Interfaith America is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025-2026 Curriculum Development Grants, which honor campus leaders reimagining higher education by fostering pluralism in their classrooms.
This year, we invited teams of two educators with significant differences to apply for $4,000 grants to design courses on the theory and practice of pluralism to be taught between January 2025 and May 2026. Each teaching team is composed of two educators who bring unique perspectives shaped by at least one deep difference related to the course content. As a result of this initiative, civic pluralism courses are being designed by the grantees to explore bridgebuilding, interfaith collaboration, interpersonal communication, conflict transformation, the intersection of religion and democracy, and more.
These grants support the development of transformative courses that will equip students with skills such as bridgebuilding, media literacy, empathy, deep listening, and critical thinking to engage constructively between diverse perspectives and disparate groups.
We are proud to award funding to eleven outstanding teams from institutions nationwide to develop or revise courses that equip students to engage constructively across lines of difference. Each course will use at least three resources from Interfaith America’s Learning and Action Bridge (LAB) to enhance their impact.
Here are the recipients of the 2025-2026 Curriculum Development Grants:
- John Becker and Jessica Spence Moss (California State University, Long Beach)
- Elizabeth Sink and Leah Holz (Colorado State University)
- Walker Smith and Maxwell Greenberg (Goucher College)
- Jason Leggett and Helen-Margaret Nasser (Kingsborough Community College, CUNY)
- Esmilda Abreu-Hornbostel and Lisa Sargese (Montclair State University)
- Nicole Johnson and Aaron Howell (University of Mount Union)
- Melissa Carter and Chelsea Garbell (New York University)
- Filiz Ruhm and Metasebia Woldemariam (Plymouth State University)
- Adrian Bird and Hadia Mubarak (Queens University of Charlotte)
- Alessandro Moscarítolo Palacio and Kaija Mortensen (Randolph College)
- Ossama Abdelgawwad and Amanda Brobst-Renaud (Valparaiso University)
These exceptional educators represent a shared vision for higher education: one where students are empowered to engage in meaningful conversation and collaboration across significant differences and contribute to a more pluralistic society. Their collective impact will extend far beyond their classrooms, inspiring their campus communities to embrace mutual respect, authentic relationships, and meaningful cooperation toward shared positive goals in an increasingly diverse world.
Stay tuned to Interfaith America for highlights of these grantees and their transformative work.
This grant is made possible through generous funding from the Templeton Religion Trust.
