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Fran Grace Ph.D.

Emerita Professor of Religious Studies
Religious Studies

Education

  • Certification in Spiritual Direction, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 2000
  • Ph.D. American Religious History, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1997
  • (Dissertation with honors; Ph.D. Fellowship Award every year, 1993-1997)
  • Master of Divinity (summa) Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 1992
  • M.A. Political Science (magna) University of Texas, Austin, 1991
  • Certification in Italian - Universita' di Firenze (Italy), 1988

Professional Background

Fran Grace grew up in a nature preserve on Florida's Gulf Coast. She sees her teaching and research in the field of Religious Studies as a continuing inquiry into those early experiences of solitude in nature. The first part of her career grappled with the downside of religion—its dogmatism and judgmentalism—not only within religious history but also within herself. Her current teaching and writing explore the upside of religion, mainly the "inner life"—its inspirational teachers and the various methods for compassion, spiritual development, healing, wholeness, and the paths to Self-realization as taught by the sages and mystics of the world's spiritual traditions. For the most current information about Fran Grace, see the website for Inner Pathway, a 501c3 non-profit organization that she founded in 2008. She offers a weekly virtual Loving Kindness Meditation through the University of Redlands, free and open to the public, as described on the Meditation Room's website.

Areas of Expertise

  • Psychology and Religion
  • Meditation
  • Contemplative Life
  • Spirituality, Addiction, and Recovery
  • Spirituality and Activism
  • Mystics
  • Cultivation of Compassion, Joy, Love, Forgiveness, and Peace

Publications

BOOKS

Fran Grace. The Power of Love: A Transformed Heart Changes the World (42 photographs; 776 pp.). Inner Pathway Publishing, 2019. Benjamin Franklin Silver Book Award, ‘Best Inspirational Books’ category

Judith Simmer-Brown and Fran Grace, eds. Meditation and the Classroom. (Albany: State University of New York Press), 2011. Pbk, 2012. (279 pp.)

Fran Grace. Carry A. Nation: Retelling the Life, Religion in North America series (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), 2001. Pbk, 2004. (373 pp.) 2001 - Featured on CSPAN Booknotes Program. 2021 - Featured on the History Channel Podcast

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BOOKS – Edited and/or Compiled

Compiled and edited by F. Grace. My Life with Doc, by Susan J. Hawkins. Veritas Publishing, 2022.

Compiled and edited by F. Grace. The Map of Consciousness® Explained, by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. Hay House Publishers, 2020. A primer.

Edited by F. Grace. Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D., Veritas Publishing, 2012, Hay House, 2013.

Edited by F. Grace. Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior, by David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. Veritas Publishing, 2012. Author’s Official Revised Edition.

 

JOURNAL ARTICLES – PEER-REVIEWED

F. Grace. 2023. Video Spotlight: Meditation Program. Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education 1:1 (April): 1. Open Access article.

Ko, Celine, Fran Grace, Gilbert Chavez, Sarah Grimley, Emily Dalrymple, and Lisa Olson. Effect of Seminar on Compassion on Student Mindfulness, Self-Compassion and Well-being: Randomized Controlled Study. The Journal of American College Health 66:7 (March 2018): 537-545. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1431913

Grimley, S.J., Ko, C.M., Morrell, H.E.R, Grace, F., Banuelos, M.S., Bautista, B.R., Chavez, G.N., Dalrymple, E.R., Green, M., Burning, J., Heuerman, A.C., Huerta, M., Marks, M., Ov, J., Overton-Harris, P. & Olson, L.E. (2018). The need for a neutral speaking period in psychosocial stress testing. Journal of Psychophysiology.

Diane Eller-Boyko and Fran Grace. "Longing for the Feminine: Love, Sexual Orientation, Individuation and the Soul," Vol. 60, No. 3 (October 2017): 289-316. Psychological Perspectives: A Quarterly Journal of Jungian Thought. Open Access article. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2017.1350800

F. Grace. "Unconditional Love: Applications of a Timeless Teaching," International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, December 2017, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 1-12. Open Access article.

Diane Eller-Boyko and Fran Grace. Liz in September (Film Review Essay). Psychological Perspectives: A Quarterly Journal of Jungian Thought, (December 2016).

Ko, C.M., Olson, L, Grace, F. (2015). An exploration of the effects of a seminar on compassion on student psychological outcomes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

F. Grace, “Learning is a Path not a Goal: Contemplative Pedagogy – Its Principles and Practices,” Teaching Theology and Religion, Vol. 14, No. 2 (April 2011), 99-124.

Fran Grace, Thomas Coburn, Anne Carolyn Klein, Louis Komjathy, Harold Roth and Judith Simmer-Brown. “Contemplative Pedagogy: FAQs,” Teaching Theology and Religion, Vol. 14, No. 2 (April 2011), 167-174.

F. Grace. “Beyond Reason: The Certitude of the Mystic from Al-Hallaj to David R. Hawkins,” International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol. 1, No. 13 (September 2011), 147-156. Open access article.

F. Grace. Guest Editor, “Spirituality in Higher Education: Problems, Practices, and Programs” in Journal of Religion and Education, 36:2 (Summer 2009).

F. Grace. “A Pedagogy of Reverence,” Journal of Religion and Education, 36:2 (Summer 2009), 102-123.

F. Grace. "Breathing in Suffering, Breathing Out Compassion," UCLA Spirituality and Higher Education Newsletter, Vol. 5, Issue 2, May 2009, 1-10.

F. Grace and Judith Simmer-Brown. “A Contemplative Response: The Part IS the Whole,” Journal of Religion and Education, 36:2 (Summer 2009), 150-152.

Fran Grace and Cynthia Cornell Novak, “Same Faith, Different Fates: A Regional Explanation for the Differences in Women’s Experiences in the Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ Movements,” Leaven, 1999.

F. Grace. “With Bible in One Hand and Battle-Axe in the Other: Carry A. Nation as Religious Performer,” Religion and American Culture (Winter 1999)

F. Grace. "Her-Story: A History of Women's Participation in the Stone-Campbell Movement," Leaven, 4:2 (1996).

BOOK CHAPTERS

F. Grace. “Introduction,” Daily Reflections by Dr. David R. Hawkins. Hay House Publishers, 2022.

F. Grace. “Introduction,” My Life with Doc, by Susan J. Hawkins. Veritas Publishing, 2022.

F. Grace. “Introduction,” The Ego is Not the Real You. Hay House Publishers, 2021.

F. Grace. “Introduction,” The Map of Consciousness® Explained. Hay House Publishers, 2020.

F. Grace. “The Sufi Path of Love,” Snapshot/50: The Johnston Community, 1969-2019, ed. Leslie Brody, Maureen Forys, M.G. Maloney, Alisa Slaughter, (Redlands/Oakland: Ebhon Press, 2019).

F. Grace. “Spirituality within Higher Education,” Spirituality and Deep Connectedness: Views on Being Fully Human, ed. Michael C. Brannigan, (New York City, NY: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), 17-31.

F. Grace. “A Semester Within,” in Learning Journeys with the Labyrinth: Creating Reflective Space in Higher Education, edited by Jan Sellers and Bernard Moss, (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015), pp. 142-147.

F. Grace. “The Power of Meditation in College Learning,” in Embodied Pathways to Wisdom and Social Transformation, edited by Jing Lin, Edward Brantmeier, Rebecca Oxford, (Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2013).

F. Grace. “New Foreword,” in Power vs. Force, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. Veritas Publishing, 2012. Author’s Official Revised Edition.

F. Grace. “Foreword,” in Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. Veritas Publishing, 2012. Hay House, 2013.

F. Grace. “The ‘Map of Consciousness®’: A New Paradigm for Mysticism and Healing,” in June McDaniel and Thomas Cattoi, eds., Perceiving the Divine through the Human Body, (Palgrave MacMillan, 2011), 197-221.

F. Grace. “From Content, to Context, to Contemplation: One Professor’s Journey,” in Judith Simmer-Brown and Fran Grace, eds., Meditation and the Classroom (SUNY, 2011), 47-64.

F. Grace. “Meditation in the Classroom: What Do the Students Say They Learn?” in Judith Simmer-Brown and Fran Grace, eds., Meditation and the Classroom, (SUNY, 2011), 237-250.

F. Grace. “Carry Nation,” Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, ed. Douglas Foster et al., Eerdmans Press, 2005.

F. Grace. “Carry Nation,” in Booknotes on American Character: People, Politics, and Conflict, (Perseus Press, 2004), edited by Brain Lamb.

F. Grace. “Teaching ‘Religion and Hate’: Notes Toward a Pedagogy of Emergence/y” in Hard Travelling and Still Having a Good Time: Innovative Learning and Living at the Johnston Center of Integrative Studies, 1979-2004, (Trafford, 2004), 87-108.

F. Grace. “Temperance,” Encyclopedia of Protestantism, ed. Hans Hillerbrand, Routledge, 2004, 10 pp.

F. Grace. “The Best Show in Town: Carry Nation and the Selling of Temperance in the Urban Northeast,” in Faith in the Market: Religion and the Rise of Urban Commercial Culture, ed. Diane Winston and John Giggi (Rutgers University Press, 2002), pp. 57-73.

SHORT ARTICLES IN POPULAR MAGAZINES – (BY INVITATION)

F. Grace. "What Do You Get When You Take 'Panic' out of Pandemic?" Bulldog Blog, March 18, 2020.

F. Grace. "Growing a Global Heart: Encounter with Belvie Rooks and Dedan Gills," Parabola, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Winter 2019), 42-49.

F. Grace. "The Meaning of Life and the Story of the Beggar," Excellence Reporter, June 2017.

F. Grace. "Viktor Frankl and the Search for Meaning," Parabola, Vol. 42, No. 1, (Winter 2017).

F. Grace. “San Bernardino Shooting: The Power of Love and the Shadow of Hatred,” Huffington Post, Dec. 11, 2015

F. Grace. “Lessons from a College Classroom” – Huffington Post, January 5, 2015

F. Grace. “Measuring the Immeasurable? Compassion Under a Microscope” – Huffington Post, January 5, 2015

F. Grace. “The Exultant Heart,” Science and Spirit Magazine, March 2015.

E-BOOK

F. Grace. 2022. Love is Forever. 109 pp. Illustrated. Inner Pathway Publishing. Offered by donation to a family in need.

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MULTIMEDIA PRODUCTIONS

(Fran has created/produced 150+ videos for YouTube and Vimeo, and a feature-length documentary film)

Heart Matters Radio Show, produced at KDAWG station at the University of Redlands (2016-ongoing)

Beyond Us vs. Them, video created out of personal interviews with civil rights activists Belvie Rooks and Dedan Gills, 2020. Co-Founders of Growing a Global Heart.

Creator and Producer, “Power of Love: Guided Meditations for the Heart,” 50-minutes guided meditation CD with music, (Inner Pathway Publishing, 2013).

Creator and Producer, “Exploring Meditation - Introduction,” 50-minutes guided meditation CD, (Inner Pathway Publishing, 2013).

Writer, Co-Director, and Executive Producer, “A Semester Within: Exploring Meditation,” (Inner Pathway, 2008). Documentary feature film on meditation in higher education, (film length: 51 minutes).

Exploring the Mystics (4-disc DVD set), live lecture and workshop, (Inner Pathway Publishing, 2011).

Exploring Compassion (3-disc DVD set), live lecture and workshop, (Inner Pathway Publishing, 2011).

Sufi and Christian Mystics (1 DVD), 2-hour live lecture and workshop, (Inner Pathway Publishing, 2012).

Interviews with Living Mystics (1 DVD), 2-hour live lecture and workshop, (Inner Pathway Publishing, 2012).

MOST RECENT BOOK REVIEWS

F. Grace. Book Review: Be Still and Know, by Norris Chumley, for Practical Matters Journal, Issue 7 (May/June 2014).

F. Grace. Liz in September (feature film by Fina Torres), with Diane Eller-Boyko, Psychological Perspectives: Quarterly Journal in Jungian Thought, December 2016.

F. Grace. Book Review: A Buddhist in the Classroom by Sid Brown, for Journal of Religion and Education, Vol 37, Issue 1 (2010).

Presentations

CONFERENCE PAPERS / INVITED LECTURES—Selected

Virtual Presentations during the Covid Pandemic:
January 2022: Junior League of Riverside
August 2020: Unitarian-Universalist Retreat keynote speaker
October 2020: Temple Emanuel Yom Kippur
December 2020: Dream Workshop, co-facilitated with Diane Eller-Boyko

The Power of Love – lectures and book signings, 2019-2020:
Arvada, CO Public Library
St. Louis, MO Public Library
Austin, TX, Unity Church
Plano, TX, Unity Church
Santa Fe, NM, Unity Church
San Anselmo, CA, SFTS campus
Chicago, IL, Unity Church
Rochester, NY, Nazareth College
Redlands, CA, ESRI REDLANDS FORUM
Santa Barbara, CA, Unity Church
Albuquerque, NM, Bookworks
Redlands, CA, Smiley Library

“Interfaith Perspectives on Love,” EmanuEl Jewish Temple, Redlands, CA, December 21, 2019.

"The Power of Love," Panel at Parliament of the World's Religions, Toronto, November 2018.

"How Meditation Cultivates the Heart" and "Contemplative Practices for the LGBTQ Community," Texas Christian University, October 2018.

Awards and service

  • Award for Innovative Teaching, 2015
    (awarded by University of Redlands faculty)
  • Trust for the Meditation Process, 2012, 2013
    (Co-recipient of Research Grant with colleagues in Biology and Psych)
  • Lens Fellowship (spatial learning and research), “Mapping Love,” 2012-2013
    (awarded by University of Redlands)
  • Luce Fellow in Comparative Theology and Theology of Religious Pluralism,
    2010-2011 (awarded by American Academy of Religion)
  • Mortar Board “Professor of the Year,” 2007, University of Redlands
    (teaching award, voted on by the student body)
  • Banta Center for Ethics and Society Award, 2007
    (for Seminar on Compassion course)
  • Phenomenal Woman Award, University of Redlands, 2006 and 2013
    (awarded by WRW, an inter-racial student group)
  • Faculty Research Grant, University of Redlands, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
  • Award for Outstanding Research/Creativity, University of Redlands, 2002
    (awarded by university faculty)
  • Lilly-Luce Teaching Workshop Fellow, 2000-2001
    (awarded by American Academy of Religion)
  • Pew Faculty Fellowship, Religion & American History, 1998-99
    (awarded by Yale University)
  • Tyler Teaching Award, Pepperdine University, 1997-1998
    (awarded by student body)
  • Helen Pepperdine Community Service Award, 1998
    (awarded by staff-faculty committee)

Affiliations

  • Spiritual Directors International, 2000 to Present
  • American Academy of Religion: Regional Co-Chair of Women and Religion section, Western Region, 2002-2005
  • National Co-Chair of Academic Teaching and Study of Religion section, 2005-2008
  • National Steering Committee, Contemplative Studies Consultation, 2010-2013
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Religion and Education, 2010 - 2016
  • Faculty Leadership Team, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, Workshop for Pre-Tenure Faculty, 2008-2009