Religion in International Affairs

Program Aims

The Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion in International Affairs, launched in June 2005, aims to provide intellectual leadership, develop new paradigms for research and teaching, create new resources and networks, and enhance public understanding of and discussion about religion in the international sphere.

The initiative supports projects that draw on scholarly expertise to foster and disseminate more nuanced, contextualized and dynamic understandings of religion in global public life, politics and policy. We understand religion to be important in many domains, including conflict and peace, environment and sustainability, political economy and development, health and education, gender, race and sexuality, law and human rights, social movements, migration and humanitarianism.

Partners

The initiative invites proposals from a variety of institutions that work to deepen interdisciplinary understanding of the role of religion in world affairs, including academic, public policy and media organizations. We also seek to foster collaborations across these sectors. While grant-making focuses on institutions in the United States, we encourage proposals that develop sustainable conversations and relationships with colleagues and institutional partners in many parts of the world.

Universities

Support for universities may include efforts to work across disciplines and programs, bringing together faculty and graduate students in fields such as international relations, anthropology, religious studies, politics, rhetoric and communication, journalism, and area studies. The initiative also supports comparative research projects that may include collaborations across institutions and countries (see, for example, grants to the University of California, Berkeley for the Politics of Religious Freedom; George Washington University for Islam in a Changing Middle East; The New School for Sacred Landscapes and Sustainability in the Himalaya).

Media

As the media is often a bridge between the university and the policy world, the initiative encourages collaborative work that links scholarship, journalism, and a variety of media platforms (see, for example, grants to New York University and GroundTruth Project). In some instances we support media production (see, for example, grants to WGBH and America Abroad Media). We also invite proposals that deepen understanding of how the media and new digital technologies are shaping both religious practices and knowledge about religion and politics.

The Initiative no longer provides support for general religion reporting. In recent years we have primarily supported media projects that focus on particular issues or questions, which aligns with our work in policy and academia as well. As “religion” is a vast, diffuse and sometimes elusive term, we have found it more fruitful to work in this way.

Many of our recent media grants involve collaborations with scholars and/or academic institutions. We have found that academics are often keen to find media channels to disseminate their knowledge and insights, which can also, of course, provide deeper context and analysis to media programming.

Policy

Policy organizations are encouraged to develop proposals that reach beyond the applicant institution and engage with scholars, public intellectuals, journalists and other relevant partners, both in the U.S. and abroad (see, for example, grants to the Center for Strategic & International Studies and Brookings Institute).

Recent Grants

Digital Dignity: A Multimedia Project on Religious Politics in the Digital Age

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU München)|München, Germany

2020Religion in International Affairs$50,000 View Grant Details

For the Carthage School and Seminars on tolerance and pluralism.

Reset Dialogues (US)|Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States

2020Religion in International Affairs$120,000 View Grant Details

Whose Revolution? Re-assessing the impact of the 1979 Iranian Revolution on Sunni Islamism

London School of Economics and Political Science|London, London, United Kingdom

2020Religion in International Affairs$50,000 View Grant Details

Renewed support for reporting and university collaborations on religion in global affairs.

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting|Washington, District of Columbia, United States

2019Religion in International Affairs$500,000 View Grant Details

Renewed support for research about and documentation of religious intolerance and violence in three countries in Asia.

Human Rights Watch|New York, New York, United States

2020Religion in International Affairs$300,000 View Grant Details

See All Religion in International Affairs Grants

Program Administrators

Director of Policy Initiatives: Dr. Toby Alice Volkman

Prior to joining the Luce Foundation, Toby worked as Director of Special Projects at the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program in New York. She has also served as a program officer at the Ford Foundation, where she developed and managed an initiative (“Crossing Borders”) to revitalize the field of area studies; as director of the South and Southeast Asia Programs at the Social Science Research Council; and as deputy provost at the New School. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell University and a B.A. in Art History from the University of Chicago.

Program Assistant: Ms. Devin Denny

Prior to joining the Luce Foundation, Devin was a grant writer and fundraiser for human and social services for New York City’s performing arts and entertainment community. Devin holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in Religion, Politics and Ethics, and earned her Bachelors of Arts with Honors from the University of Rochester, with a double major in European History and Comparative Religion.