Large Project Grants
Large Project Grants offer funding often up to $30,000 to support in-depth, collaborative work that enhances teaching and the teaching life. These grants are designed for faculty teams, departments, or institutions pursuing strategic projects grounded in theological education. Proposals should be clearly aligned with Wabash’s mission and demonstrate potential for long-term pedagogical impact.
2026 Large Project Grant Request for Proposals
The Wabash Center is pleased to announce its request for proposals in 2026. Colleges, Seminaries, and Universities teaching religion and theology may submit proposals for up to $30,000 that may be used for a period of up to two years. Proposals may be targeted to establish new projects or enhance existing programs that support improving teaching and/or deepening the teaching life. All proposals must be focused on some aspect of improving teaching or the teaching life. The Wabash Center is especially interested in supporting programs that help faculty address one or more of the following objectives:
- Strengthening teaching practices that attend to and respect minoritized, marginalized, or new immigrant populations of colleagues and/or students.
- Enhancing teaching practices that are more fully aware of the teacher as a whole person for the health and wellbeing of the faculty community.
- Drawing more fully on the arts, imagination, and creativity to enhance the experience of teaching and the teaching life.
- Creating opportunities for faculty networking, faculty exchanges, faculty connection through retreats, excursions, and pilgrimages that help faculty expand their vision of teaching and the teaching life.
- Enhancing teaching practices that more intentionally equip the teacher with practices of critical and imaginative reflection upon teaching.
- Developing teaching practices centered on issues of justice, civic engagement, techniques of advocacy and activism for more learner-centered experiences.
- Forming deliberate conversation groups to discuss and reimagine the classroom in a digital age.
Full details may be found by downloading a copy of the complete RFP here.
Interested in applying? APPLY HERE
2026 AI Special Focus RFP
Educational Experimentation Grant:
Advancing Theology and Religion Education in the Era of Artificial Intelligence
This grant is open exclusively to faculty teaching in seminaries and theological institutions. The Wabash Center is offering grants up to $30,000 (over two years) to support educational experimentation in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into theological teaching and learning.
Proposals should explore:
- The pedagogical and ethical implications of AI in theological education;
- Strategies to build AI literacy among faculty;
- Ways AI may reshape the teaching life, learning environments, and academic values in theological contexts.
Full details may be found by downloading a copy of the complete RFP here.
Interested in applying? APPLY HERE
KEY DATES – MARK YOUR CALENDAR WITH THESE KEY DATES
| Milestone | Date | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest Meeting | January 15, 2026, 1–2 p.m. ET | |
| Application Due | February 10, 2026 (11:59 p.m. EDT) | |
| Project Timeframe | July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2028 | |
| Awards Announced | April 1, 2026 | |
| Grant Orientation (Zoom) | May 13, 2026, 1–4 p.m. ET |
What Are Large Project Grants?
Large Project Grants support collaborative, faculty-led projects that explore new approaches to teaching and the teaching life in higher education within theology and/or religion. These grants support experimental or strategic initiatives designed to enhance classroom practices, foster deeper reflection on pedagogy, and cultivate communities of teaching among faculty. Proposals should be framed around enhancing the teaching and teaching life of faculty, rather than focusing primarily on student outcomes or experiences
Past projects have explored:
- Innovative and best practices in pedagogy
- Digital and hybrid teaching models
- Teaching in specific theological or cultural context
- Faculty identity, vocation, and well-being
Instructions to Apply
- Download the 2026 Large Grant Application Guide here. This includes all details and required elements.
- Ready to apply? Click here or APPLY in the upper right corner.
- Review Eligibility carefully.
- Create/Log-in to an account and begin your application through our application portal.
- Prepare your application materials:
- Project Information Form
- Abstract or summary
- Full proposal narrative
- Relevant literature
- Assessment and evaluation plan
- Dissemination strategy
- Line-item budget and budget narrative (Read: Grant Budget and Expense Guidelines (pdf))
- Curriculum vitae (max 4 pages)
- Institutional letter of support
All materials must be submitted through the portal by 11:59 p.m. EDT on February 10, 2026.
Eligibility
- These grants are not scholarships and may not be used for tuition or degree-related work (e.g., M.Div., D.Min.).
- Ph.D. and Th.D. students are not eligible.
- These are not research grants intended to support book writing or field-specific research.
- Applicants must have completed and submitted the final report for any previous Wabash Center grant before reapplying.
Selection Process
All proposals are reviewed and adjudicated by the Wabash Center’s advisory committee. The process is competitive and based on alignment with our mission and selection criteria outlined in the RFP. Applicants will be notified via email, and awards will be announced by April 2026.
What Grant Funds Can(not) Support
Grant funds can be spent on items and activities such as:
- Childcare, elder care, house sitting to support attendance to group gatherings
- Meals or groceries for gatherings
- Travel, meals, lodging (retreat center, hotel, conference center, rented house)
- Stipends (meager) for participation in the group
- Equipment, supplies, and materials to support group meetings and discussions
- Honorariums for guest resource persons with the group
- Entrance fees or tickets for cultural events, museums, concerts, etc.
- Germane services (e.g., coaching, gym memberships, spa, spiritual direction, workshop registrations, etc.)
The Wabash Center generally does not fund:
- Research
- International travel
- Travel for attendance to disciplinary conferences
- The preparation of textbooks
- Research focused primarily on field content and only secondarily on teaching
- Publication of conference papers or books, or production costs of other media
- Stipends for writing the grant proposal or making application for the grant
- Home utilities should group convene online
- Items designated as gifts, presents, offerings or donations
- Travel, meals, lodging expenses should family or friends accompany participant on an extended conversation
Please note that the grants of the Wabash Center are not intended for the use of underwriting the ordinary, ongoing work of the professorate, much of which is already supported by the home institution or department. The grant funds are meant to be used to support and strengthen teaching and the teaching life. The above lists are not exhaustive. All projects and budget expenditures must be aligned with the Wabash Center mission.
Grant Orientation for Funded Projects
All funded project directors are required to attend the Large Grant Orientation (via Zoom) on May 13, 2026, from 1–4 p.m. ET.
This session will:
- Introduce project directors to Wabash Center staff
- Offer guidance on reporting and accountability
- Provide a platform to share project ideas and strategies
- Support participants in shaping plans for institutional impact
Proposal Writing Resource Hub
The Proposal Writing Resource Hub supports faculty in crafting strong, mission-aligned proposals for Wabash grants. Whether you're new to proposal writing or refining an existing idea, this hub offers practical tools, step-by-step guidance, and examples to help shape your vision into a compelling proposal. From articulating project goals to budgeting and evaluation, we’re here to help you succeed.
Grant Management Resource Hub
The Grant Management Resource Hub guides faculty through the effective stewardship of funded projects. This includes managing budgets, timelines, and reporting requirements with clarity and confidence. Designed to foster responsible grant leadership, the hub offers tools, templates, and best practices to ensure projects stay on track and aligned with the goals of your grant proposal.
Grant Coaching
We encourage you to seek grant coaching well in advance of the deadline. We recommend reaching out at least 30 days before submission. Coaching and feedback on the grant proposal are not available after an application is submitted.
To request coaching:
- Review the Grant Worksheet
- Contact Sarah Farmer at farmers@wabash.edu.
*Note: Because we receive many requests for feedback, responses may take up to four weeks for a response.
Questions? We’re here to help!
Email Sarah Farmer at farmers@wabash.edu if you have any questions about Large Grant.
Grant Coaching
The Wabash Center understands our grants program as a part of our overall teaching and learning mission. We are interested in not only awarding grants to excellent proposals, but also in enabling faculty members to develop and hone their skills as grant writers.
We strongly encourage you to be in conversation with us as you develop your ideas for a grant project into a formal proposal. We will gladly give you feedback on your ideas and draft proposal.
There is no guarantee that a grant that has gone through our coaching process will be funded—funding decisions are made by a separate Advisory Committee—but we will help you present the project in the clearest and most coherent way.
Direct Questions to:
Sarah Farmer, Ph.D.
Associate Director
farmers@wabash.edu