Templeton Pluralism Fellowship

The Templeton Pluralism Fellowship brings together a distinguished cohort of scholars committed to advancing understanding across religious and philosophical traditions. Our fellows represent a diverse range of disciplines, backgrounds, and approaches, but all share a common goal: to explore the contours of religious and worldview pluralism with intellectual rigor and curiosity.

Alex Lee

Born in Canada with roots in Hong Kong, I lived in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan for nearly fifteen years and now work at the intersection of comparative theology and Muslim-Christian engagement. As a PhD candidate at Fuller Seminary, my scholarship explores how embodied religious practices shape beliefs and cultivate meaningful encounters across traditions. As a practitioner, I am committed to fostering trust and mutual learning in religiously plural spaces, particularly between Evangelical Christian and Muslim communities in the Greater Toronto Area, where I live with my wife and two children. I teach as adjunct faculty at Fuller Seminary and consult on intercultural leadership at the Tyndale Intercultural Ministries Centre (Toronto).

Charles Turner

Charlie Turner is the Executive Director of the Virginia Muslim Civic League, an organization that advocates on behalf of Muslims throughout Central Virginia. Charlie received his doctorate in political science from the University of Utah and is a graduate of the Sorensen Institute’s Political Leaders Program at the University of Virginia.

Hamzah Raza

Hamzah Raza is a student at the Al-Azhar seminary and an Iftaa student at Egypt’s Dar Al-Iftaa, the world’s largest office for issuing fatwas(verdicts in Islamic jurisprudence). He will be the first American to graduate from this prestigious Iftaa program, which has seen the majority of its graduates go on to become the grand muftis of their respective countries. Hamzah holds both a BA and MA in Islamic Studies from Vanderbilt University and Harvard University, respectively. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Religion at the University of Cape Town, where his dissertation focuses on Islamic liberation theology in the 20th century. Previously, he served as the Muslim Chaplain at Boston College. His research interests include Islamic law, comparative jurisprudence, liberation theology, political Islam, religious nationalism and the preservation of civil liberties.

Janna Ramadan

Janna Ramadan is a policy analyst and researcher with a focus on issues of discrimination and marginalization. Her research centers on the impact of politicization, cultural symbolism, and environment on identity formation and expression, with a particular attention to Palestinian diasporic populations. In 2024, she graduated from the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) with an MPhil in Sociology on the Marginality and Exclusion pathway. There, her dissertation investigated Palestinian identity construction through ethnosymbolism. She is also a 2023 graduate of Harvard University with a joint AB degree in Government and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (Modern Middle Eastern Studies). Moved by her faith’s calls for justice and action against injustice, Janna is deeply committed to public service and advocacy. Currently, she works on affordable housing policy for the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing and, within her Greater Boston community, serves as President of the City of Boston Muslim Employee Resource Group and organizes with Engage Malden to promote civic engagement within the Muslim community. In her free time, you’ll often find Janna sipping on tea (early grey is her favorite), snacking on fruit, going for a run, or laughing at stand up comedy clips with her younger brother.

John Munayer

John S. Munayer is a Palestinian theologian from and based in Jerusalem who holds degrees from King’s College London, the University of Edinburgh and VU University Amsterdam. John is interested in researching and writing about Palestinian theology and Christianity, and interreligious dialogue. He is currently a PhD student, researching the political theology of Palestinians in relation to the Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem. In addition, John is an interreligious dialogue practitioner, serving as Director of International Engagement at the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue.

John Walker

John Walker is a doctoral student in Religion, Ethics, and Politics at Princeton University. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, he received a B.A. in Philosophy from George Fox University as a member of the Honors Program and an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary. His research concerns the history of Christian moral and political theology, with a focus on Augustine, Augustinianism, and the Protestant tradition. His current writing projects consider the nature of mercy and its role in public life and the place of eudaimonism in Augustine’s ethical thought.

Kate Middleton

Kate Kelly Middleton is a scholar-practitioner in comparative theology and interreligious dialogue. In November 2024, Middleton completed her doctoral studies at the Catholic University of America where her dissertation, “Cultivating Hope and Fear: An Applied Christian-Muslim Theological Framework,” was recognized with distinction. She currently serves on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue (NCMD) and has been a research fellow at the Rumi Forum and a Fellow at Auschwitz for Professional Ethics (FASPE). Middleton is an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco and Director of Mission and Culture at Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton. A former U.S. Naval Officer (2011-2016), she also has experience in Catholic lay ministry and interreligious chaplaincy.

Kathryn Heidelberger

Kathryn Heidelberger is a comparative theological ethicist specializing in the virtue ethics of Christianity and Islam. She serves as an Assistant Professor in Religion and Philosophy at Berry College in Rome, GA. As a teacher and scholar, Heidelberger equips her students with theological and philosophical resources to charitably engage with religious difference and matters of moral concern in a pluralized world. Her current research analyzes Thomas Aquinas’s and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s accounts of the virtuous life. In her research, Heidelberger explores ongoing and relevant questions about the relationship between loving God and living well and demonstrates the usefulness of engaging in moral inquiry across religious lines. Heidelberger completed her Ph.D. in theology, ethics, and philosophy at BostonUniversity, and received her M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary and her B.A. from Wheaton College. In addition to her academic work, Heidelberger has written public theology for Women in Theology and has collaborated on projects that bring literature and art to bear on theological questions and ideas.

Melissa Wear

Melissa is the Owner of Public Square Strategies. She helps religious, secular, international, and philanthropic organizations define their strategy, design programs, develop strategic messaging, produce insights, strengthen networks, and lead in matters of global concern. An expert in religion and politics and transatlantic relations, Melissa’s work on global issues such as soft power, culture, religious dialogue, and international development is broadly respected on both sides of the Atlantic. She co-produces the best-selling “Wear We Are” Substack. She was previously Head of Society Programmes at the British Council. She holds an MA in European Politics and a BA in International Studies from American University. She now resides in Maryland with her husband, Michael, and two daughters, Saoirse and Ilaria.

Rabea Benhalmin

Rabea Benhalim is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Law School. Her research focuses on the development of Islamic and Jewish law in the modern era. Within this area, her current work investigates how secular environments affect interpretations and development of religious law, especially for minority religions. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Minnesota Law Review, Wisconsin Law Review, and BYU Law Review, amongst others. She holds a J.D. from the University of Texas, an LL.M. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, a Master of Islamic Studies from the University of Texas, and a Master of Public Policy Degree from the University of Michigan. She is a co-founder and co-director of Grassroots Islam, a virtual, inclusive, and spiritual organization dedicated to Muslim Americans.

Youssef Chouhoud

Youssef Chouhoud is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Christopher Newport University and a faculty affiliate of the Reiff Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution. From 2023 to 2025, he is serving as a Public Fellow at the Public Religion Research Institute, where he produces accessible scholarship on religious, racial, and ethnic pluralism in America. Dr. Chouhoud’s research models support for core democratic norms, with a particular focus on political tolerance, and explores how religiosity shapes social and political attitudes. He also has an extensive record of public commentary on Muslim and Arab American opinions and behaviors.

Yusuf Lenfest

Yusuf Lenfest is a Muslim theologian who trained in traditional madrasas in Damascus, Abu Dhabi, Yemen, Mauritania, and the Hijaz. Yusuf also studied political theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science (MSc) and Islamic philosophy at Harvard University (MTS). He is currently completing his PhD at the University of Southern California where his dissertation examines law as a social practice, arguing that social order was not determined top-down by the state but was co-constructed through the legal ideals of scholars, the ethical realities of local communities, and a shared “culture of law.”