The Program in Scripture and the Arts was created in 2000, thanks to a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation in New York and strong support from Boston University. Originally intended to raise the profile of the Bible in humanistic studies, both through courses in the Jewish and Christian scriptures and in the secular literatures that grow out of these sacred traditions, in 2008 the Program expanded its vision to include explorations of the world's religious traditions across time around the world. The original focus on literary arts has also opened up to a broader examination of sacred and secular arts, including literature and visual arts from painting and sculpture to calligraphic writing and film.