Hillsdale College Professor Receives $2.5 Million Research Grant from the John Templeton Foundation
The grant will fund a three-year research project, ‘The Virtues and Vices of Spiritual Yearning.’
HILLSDALE, Mich. — Hillsdale College faculty member Ian Church, associate professor of philosophy, has received a $2.5 million research grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The grant will fund a three-year research project, “The Virtues and Vices of Spiritual Yearning,” beginning this month.
“This project brings philosophy, religion, and psychology into dialogue to understand a tension at the center of human flourishing,” Church said. “We’re asking whether spiritual fulfillment heals — or whether it can also dull curiosity and invite intellectual complacency. The goal is to map virtuous middle paths — ways of pursuing satisfaction without stagnation.”
“Projects like this give our students the opportunity to work on field-building scholarship as undergraduates.”
The grant will include funding for eight sub-grants (four in philosophy and four in psychology), a two-year postdoctoral appointment, undergraduate research fellowships, two conferences, six virtual workshops, and various publications and presentations.
“Projects like this give our students the opportunity to work on field-building scholarship as undergraduates,” Church said. “The opportunities for mentorship, scholarship, and research prepare them to excel in graduate school and beyond.”
The grant is the largest a Hillsdale faculty member has ever received, surpassing the $2.3 million grant Church received from the foundation in 2021 for his project “Launching Experimental Philosophy of Religion.”
For a headshot of Church, click here. For photos from Church’s philosophy core class, click here. For photos of Hillsdale College, click here. For a high-resolution copy of the Hillsdale College clocktower logo, click here.