Research Projects

Loyola University Chicago’s Joan and Bill Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage (CCIH) supports research by full-time Loyola University faculty on topics concerned with or connected to the Catholic intellectual heritage. The primary purpose of this support is to facilitate advanced scholarly study of Catholic thought as it touches upon the arts, humanities, and sciences.

Application Information

Research projects can be proposed as summer projects, semester-long projects, or year-long research commitments, and by either individuals or teams of researchers. Grants are awarded to projects with specific concerns connected to Catholic thought and practice, Ignatian intellectual and pedagogical heritage, and social justice in the Catholic tradition.

All research projects are expected to culminate in some relevant output such as data collection, the publication of a journal article or book, or a conference presentation. Proposals can request support for a variety of scholarly activities, including archival research, book manuscript support, data collection, the planning of a conference, or supported field work. Awardees are expected to report on the progress of their research and participate in any activities the Hank Center develops to communicate this research—both inside and outside of Loyola University. Successful applicants are expected to submit a progress report and a final report that describes the outcomes of the funded research.

There are several funding tracks for our research awards, and applicants should be prepared to indicate the funding track for which they are applying. First, applicants will be asked to indicate whether they are applying for a summer, semester-long, or year-long award. Funding for individual researchers is capped at $3000 for summer and semester-long projects, and at $6000 for year-long projects. If research teams want to apply for funding beyond these caps, please contact us before submitting your application.

Applicants will also be asked to indicate whether research funds will be used to support (1) supplemental salary, (2) project expenses, or (3) a combination of (1) and (2). Supplemental salary is disbursed directly to awardees, and paid out in two installments--one towards the beginning of the award period, and the second at the end of the award period. Project expenses can include travel expenses, book purchases, conference registrations, etc. For proposals that include expenses to pay personnel--including staff, faculty, students, or other research collaborators or participants--please contact us before applying, as some of these expenses are allowable, and others are not.

Applications for projects taking place during Summer 2026 and Academic Year 2026-2027 will be due on January 16, 2026, and will be submitted through our application portal.

A completed application will include:

Project Description (of 900-1200 words) outlining the nature and scope of the project. This description should succinctly indicate the following elements:

Statement of significance, including principal research question(s) and proposed methodology
Outcomes: what the project aims to accomplish
Outputs: what deliverables will result from project activities (e.g. publication, colloquium, conference, interdisciplinary course, or lecture series).
Capacity for success: why project personnel are well-positioned to achieve project outcomes and deliver project outputs
Alignment: how the project is aligned to the Catholic/Ignatian intellectual (artistic, humanistic, cultural, scientific) heritage, and the mission of the Hank Center

Project timeline: a rough timeline for your project.

Project Budget: a one-page project budget with budget justification. Budget items can include supplemental salary or project expenses. As noted above, for proposals that include payments to personnel--including staff, other faculty, students, or other research collaborators or participants--please contact us before applying, as some of these expenses are allowable, and others are not. Computers are not supported by these funds because of the University Computer Replacement program.

Approval from Department Chair (to be completed through application portal)

All applications are reviewed and evaluated by the Hank Center Advisory Board. Proposals are judged based not only on the merit of the project in relation to topics of Catholic/Ignatian intellectual concern, but also the project’s clarity, focus, intended objectives, and likelihood of completion. The announcement of awards is made at the beginning of March.

Please direct any questions to Joe Vukov, Associate Director of the Hank Center, at jvukov@luc.edu.

The Catholic Church and the Multilateral Development Banks Cooperating to Reduce Global Poverty

Alexandru V. Grigorescu

Professor, Director of the Center for Research on International Affairs, & Internship Coordinator, Department of Political Science

The Catholic Church has been actively involved in its evangelical mission and in sharing the Christian message in an effort to address pressing global issues facing humanity, such as human rights, peacemaking, and sustainable development. In many of these international initiatives the Holy See has worked through formal channels with more than a dozen major intergovernmental organizations (IOs), such as the United Nations and European Union. Its direct collaboration with these organizations is well-documented in the literature. However, scholarship has hardly ever discussed the Holy See’s work with the World Bank and the regional multilateral development banks (MDBs) for Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. This is surprising because observers consider the Church and these IOs to be the “most influential anti-poverty institutions in the world.” This project seeks to fill this gap in the literature, focusing on formal and (especially) informal cooperation channels between the Catholic Church and these five MDBs.

Opposition to F. Max Müller’s Anti-Catholicism in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

Jack Kerkering

Professor, Department of English

Critics have established that Chopin’s 1899 novel The Awakening alludes extensively to writings by her contemporaries. My research project examines the novel’s allusions to the religious writings of F. Max Müller (1823-1900). While Müller’s lectures on religion paint Catholicism in a negative light as compared to Protestant faiths, allusions to Müller in The Awakening’s depictions of tensions between Protestants and Catholics suggest that Chopin invokes Müller in order to oppose his anti-Catholicism.

Guadalupe López Hernández and Lidia Monjaras Gaytan

Voices of Immigrant Communities Engaging Spirituality

Lidia Monjaras Gaytan and Guadalupe López Hernández

Assistant Professors, Department of Psychology

Amid increasing uncertainty surrounding immigration, many immigrant-origin youth turn to faith as a source of support. This project investigates how Catholic faith, practices, and communities help immigrant-origin youth, particularly those from mixed-status families, cope with stress, find belonging, and make sense of their experiences. The findings will provide valuable insights into ways faith communities and service providers can better support immigrant-origin youth.