Congratulations to our 2025 & 2026 Large Grant Recipients. Learn about their projects in the abstracts listed below!

Leadership Development for Early to Mid Career Theological Librarians

Kelly Campbell, Columbia Theological Seminary

This leadership development grant is designed to help early and mid career theological librarians develop self-awareness of their leadership style, learn the importance of trust and communication, and participate in professional coaching focused on their particular context.

How We Teach: Experiences of Latina Theological Educators

Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, Iliff School of Theology

This project seeks to gather together Latina theological educators to reflect on the question: What does it mean to be and teach as Latinas within theological education? Inhabiting a particular set of marginalized intersectional identities as both women and Latinas, we as educators often exist at the edges of our respective institutions both pedagogically and ontologically. The project will consist of one large conversation, held at AAR/SBL in November 2025, followed up by a smaller in-person retreat with conversation co-facilitators to engage in a review of the notes, summarizing the strengths, challenges, and opportunities named in the dinner conversation and then reflecting on the summary in order to determine future avenues for connection among Latina educators.

Fostering a Community of Practice for Leaders in Lifelong Learning

Israel Galindo, Columbia Theological Seminary

Through this project we seek to provide support for leaders in religious and theological lifelong learning for ministry through the cultivation of a community of practice. The scope of the project builds on the three-day in-person gathering to address the distinctive aspects of lifelong learning as a teaching-learning context in theological education, the competencies needed for effective leadership of these programs, and best practices for program design and development.

Roots and Horizons

Jessica Lugo, Association for Hispanic Theological Education

This grant seeks to address the urgent need to equip Hispanic emerging faculty with skills that bridge academic rigor and grassroots ministry. Despite Latinos representing nearly 30% of the U.S. population by 2050, only 8% of faculty nationwide are Hispanic, and fewer than 40% of theological educators report preparation in multicultural pedagogy. This initiative, hosted at the Justo and Catherine González Resource Center, will train two cohorts of 14 participants over three years, combining practitioner and scholarship faculty in mutual learning. Participants will gain culturally responsive teaching methods, pedagogical tools, portfolio development, and replicable models for training at least five peers each, extending impact to 60 faculty members. By integrating cultural competency, theological depth, and effective pedagogy, the project strengthens Hispanic theological education and ensures sustainable transformation in classrooms, churches, and communities.

Teaching in a Traumatizing Today

Oluwatomisin Ordein, Brite Divinity School

In a time where trauma and terror saturate the modern moment, how is one supposed to teach? The trauma-informed movement in theological education experienced a boost soon after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world.  In 2026, it has come to a fork in the road: faculty are being challenged to consider where trauma-informed pedagogical approaches fit into their overall teaching life amidst even more traumatic experiences infiltrating the public sphere at an alarming rate. Brite Divinity School’s project “Teaching in a Traumatizing Today” asserts that being educated in integrating trauma-informed paradigms and skills in the theological classroom can inspire a collective culture of communal care and attentiveness centering faculty and student wellness as a critical aspect of theological education.

World Building Lexicology for AI Pedagogy

Philip Butler, Iliff School of Theology

This two‑year project will convene a faculty cohort at Iliff School of Theology to develop, test, and refine a shared lexicon that connects artificial intelligence (AI) to theological education, pedagogy, and vocation. The cohort will experiment with AI‑related practices in their classrooms, then return to sustained conversation to name and define key concepts—such as algorithmic authority, digital discernment, mediated presence, and AI as working companion—that can guide Iliff’s teaching with and about AI. The result will be both a deeper common framework for faculty along with concrete classroom practices that help students imagine AI‑integrated futures, what it means to work alongside AI responsibly, and the intentional reconceiving of their relationality to digital modalities more broadly.

The fAIthful Teaching in Transition Time

Danny Santiago Torres, Universidad Teológica ECHAM

This initiative seeks to equip 24 Hispanic theological faculty across Puerto Rico, Texas, and Indiana to engage artificial intelligence critically and faithfully while strengthening vocational renewal, emotional well-being, and innovative teaching practices. Responding to the rapid rise of AI in education and the lack of formal faculty preparation—especially among theological and Hispanic educators—the project will combine two in-person retreats, hybrid workshops, monthly reading and dialogue circles, theological discernment on the spiritual and ethical risks of AI, and the collaborative creation of replicable teaching resources. Grounded in Scripture, liberation theology, justice, and cultural relevance, the initiative aims to help faculty identify algorithmic bias, develop inclusive and technologically informed pedagogy, and model faithful discernment in transitional times. Through peer mentoring and faculty-led replication, the project is expected to extend its impact to more than 90 educators, while embedding AI literacy and faculty formation into ECHAM’s long-term institutional development.

Teaching and Learning in the Midst of Government-Sponsored Violence

Justin Sabia-Tanis, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

This project responds to the trauma, disruption, and moral urgency created by recent federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. Located at the center of communities directly affected by ICE activity, the seminary seeks to support faculty, staff, and administrators as they process both trauma and spiritual growth so they can remain grounded, healthy, and effective educators during a prolonged crisis. The project will develop and assess practices of care, reflection, and peer support for educators; examine how direct involvement in justice work is reshaping theological teaching, leadership, and curriculum; and revise pedagogical approaches in light of pressing questions of suffering, compassion, hope, and community. At the same time, the seminary will collect, preserve, and analyze primary source materials emerging from faith-based activism, chaplaincy, worship, and community resistance in the Twin Cities, creating resources for theological educators and faith leaders beyond Minnesota. Through educator support models, curricular reflection, public dissemination, and accessible archival resources, the project aims both to strengthen teaching in a time of crisis and to preserve the theological and practical wisdom emerging from this moment for wider use.

Teaching Theology Across Languages in the AI Age

Kwangjun Choi, California Prestige University

This project will equip theological faculty in its trilingual seminary context—Korean, English, and Chinese—to engage AI critically, ethically, and confidently as educators serving immigrant communities in Los Angeles. Responding to faculty anxiety about teaching identity, student authenticity, and the pressures of adopting AI in multilingual classrooms, the project will form a cohort of 12 core faculty to experiment collaboratively with AI tools, reflect on their pedagogical and theological implications, and develop practical frameworks for discerning when AI can assist and when the irreplaceable work of human theological educators must remain central. Through workshops, classroom pilots, monthly peer-learning meetings, technical support, and campus-wide sharing, the project will address AI literacy, authentic assessment, ethical concerns such as bias and data privacy, and the particular risks AI poses for minority-serving and non-English-dominant communities. Outcomes include increased faculty confidence, reduced anxiety, documented classroom experiments, a framework for identifying “Just Me Tasks” in theological education, and a practical guide for minority-serving seminaries, with the goal of shaping broader conversations about faithful teaching in the AI age.

Cornbelt Colloqui

Cara Burnidge, University of Northern Iowa

A two-year initiative to support Religious Studies faculty at Iowa’s three public universities as they respond to escalating political and institutional pressures, including anti-DEI legislation, restrictions on so-called “divisive concepts,” curriculum review for workforce alignment, and the possible closure or restructuring of Religious Studies programs. In a context where no clear guidance exists for sustaining teaching and academic vocation under such constraints, the project will create a statewide peer network for faculty with Religious Studies and related expertise, offering semesterly virtual colloquia for legislative updates, mutual support, celebration of achievements, and discussion of the teaching life. A core group of up to ten faculty will also gather for two multi-day in-person retreats to reflect collaboratively on academic freedom, curricular change, burnout, and the future of Religious Studies in Iowa. By building community, renewing teaching praxis, and generating responses that can be shared with colleagues nationwide through professional organizations and conference presentations, the project aims both to revitalize Religious Studies teaching in Iowa and to offer a model for educators facing similar state-level challenges elsewhere.

Equipping Theological Educators for AI: A Faculty Development Initiative

A. Denis Bell, Lexington Theological Seminary

An effort to help faculty engage artificial intelligence with theological depth, ethical discernment, and pedagogical confidence. Grounded in the doctrine of the Imago Dei and shaped by commitments to justice, accessibility, and Universal Design for Learning, the initiative will prepare faculty to experiment with AI in ways that support inclusive, creative, and spiritually grounded teaching while critically addressing concerns such as algorithmic bias, data privacy, academic integrity, ableism, and digital inequity. The project centers on a twelve-week online cohort course for sixteen faculty members, supported by librarians, academic leaders, instructional technology staff, and an external AI expert, followed by collaborative reflection to develop institutional guidelines for faithful AI use in theological education. Expected outcomes include increased faculty confidence, redesigned courses that integrate AI and accessibility standards, and the creation of shareable resources such as a “Toolkit for Faithful AI Pedagogy,” accessibility checklists, and an LTS Faculty Covenant on Responsible AI Use. Through internal formation and broad dissemination, the project aims to strengthen the teaching life at LTS and contribute a practical, justice-oriented model for AI engagement across theological education.

Centering Islam: Networks, Best Practices, and Peer Support in a Critical Moment

Kayla Wheeler, Xavier University—Cincinnati 

An initiative designed to support Islamic/Muslim studies program and center directors who often serve as isolated representatives of their field while carrying heavy administrative, mentoring, and public-facing responsibilities in an increasingly hostile climate marked by Islamophobia, anti-Muslim racism, anti-DEI policies, and pressures on the humanities. Bringing together a diverse cohort of sixteen scholars from a range of institutions, the project will combine an in-person retreat with four virtual meetings to foster community, reduce burnout, center self-care, and cultivate justice-oriented pedagogy, inclusive mentoring, and sustainable program leadership. Guided by six framing questions on community, positionality, care, pedagogy, curriculum, and institutional support, participants will reflect on how to thrive as teacher-scholars and directors while navigating structural inequities and crisis conditions. The project will also generate broader impact through published participant reflections, a national listserv for Islamic/Muslim studies directors, and longer-term plans for a resource guide and annual convenings, thereby creating lasting networks and practical support for a field whose faculty are too often left to work in isolation.

Deepening Theological Engagement with AI

Jesse Mann, Drew University

This project seeks to move faculty development beyond technical AI training toward sustained theological inquiry, collaborative experimentation, and vocational reflection, with particular attention to ethics and social justice. Building on a prior Wabash small grant, the project will convene a multidisciplinary cohort of theological educators, technologists, and university partners to explore AI’s implications for theological education through site visits to AI hubs and labs, conversations with pastors and secondary school teachers using AI, and regular communal discussions of curated readings and podcasts. The project will focus especially on how AI shapes understandings of the human, non-human, and divine, while also addressing environmental harms, racial and economic inequities, and surveillance and data privacy concerns. In its second phase, the cohort will share its findings with the entire theological faculty and the wider university through faculty development sessions, public presentations, and invited talks by leading scholars of AI and social justice. Through assessment, public dissemination, and archival resources, the project aims to equip faculty and the broader university community to engage AI critically, theologically, and responsibly as higher education increasingly adopts these technologies.

Latina Scholars: Building Generational Bridges and Crossing Borders

Cristian De La Rosa, Boston University School of Theology

Latina Scholars in seminaries/schools of theology across the United States face unique challenges and opportunities as they participate in theological education and formation processes for religious leadership. Their pedagogical methods and practices are rooted in their struggles, resilience, and abilities to manage power dynamics within religious institutions making them uniquely equipped to engage the complex circumstances we face in this country today. However, Latina scholars are made invisible in academic settings, and their careers are often truncated by the dominant academic culture and institutional practices. This project is an intentional effort to identify pedagogical methods and practices of Latinas serving within seminaries/schools of theology across the United States. The essential element in the design of this project is the sharing of gleaned wisdom by senior scholars with mid-career and new Latina scholars. It includes a vital mentoring component supporting the bridging across generations so Latina scholars can address the complex current circumstances in this country through their teaching and accompaniment of students and each other as they face immigration issues in the United States. The urgent questions this project will engage are mainly two: (1) What are Latina faculty in seminaries/schools of theology practicing within the classrooms that is inherent to Latinas and emerge from own cultures and traditions as descendants of the colonized? (2) How do Latina scholars need to prepare for the intentional formation and accompaniment of religious leaders today as we face current world crises like global migration, global warming, and the development/advancement of AI into our daily lives?

Teaching Life in Disruption: Northern Pedagogies and the Renewal of the Teaching Life

Christopher Duncanson-Hales, Thorneloe University, School of Theology

A cohort-based faculty development initiative hosted by Thorneloe University in Sudbury, Ontario, that brings together 18 theological educators from Northern Ontario and across Canada to explore how teaching can be sustained in contexts marked by institutional disruption, geographic isolation, and cultural change. Emerging from the fallout of Laurentian University’s 2021 restructuring and the dissolution of federation agreements that destabilized the region’s theological education ecosystem, the project reframes Northern Ontario not as a site of deficit but as a source of pedagogical insight. Through three retreats, ongoing peer-learning circles, and substantive collaboration with Indigenous partners including NAIITS, the Anishinaabe Spiritual Centre, and Kenjgewin Teg, participants will engage land-based learning, reciprocal inquiry, and reflection on vocation, place, and limitation as formative dimensions of the teaching life. Rather than prescribing best practices, the project creates a relational and experimental learning environment in which educators test what sustains good teaching over time, with outcomes including renewed vocational resilience, documented pedagogical insights, and adaptable methodological resources for theological educators in other isolated, precarious, or disrupted settings.

Knowledge, Power, and Formation in the Age of AI: A Theological and Indigenous Wisdom Workshop Series

Geoffrey Ready, Trinity College Faculty of Divinity

A faculty development initiative based at Trinity College, University of Toronto, that will equip theological educators to engage AI as a question of formation, power, justice, and faithful teaching rather than mere efficiency or technical skill. Co-led by a faculty member who uses AI and a theology librarian who approaches it critically, the project will convene 15–20 faculty from Trinity College, the Toronto School of Theology, and other Canadian theological institutions for a six-session workshop series that brings Christian theological anthropology into dialogue with Indigenous epistemologies, particularly through collaboration with scholars from NAIITS. The workshops will examine how AI reshapes what counts as knowledge, threatens embodied and relational formation, perpetuates extraction and bias, and challenges theological education to set meaningful boundaries through discernment, refusal, and faithful constraint. Through case studies, cross-tradition dialogue, contemplative practice, and practical pedagogical development, participants will create assignments, assessment strategies, and institutional practices that protect slow, relational, and accountable knowing. The project will culminate in a shared framework for AI discernment in theological education and a set of publicly available resources to support wider conversations about decolonizing pedagogy, theological formation, and responsible engagement with AI.

Developing Methods for Using AI in Interreligious Curricula: Navigating Accuracy, Assessment, and Authenticity Between Religious Traditions

Lucinda Mosher, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace

This proposal supports Hartford International University in developing pedagogical methods for using AI in interreligious education with attention to accuracy, bias, assessment, and authenticity across religious traditions. Through presentations, faculty colloquia, classroom experimentation, and collaboration with AI specialists, the project will equip faculty to teach students how to evaluate AI-generated religious content critically and ethically in fields such as chaplaincy, peacebuilding, and interreligious dialogue. The long-term goal is to position HIU as a leader in shaping AI practices and content intelligence for interreligious studies.

Practicing Presence in an Age of Artificial Intelligence: Faculty Formation for Embodied Pedagogy in Pastoral Theology

AHyun Lee, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary 

The initiative forms a faculty cohort in pastoral theology, care, counseling, chaplaincy, and spiritual formation to examine how AI is reshaping pedagogies of presence in theological education. Through virtual seminars, AI platform engagement, conference participation, and a culminating retreat, the project will help faculty develop AI literacy, clarify embodied and relational teaching practices, and explore how AI can serve as a pedagogical mirror rather than a substitute for formation. The project aims to strengthen faculty judgment, vocational sustainability, and teaching strategies in disciplines where presence is central to professional and spiritual formation.

The AI Teaching Studio: Faculty Formation for Hybrid Pedagogy in a Technologically Mediated Age

Michael DeLashmutt, General Theological Seminary

This establishes a cross-institutional faculty development initiative at General Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary to integrate AI literacy with effective hybrid pedagogy in theological education. Through a six-module faculty cohort, hands-on experimentation labs, and a reflective retreat, the project will equip faculty to engage AI critically, ethically, and theologically while strengthening their confidence, wellbeing, and teaching practice in technologically mediated environments. The project will culminate in a sharable Faculty Toolkit of best practices, ethical guidelines, and hybrid teaching resources for ongoing use within and beyond the two seminaries.

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

• 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.

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.

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.

• 20 Key Questions to Answer Before Writing a Grant Proposal
• Budget and Expense Guidelines
• Dissemination Planning Worksheet
• Dissemination Strategies
• Examples of Wabash Center Grant Projects
• Grant FAQ

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.

• Dissemination Strategies
• Dissemination Planning Worksheet
• Examples of Wabash Center Grant Projects
• Faculty Transferring Institutions Instructions
• Instructions for Requesting a Grant Extension
• Sample Budget Revision Request
• Sample Letter Requesting Budget Revision
• Grant Reporting Guidelines
• Grant FAQ

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.