The Love Ethic Network
Supported by a $10 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation awarded in June 2025, “Love and Social Transformation: Empowering Scholars and Social Innovators to Develop the Love Ethic” brings scholars, writers, nonprofit leaders and others together to advance a framework that captures the power, richness and applicability of the love ethic — a core component of many faith traditions throughout the world.
Love-based ethical insights have powered some of the most important social movements of the past century, such as Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha movement in India and Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights leadership in the United States. But in the 21st century, the more common approaches to ethical decision-making — especially in policy realms — focus instead on cost-benefit analysis.
Through this project, Notre Dame plans to build a durable, wide-reaching network that will include:
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Residential fellowships for faculty and graduate students developing the theoretical foundations for the love ethic.
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Fellowships and grants to nonprofit leaders and organizations putting this ethic into practice on pressing social issues.
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Intensive workshops and two global conferences designed to expand the reach of the love ethic.
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An integrated series of public engagement and storytelling programs that will inspire the broader public imagination about love and ethics.
Details about some of the funding opportunities available through this grant, including Love Ethic Collaborator Grants, Social Innovator Fellowships, and Love Ethic Postdoctoral Fellowships, can be found on our Fellowships & Grants page.
Notre Dame will collaborate with other institutions as research partners on this work, including The Love Consortium at the University of North Carolina. Network members will apply the love ethic to a wide range of use cases, including issues of displacement and migration, disability, global philanthropy, political polarization and artificial intelligence.
Read the full press release here.