Missouri State University has received a $60,000 grant from Interfaith America to enhance religious literacy in health professions education. The grant recognizes MSU’s leadership in religious literacy and cultural competence in health care.

Out of 44 applicants, MSU was one of only 15 institutions awarded this competitive grant. The university’s longstanding efforts in integrating religion and health care education played a key role in securing the funding.

Plans for the grant include creating a new graduate certificate, adding health services courses and developing online resources to improve religious literacy in health care.

The grant runs from December 2024 to November 2026.

Grant builds on earlier initiative

Missouri State began teaching courses in religion and health about 10 years ago, according to Dr. Philippa Koch, associate professor in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Religions (LCR).

Koch is an Interfaith America Faith and Health Fellow. She will lead the grant initiative, along with Dr. Steve Berkwitz and Dr. John Schmalzbauer from LCR and Sarah Bowman, Dr. McCall Christian and Dr. Amber Abernathy from the McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS).

A $30,000 Wabash Center grant that Berkwitz and Schmalzbauer received in 2015 helped launch MSU’s first courses in religion and health, Koch said. “These efforts laid the groundwork for our current initiative.”

Since then, MSU has continued to build its interdisciplinary program. This includes creating the Medical Humanities Undergraduate Certificate in 2019 and the Mental Health and Spirituality Undergraduate Certificate in 2022.

Now, the new grant positions the university to be a leader in the growing field of religion and health, according to Schmalzbauer.

“We’re deepening our work at the intersection of faith and health to prepare future health care practitioners to serve diverse communities with cultural sensitivity,” Koch noted.

New interdisciplinary graduate certificate

Portions of the grant will be directed toward a new graduate certificate in Mental Health and Spirituality. Both Dean Shawn Wahl of the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH) and Dean Mark Smith of MCHHS expressed support for the new certificate initiative.

New courses will be added to supplement the certificate, including “Spirituality of Wellness,” “Religion and Public Health,” “World Religions for Professionals” and “Religion and Medicine in America.” The courses will be available as early as summer 2025, with full program approval expected by Fall 2026.

Both graduate and upper-level undergraduate students can apply the courses toward the new certificate.

Abernathy emphasized the benefits of the new certificate for both faculty and students. While allowing faculty to teach students a more “holistic view” of people, graduate students will also “greatly benefit from learning about the role spirituality plays in mental health,” she said.

Collaborative research and innovation

In addition to the new graduate certificate, MSU will use grant funds to collaborate with local health care partners, including CoxHealth, Mercy Hospital and the Alliance for Healthcare Education.

“We plan to work with the chaplaincy program at Mercy and hope to build new connections with CoxHealth,” Koch said. “We’ll also engage with the Have Faith Initiative in Springfield. We’ll bring speakers and panels to campus to discuss how a nuanced understanding of different faith and spiritual practices can improve health care throughout our community.”

The collaborative effort will work toward incorporating interfaith education into health care training.

“Medical humanities is a growing discipline, and many medical schools and hospital networks value students with humanities training,” Koch said. “A deeper understanding of religious multiplicity can improve patient outcomes and create a more compassionate health care environment.”

The grant will fund faculty research and development, including the completion of Koch’s textbook, “Religion and Medicine in America.” Faculty will also share their research and curriculum developments with other universities and medical institutions and attend national and international conferences to further place Missouri State as a leader in faith and health education.

For Bowman, the prospect is exciting. She is ready “to help future health care workers learn how to provide sensitive, patient-centered care across diverse religious backgrounds.”

A future for religious literacy

Koch hopes to sustain the initiative beyond the grant period by fostering long-term partnerships across campus and throughout the community.

“The grant will help kickstart these relationships, but we’re committed to building a network of people in Springfield who understand that religious literacy is vital to improving health care access and outcomes,” she said.

“Faith can shape health care choices in many ways, and understanding those dynamics is essential for health care professionals.”

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Photo credit: Damilola Oyedeji.

News edited by the Reynolds College Communications Team.