The Graduate Theological Union has long been a leading center for ecumenical theological education and for interreligious dialogue and understanding. The annual Surjit Singh Lecture in Comparative Religious Thought and Culture builds on this tradition by fostering interreligious and cross-cultural communication and understanding, without compromising the integrity and essential telos of a religion or a culture.

Usually held the first Wednesday in November, this endowed lectureship brings to the GTU a distinguished scholar/church leader to address religion and culture from a cross-cultural perspective.

About Surjit Singh
The late Dr. Surjit Singh was professor emeritus of Christian Philosophy at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. He was dean of the seminary from 1972 to 1978, and was professor at the GTU from 1962 to 1988. Before arriving in the Bay Area in 1951, Dr. Singh served as a national secretary of the Student Christian Movement of New Zealand, India, Burma and Sri Lanka. He has also served as professor of systematic theology and philosophy of religion at United Theological College, Saharanpur, India. His publications included Prophetic Realism; Preface to Personality; Christology and Personality; Communism, Christianity, Democracy; and A Philosophy of Integral Relation.

Selected audio and/or video recordings and other files for these events can be accessed through the GTU Archives in the Hewlett Library.

November 8, 2006
Sacred Sites in Changing Landscapes: Shamans and Commercial Shrines in the Republic of Korea
Laurel Kendall
Curator, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History

November 2, 2005
The Galileans of the South: The Untouchables and Christianity
Felix Wilfred
Chair, Department of Christian Studies, University of Madras, India

Photos from the event

November 3, 2004
Ecumenical Religious Art: The Reign of Akbar in Mughal India
Joanna Williams
Professor of History of Art
University of California at Berkeley

Dr. Williams’ lecture discussed Akbar, the remarkable Mughal Emperor who ruled at the same time as Elizabeth 1 in England, and was open to all the religions that he encountered in India: Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, as well as various forms of Islam. He was also a great patron of painting, which reflects both his ecumenical ideas and a certain skepticism about dogma. Williams is the author of The Two-Headed Deer: Illustrations of the Ramayana in Orissa.

November 5, 2003
Through the Gates of the Alhambra: Revisiting the Question of Islam and Pluralism
S. Nomanul Haq
History of Art and Asian and Middle East Studies
University of Pennsylvania

November 6, 2002
The Chinese and Religion in the Context of Globalization
Zhuo Xinping
Director and Dean
Institute of World Religions and the Center for the Study of Christianity at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing

November 7, 2001
The Genocide Continuum: Peace-Time Crimes and the Violence of Everyday Life
Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes
Professor of Anthropology
University of California at Berkeley

October 1, 2000
Sound and Motion as Human Unifiers: A Lecture-Demonstration
Pandit Chitresh Das
Chhandam School of Kathak Dance, San Rafael

October 1, 1999
Religious Pluralism in America: A New Assessment of the Issues
Diana L. Eck
Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, and director of the Pluralism Project

October 1, 1998
Cleansing the River Ganges: Ecology and Religious Practices
Veer Bhadra Mishra
Professor of Hyrdaulic Engineering at Banaras Hindu University and mahant of Sankat Mochan Temple

November 1, 1997
Religion and Culture: The Interfaces in a Global Perspective
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Professor of Islamic Studies
George Washington University

October 1, 1996
Seeking Common Ground: Models for Understanding and Negotiating Religious Diversity
Judith Berling
Professor of Chinese and Comparative Religions
Graduate Theological Union

October 1, 1995
Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic World
John B. Cobb, Jr.
Professor Emeritus, School of Theology at Claremont, Claremont Graduate School; Co–Director of the Center for Process Studies

October 1, 1994
Myths With and Without Political Points of View: Universalist Problems, Cross-Cultural Solutions
Wendy Doniger
Mircea Eliade Professor of History of Religions
University of Chicago Divinity School

October 1, 1993
Spiritual Personality Types: The Sacred Spectrum
Huston Smith
Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy Emeritus
Syracuse University

October 1, 1992
God's Body: And Other Problems for Men in Monotheism
Howard Eilberg-Schwartz
Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies
Stanford University

October 1, 1991
The Telos of Religion and Culture: An Interpretation
Surjit Singh
Professor Emeritus of Christian Philosophy
San Francisco Theological Seminary