Templeton Religion Trust

Indian miniature painting originated in the manuscript traditions of the Mughal, Rajput, and other North Indian dynasties and has a history spanning over a thousand years. Renowned for their elaborate detail, rich color palettes, and sacred themes, miniature paintings transcend aesthetics by integrating religious rituals and spiritual devotion into artistic creation. For grantee Cristine Legare, a professor of psychology at The University of Texas at Austin and the director of its Center for Applied Cognitive Science, the practice of miniature painting, as it exists today, presents a unique opportunity to study cognitive and cultural co-evolution. “Our overarching objective is to examine how the experience of acquiring mastery of miniature painting supports cultural transmission, influences spiritual understanding, and religious meaning and practice." Learn more: https://bit.ly/40MQh45

What if looking at art is just the first step in experiencing it?

Every day, millions of people around the globe suffer because of their beliefs. Human rights abuses, social instability, and extremism are all on the rise. Even when conflicts begin as political, religion often becomes implicated, turning friends into foes and dividing neighbors into factions. “Global persecution victimizes every religious community somewhere. Millions face constant discrimination, repression, and even violence for the mere peaceful practice of their faith,” says grantee Knox Thames. Now a senior fellow at Pepperdine University, Thames served as the U.S. State Department Special Advisor for Religious Minorities during both the Obama and Trump administrations. During his 20 years of government work, he held key positions advocating for freedom of religion or belief, including at the State Department and two foreign policy commissions. Spanning a myriad of diverse tactics, Thames’ project is designed to inspire action, reinvigorate advocacy for religious freedom, promote coordination among governments and society, and initiate new religious literacy efforts in the U.S. and abroad. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3N0hfza

West Africa has a long history of Muslims and Christians living together. With Christians and Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa constituting more than 90% of the region’s population, it may well be the world’s most important theatre for exploring engagement between the world’s most dominant religions. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4ibuivb

For the first time in decades of polling, Gallup reports that fewer than half of Americans in 2020 were members of a church, synagogue, or mosque. Meanwhile, subscriptions to Netflix and other streaming services continue to increase worldwide even as movie theaters reopen. Together, these trendlines suggest that many people today may be more likely to be influenced by what they see on a screen rather than what they experience through a religious affiliation. On-screen stories can offer simulations of complex social and moral dilemmas. There’s an intricate relationship between films and their impact on our moral reasoning. Grantee Carl Plantinga and team intend to create an open-source database of coded film scenes and a measures bank to facilitate future cross-disciplinary studies on character engagement and moral understanding. Learn more: https://bit.ly/45BjvFn

What if African Christians and Muslims collaborated beyond their differences?

Explore the findings from grantee Heterodox Academy's new report:

Does matter matter? Does being in the gallery matter? The space is one part of the research question we're asking. The next question is, what is it like to experience the same installation in the digital world? Grantee Kutter Callaway is looking at measures before and after an in-person gallery exhibit and comparing those results with participants who experience it through a virtual tour online. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3VOwmRw

What if there are important and intuitive spiritual needs that aren’t being satisfied within organized world religions? Wild religions existed before the emergence of organized religions in most prehistoric societies. They’re also found today in small-scale, so-called ‘tribal’ or ‘traditional’ societies. And they still persist alongside organized religions in most large-scale societies. What if we could gain important insights from these “wild religions?” Watch more: https://bit.ly/3JmvU5R

Work is a shared endeavor where all sorts of people with a whole range of skills and energy are contributing value that impacts wider society as well. A wider view of business looks beyond trade, to the benefits provided, beyond individual goals to the greater good, beyond competitive strategies to constructing societies, beyond the profitability of deals done to the impact on lives lived. Learn more about this project exploring a view of work that looks to build better lives through business: https://bit.ly/49BvL9z