MU Center Awarded $1.5 Million Renewal Grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts

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MU Center Awarded $1.5 Million Renewal Grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Center for Religion, the Professions, and the Public at the University of Missouri-Columbia has received a $1.5-million renewal grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The grant will allow the Center to continue studying issues in the professions related to America's increasing religious and cultural diversity. The Center was established in 2003 with a $1.4-million Pew Trusts grant.

Faculty members from diverse disciplines including agricultural extension, business, health professions, journalism, law, medicine, public affairs, and religious studies will collaborate on the Center's projects.

“We are proud of the work the Center has accomplished in its first two years,” said MU Chancellor Brady Deaton. “It has brought together scholars from across campus and around the world to collaborate on scholarship aimed at better understanding the increasingly important role of religion in civic life and in the way professions serve the public.”

The Center is planning four interdisciplinary projects, all of which have teaching, research and outreach components.

  • Examination of the journalistic coverage of issues involving religion.
  • Research into the relationship between religion/spirituality and healthcare.
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration on professional ethics.
  • Campus and community colloquies on important professional, educational, and public policy issues.

The Center will become an independent affiliate of the Missouri School of Journalism, with close ties to other professional schools, the College of Arts and Sciences, and other research centers of the University. “We believe the School and the campus will benefit from as well as contribute to the rich research, teaching and outreach activities of the Center,” said Dean Mills, dean of the School of Journalism.

The interdisciplinary center is directed by Dr. Edmund B. Lambeth, an emeritus professor of journalism. “The Center will continue to focus on Mizzou and the state of Missouri as well as outward to appropriate national and international constituents. We are grateful for the support of The Pew Charitable Trusts and for the citizens and members of the academy who have joined in our work.”

The Pew Charitable Trusts serves the public interest by providing information, advancing policy solutions and supporting civic life. The Trusts will invest $204 million in fiscal year 2006 to provide organizations and citizens with fact-based research and practical solutions for challenging issues.

Along with MU, Boston University, Emory, New York University, Notre Dame, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, and the University of Virginia are homes of Pew-funded “Centers of Excellence.” Each explores the role of religion in various aspects of public life.

Since its founding in 2003, MU's Center has supported the work of faculty and fellows, organized interdisciplinary seminars, contributed articles to scholarly and professional journals, developed a Web site, and sponsored a lecture series that attracted nearly 1,300 people.

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