Fall Currents is Here

Currents presents the news, people, and progress of the Graduate Theological Union. Currents is distributed to alumni, faculty, students, staff, and friends of the GTU.

Your resource for learning about the people of the GTU. In this issue: Rebecca Berru Davis, Ph.D. student, brings plight of Peruvian women to light in showcase of vibrant tapestries; Abby King Kaiser puts her theology to work by partnering with local artistic organization; new student Som Pourfarzaneh has interfaith vision for studies and work; alumnus Howard Simon introduces social justice to business environments; and more. Read it online or pdf.

Accio Broom!

Quidditch anyone?

Curiosity has been brewing about the GTU's newest, if not only, intramural sport: Quidditch.  Originally played by the Wizards of Harry Potter, this Muggle version is a like basketball, rugby, dodge-ball, and tag all rolled into one!  GTU Quidditch League is a member of the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association (IQA), headquartered at Middlebury College, VT.  The GTU schools are the first seminaries to join the IQA.

Whether you're a Muggle or a Wizard, you are invited to participate in this non-magic version. No broom skills required. Team brooms and Quidditch Robes provided. Play begins Tuesdays at 5:15 pm on the PSR Quidditch Pitch.

For more information, check out the GTU Quidditch League group on Facebook. See more pictures of Quidditch play here.

Cut the Cord, Get the Feed

Wireless Internet Access Now Available for GTU Students

Long awaited wireless internet access is available to GTU students within specified areas of the Le Conte Building and the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library. Use is limited to those with registered email accounts. Get more information and sign up today.

Fall Focus

New GTU Students Bring Experience and Enthusiasm

After 25 years as an academic in both India and Botswana, Sarla Santwani returns to the classroom as a student. She comes to GTU to pursue a Common Masters in Theology to add to her Masters in English Literature, Masters in Education, and Ph.D. in Education from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat, India, a place she also calls home.

Although Santwani continues to focus on research, she chose GTU because of its multifaith character where she hopes to be enriched intellectually and spiritually. As an educator, she says she feels the need to create a comprehensible introduction to Hinduism, a faith she feels is vastly misunderstood and misrepresented by Western authors. Santwani would also like to address the Hindu perspective of Women’s/Gender Issues including the concept of Shakti, the ancient tradition of Devadasi (female servant of God) in India, and women saints in India.

Well versed in the lights and sounds of theater, Abdul Hamid Robinson-Royal comes to GTU from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, via New York City and most recently Los Angeles. Although he began at Claremont School of Theology as a Masters of Divinity student, Robinson-Royal graduated with a MA in Theological Studies emphasizing Comparative Religion.

He became a Muslim, expanding his interests in Pentecostal theology and spirituality. Robinson-Royal views spirituality more broadly than doctrine and looks for interfaith commonalities. Focusing on non-Christian practices in African-American spiritual and mystical traditions, he plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion. He says GTU is the right place for his research because of its broad interdisciplinary and interfaith focus.

Read SF Chronicle interview with Robinson-Royal...