About
With funding from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Luce-AAR Advancing Public Scholarship Grant program offered grants to support scholars of religion working to engage publics in innovative ways, through projects designed for presentation in public spaces and outreach through publicly accessible sites.
The grant program was available to AAR members in any country/location.
The program consisted of four grant cycles: 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Past Winners
2024
Abel K. Aruan, Villanova University
Mukabumi Resource Center for Religion, Ecology, and Coloniality
2024
Kathryn Barush, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University and the Graduate Theological Union
Sacred Journey as an Integrative Healing Ritual
2024
James Bielo, Northwestern University
with collaborator Heidi Campbell. Secondhand Religion: The Public Exhibition of Divested Religious Material Culture
2024
Patricia Bonilla, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Sacred Playlists: Love, Laughter, and Controversies
2024
Micki Burdick, University of Pennsylvania
with collaborators Risa Cromer and Lea Taragin-Zeller. Religion & Reproductive Politics Public Pedagogy Project
2024
Monica A. Coleman, University of Delaware
Podcast on Black Religious Pluralism
2024
Lachlan Davis, University of Divinity
Texts Behind the Text: Understanding the Sources Behind the Bible
2024
Brian Flanagan, New Ways Ministry
with collaborator Brian Doyle. The Popecast – Public Scholarship on the History and Theology of the Papacy
2024
M. Cooper Minister, Shenandoah University
Believing in Cure: Drawing on Personal Experience and Theories of Secularism to Illuminate the Role of Medicine in Our Collective Imagination
2024
Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
Building Online Action Resources for the Book Series “Building a Moral Economy”
2024
Bradley Onishi, University of San Francisco
with collaborator Lloyd Barba. Sanctuary: On the Border Between Church and State
2024
Shirley Paulson, independent scholar
with collaborators Deborah Niederer Saxon, Samuel Zinner, Tony Burke, Celene Lillie, Hal Taussig, Natalie Perkins, and Lē Isaac Weaver. A Free Public Online Course Introducing Nag Hammadi and Related Texts
2024
Leslie Polk, Union Theological Seminary
Dialogues with Katie: A Stage Play Production Examining Womanist Thought on Memory as Resistance
2024
Tiffany Puett, Institute for Diversity and Civic Life
Religions Texas Podcast Series
2024
Fabio Rambelli, University of California, Santa Barbara
with collaborator Vesna Wallace. Buddhist Traditional Arts and Technologies Past and Present
2024
Ana María Rodríguez Alfonso, Emmanuel College Of Victoria University in the University of Toronto
Unveiling Trauma: A Video Podcast on Understanding and Healing Trauma
2024
Eddie A. Rosa Fuentes, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
De-Generad*s After Hours: Taboos en Pelotas
2024
Alejandra Salemi, Duke University
Healing Theology: Exploring the Intersection of Public Health and Religion through Public Education Podcasts
2024
Rachel Schneider, Rice University
Race, Religion, and the Struggle for Racial Justice
2024
Jason Sexton, University of California, Los Angeles
with collaborator Testimony Ministries. Amid Hope and Redemption: Taking Stock of the Religious Roots of Mass Incarceration’s Eugenic Logic
2024
Michael Sheehy, University of Virginia
What is Contemplation?: A Blog Interview Series
2024
Paride Stortini, Ghent University
Remembering Restless Souls: What a Japanese Buddhist Temple Can Tell about Modern Sex Workers Migration in Asia
2024
Lis Valle-Ruiz, McCormick Theological Seminary
with collaborators Mayuko Yasuda, Immanuel Karunakaran, Seyo Oh. International Theological Per/Versions
2023
Mae Cannon, Churches for Middle East Peace
with collaborators Jennifer Maidrand, Drew University and Churches for Middle East Peace. Equipping Young Leaders: The Next Generation of Peacebuilders in Israel/Palestine
2023
Buki Fatona, University Of Oxford, UK
Phil-Sci-Theo: a docuseries exploring topics in the intersect of philosophy of science and religion
2023
Tuve Floden, Independent Scholar
Interviewing Religion: Bringing Scholars of Middle Eastern Religions to New Audiences
2023
Sawyer French, University of Chicago
with collaborators
Amrina Rosyada, Northwestern University,
Ali Ilham Almujaddidy, Gadjah Mada University,
Afifur Rochman Sya’rani, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Dian Adi Marianto, Indonesian Art Institute, and
Eliesta Handitya, Independent Researcher. The Suryakanta: An Indonesian-Language Review of Books
2023
Andrew Housiaux, Phillips Academy Andover
with collaborator Chenxing Han,
Independent Scholar.
Listening to the Buddhists in our Backyard
2023
Shenila Khoja-Moolji, Georgetown University
Writing Shia Ismaili Muslim Women into Community History
2023
Heather Mellquist Lehto, Harvard Divinity School
Children’s Picture Books for Religious and Cross-Cultural Understanding
2023
Younus Mirza, Georgetown University and Shenandoah University
The Islamic Mary: Maryam through the Centuries
2023
Kristian Petersen, Old Dominion University
Muslim Cinema Chronicles
2023
Elinor Pierce, Harvard University
Documentary Research and Production: A Bridge Over Hell’s Creek
2023
Dennis Saavedra Carquin-Hamichand, University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology
Can Embracing Hopelessness Lead to Suicide Prevention?
2023
Dheepa Sundaram, University of Denver
Hindutva Explained: Creating public-facing digital materials for teaching about Hindu Nationalism
2023
Jayne Wilcox, Independent Scholar
with collaborators Kim Chung Hu, Grace Covenant Church,
Kris Anne Swartley, Doylestown Mennonite Church, and Jennifer Johnson, Johnson University. SHEcclesiology — Girls Talking Church Podcast: Advocating for Women as Public Theologians
2022
Abimbola Adelakun, University of Texas at Austin
with collaborator Benson Igboin. Engaging the Public on “Violent Prayers”: A Proposal for a Media Tour in Southwestern Nigeria
2022
Jamie Andreson, Pennsylvania State University
with collaborator Ruth Landes Memorial Fund. In the City of Women: Ruth Landes’ Photo Collection of Brazilian Candomblé (1938-1939)
2022
Stephanie Arel, Fordham University
Bearing Witness: The Impact of Memorialization
2022
Marilyn Batchelor, Claremont Graduate University
Access to Civil Rights Activist, Theologian, Lawyer Pauli Murray through Gallery and Augmented Reality
2022
Benjamin Bogin, Skidmore College
with collaborators Adam Tinkle, Tom Yoshikami, Sienna Craig, and Ngawang Tsering Gurung. Pandemic Bardo
2022
Kutter Callaway, Fuller Theological Seminary
with collaborator
Christianity Today, Uncommon Voices Collective. Screensavers: How Evangelicals Won the Culture War and Lost their Souls
2022
Candi Cann, Baylor University
Good Grief: Course Creation and Website Integration
2022
Valentina Cantori, University of Southern California
Islam and its Publics: Crafting Public Images of Islam in the U.S.
2022
Christopher Cantwell, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Gathering Places: Religion and Community in Milwaukee
2022
Ken Chitwood, University of Southern California / Freie Universität Berlin
with collaborators
Deborah Caldwell, Judith Golub, and Mary Gladstone. ReligionLink Public Scholarship Advancement Expansion
2022
Matthew Cressler, College of Charleston
with collaborator
Marcus Jimenez.
Catholic Anti/Racist Stories
2022
Terrance Dean, Denison University
Through Her Hands: Aminah Robinson on Black Faith and Religious Incantations
2022
Miguel A. De La Torre, Iliff School of Theology
with collaborators Stacey Floyd-Thomas and Edwin David Aponte. Looking through the REARview Mirror: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
2022
Elaine Ecklund, Rice University
with collaborator Rachel Schneider. Religion Unmuted
2022
Rachel Feldman, Franklin and Marshall College
with collaborators Lia Tarachansky and Marc Serpa Francoeur. “The Children of Noah:” A Documentary Film Examining Contemporary Jewish Messianism
2022
anonymous
“Every breath you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you”: Addressing Cybersecurity Risks and Safety Measures for Scholars of Religion to Enhance Online Public Engagement
2022
Lynne Gerber, Independent Scholar
with collaborators Siri Colom and Ariana Nedelman. When We All Get to Heaven
2022
Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, Reed College
with collaborators Diana Chester, Moslem Mosque Incorporated, Center for the Study of Visual and Material Cultures of Religion at Yale University.
Place and Memory in the Oldest Mosque in the United States
2022
Robert Greenlee, Exhalt
with collaborator Simran Jeet Singh. Building Public Awareness of the Study of Religions on a Multi-Faith Digital Platform
2022
Andrew Henry, Center for Mind and Culture, Boston
with collaborator Andrew Ali Aghapour. Religion for Breakfast Radio
2022
Barbara McGraw, Saint Mary's College of California
Governmental Chaplaincy and Religious Diversity
2022
Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, University of Vermont
with collaborator Megan P. Goodwin. Keeping “Keeping It 101: A Killjoy’s Introduction to Religion” Accessible
2022
Michael Perez, University of Memphis
with collaborator Ali Altaf Mian. Religion, Sexuality, and the Politics of Solidarity:
Intersectional Publics in the Wake of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub Tragedy
2022
Stephen Thompson, University of Denver
with collaborators Andrea Stanton, Peter Van Arsdale, and Steve Werner. Religious Literacy For
International Development Practitioners
2022
Kaitlyn Ugoretz, University of California, Santa Barbara
Eat Pray Anime: An Educational YouTube Channel Exploring the Magic Behind Japanese Pop Culture
Submission Status
- Closed
Submission Deadline
October 14, 2024
Recognition Type
- Grant
Award Amount
$5,000