighted to have the opportunity to provide support for the Center’s ongoing and innovative work.”

The new three-year $750,000 grant was awarded to the College’s Religious Studies faculty Constance Furey, M. Cooper Harriss, Sarah Imhoff, and Sullivan.

“IU is an excellent place to do this work because of the very special culture here around teaching and research,” Sullivan said.

The projects and initiatives supported by this grant comprise a range of research and creative activities with collaborators across the country and around the globe. Projects include the academic journal American Religion, the Religion and the Human book series in collaboration with IU Press, the Being Human Institute for early-career scholars, the Charles H. Long Memorial Lectures, the Iris Book Award, Jewish Women Thinkers, Law and Religion, Operations of the Sun, Religion and Literature, and Teaching Religion in Public. In addition to ongoing projects, the grant includes support for “Being Human Indigenously,” which will fund research in the Yucatán Peninsula by Religious Studies professor Alexus McLeod.

The Center for Religion and the Human receives additional support from the IUB College of Arts and Sciences and IU Research. More information is available via the Center for Religion and the Human’s website.

About the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington

The College of Arts and Sciences is the beating heart of Indiana University Bloomington and traces its roots to IU’s founding in 1820. Part of a leading R1 (Research 1) university, the College has more than 70 academic departments offering undergraduate and graduate degrees within and across the natural and mathematical sciences, the arts, the humanities, and the social sciences.

In addition, the College is home to the Media School, the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.

College faculty are groundbreaking researchers and dedicated teachers and mentors to students. With an array of options, opportunities, and experiences to choose from, students are able to prepare for fulfilling work as well as a meaningful life. More than 90 percent of our undergraduates report a successful career outcome six months after graduation. Learn more at college.indiana.edu.

About the Henry Luce Foundation

The Henry Luce Foundation works to invest in knowledge-makers and ensure that their works inform public discussions. Today, the Luce Foundation carries on this work by supporting projects at universities among many other places. Since being established in 1936, the Foundation has granted hundreds of organizations more than 5,800 grants totaling in more than $1 billion. Learn more at hluce.org.