Here are some recent media stories about the Graduate Theological Union, our member schools, and our faculty, students, and alumni/ae. For more information or a media packet, contact GTU Communications at 510/649-2422.
Please note: links to external articles or audio files are current on date of posting. News outlets may remove or change URL according to individual publication policies.
June 2, 2011
Salt Lake Tribune
Prestigious Berkeley school delves into Mormon Studies
Summary: Sheila Taylor (Ph.D. '11) may be GTU's first Mormon graduate; hopefully more will follow in her footsteps, after GTU's first year offering courses in Mormon Studies.
A year-long course in the origin, theology, culture, and sacred texts of the Latter-Day Saints drew students of varying faiths from across the consortium. Although students won't be able to get a degree in Mormon Studies just yet, Dean Arthur Holder believes that this is “a significant step toward what we hope will eventually be an expanded program.”
May 19, 2011
New York Times
Oakland's Family Radio Worldwide says the Rapture is Saturday
Inside the sprawling, threadbare Oakland headquarters of Family Radio Worldwide the staff has prepared for the end of the world this weekend — and it appears they mean it. ...
Jay Johnson, a professor at Berkeley’s Graduate Theological Union who has studied doomsday religious sects, said such beliefs tend to coincide with times of strife or change and “sometimes have troubling consequences.”
A similar end-of-days movement, Millerism, in the 19th century — a tumultuous time due to immigration, abolitionism and women’s rights — eventually spawned the murderous Branch Davidian cult, Mr. Johnson said.
“This is not a laughing matter when people engage wholesale in one interpretation of biblical text,” Mr. Johnson said. Read more...
November 22, 2010
The Catholic Voice
Interfaith group opens new dialog
More than 40 people from a half dozen religious traditions met to explore ways of expanding interfaith dialogue and cooperating in good works. ...
Jason Hamza van Boom [GTU doctoral student]... said much of his work focuses on making Islamic art and culture better known in contemporary society “because beauty is something that unites.” He is pleased the Bay Area is at the forefront of increasing religious understanding. An indication of progress in the Bay Area he noted, is the proliferation of Islamic academic programs — at the University of California at Berkeley, at the Graduate Theological Union and a new Islamic college that began operation this year. ...
Catholic Sister Mary Ann Donovan SC, a professor of historical theology and spirituality in the Jesuit School of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union, has been a liaison to the National Council of Churches and also a liaison to Buddhists for the National Catholic Conference. Read more...
September 27, 2010
Vallejo Times Herald
Quick Work: Baptist leader transforming church as part of mission to help community
For eight weeks, Dante Quick has been a man on a mission - from God.
"We're creating a culture of radical love," said Quick, who assumed the role of senior pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Aug. 1.
The church, with one of the largest African-American congregations in Vallejo, has seen its Sunday attendance double to about 450 people since Quick has become pastor. Read more...
July 31, 2010
New York Times
American Muslims Make Video to Rebut Militants
A recent spate of arrests of Muslims accused of terrorism in the United States has revealed that many of them were radicalized by militant preaching they found on the Internet.
Now nine influential American Muslim scholars, including GTU Ph.D. student Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, have come together in a YouTube video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IofpsHOosE] to repudiate the militants’ message. The nine represent a diversity of theological schools within Islam, and several of them have large followings among American Muslim youths.
The video is one indication that American Muslim leaders are increasingly engaging the war of ideas being waged within Islam. Read more...
July 11, 2010
The Christian Century
Seminaries in a Multifaith Setting
Officials at the Claremont School of Theology, which has a long-term project to create a multifaith university and seminary campus, breathed a sigh of relief in late June when United Methodist Church agencies...reinstated the school's standing in the church...
Also in June, Andover Newton Theological School outside Boston and Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago announced that they have agreed in principle to form an interreligious theological institution...
As unusual as the interfaith concept sounds, "we've been doing this for decades," said James Donahue, president of the Graduate Theological Union..."There are two trends at work now—one financial and the other theological," Donahue said in an interview. Read full article...
June 24, 2010
j.
‘Echoes and Fragments’: Ceramic shards reflect a family split apart by Holocaust
For artist Renée Powell, writing her graduate thesis in Jewish studies wasn’t enough. She also wanted to create an exhibit to accompany it, inspired by her family history.
The result is “Echoes and Fragments,” 14 pieces of beautiful and haunting ceramics on display at the Graduate Theological Union. Read more...
Learn more about the exhibit...
April 16, 2010
New York Times
Call and Response on the State of the Black Church
The debate took off in February when The Huffington Post published an essay by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. , a professor of religion at Princeton, under the deliberately provocative headline “The Black Church Is Dead.”
Early in the obituary, Professor Glaude declared, “The idea of this venerable institution as central to black life and as a repository for the social and moral conscience of the nation has all but disappeared.” He added later, “The idea of a black church standing at the center of all that takes place in a community has long since passed away.” Read more, including J. Alfred Smith, Sr.'s (ABSW) response...
March 21, 2010
Los Angeles Times
The art of promoting biblical cinema
A 19th century German nun who was prone to trance-like states of consciousness has been a divine inspiration for many films involving Jesus dating back to 1895, according to Father Michael Morris (DSPT).
The detailed, visionary accounts of Jesus' passion and death channeled by Anna Catherine Emmerich were transcribed by the poet Clemens Brentano and later artistically rendered by James Tissot for a popular illustrated Bible published more than a century ago at the dawn of cinema.
Ever since, the motion picture industry has been cribbing from the Tissot illustrations for costume designs, choreography, sets, cinematography and movie posters, those eye-catching advertisements designed to lure prospective ticket buyers inside darkened theaters.
It's all part of what Morris, a professor of religion and the arts, calls "reel religion."
"A lot of people got their idea of what the Bible was all about from these images," said Morris. Read more...
February 9, 2010
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish-Muslim study course grounds interfaith dialogue in sacred text
"Judaism is a harsh, exacting faith condemning rebellious children to death by stoning. Islam exhorts Muslims to kill non-believers.
Neither statement...is true. But they are among the most persistent charges laid at the feet of Judaism and Islam by those who are unfamiliar with the basic holy texts of the other’s faith.
Hampered by such ignorance, how can Jews and Muslims engage in real interfaith dialogue?
A new graduate-level course in Berkeley, billed as the first of its kind, aims to rectify this failing, at least for the 40 or so students enrolled." Read more about Madrasa/Midrasha...
January 4-8, 2010
National Catholic Reporter
Religious Life as Prophetic Life Form
Sr. Sandra Schneiders expounds on the religious life today in light of the Vatican's investigation into US Catholic sisters. Part 1: "The Pernicious Appeal for Blind Obedience"
December 17, 2009
KCBS Radio
Sacramento Roman Catholic Diocese Launches New TV Ad
GTU Pres. Donahue comments on diocesan's new TV campaign to draw lapsed Catholics back into the pews.
December 16, 2009
Religion News Service
Economic squeeze produces a new kind of seminarian
GTU Dean Arthur Holder weighs in on the reasons a new breed of seminarians are enrolling across the country.
November 18, 2009
FOXNews.com
Tough U.N. Critic Tapped to Represent U.S. on Human Rights Council
"Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe has called the U.N. policy and record toward human rights abuses erratic, inhumane and dysfunctional." Chamberlain Donahoe (Ph.D. '06) commented in her dissertation on the current Security Council standards for addressing Human Rights abuses and recommended changes including one to amend the U.N. charter to condition a nation's sovereignty on protection of Human Rights.
July 21, 2009
Sacramento Bee
Fair Oaks teen devises prayer app for iPhone
Darleen Pryds (FST) comments on the theological ramifications of new technology oriented prayer sharing application "A Note to God."
July 15, 2009
The Washington Post
"Heal the Sick": Why Public Health Care is a Christian Duty
Alumna Aana Marie Vigen crafts an Op-Ed detailing the Christian duty of caring for all people which extends to the realm of public health care.
June 5, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
Obama speech makes use of Islamic references
CIS Director cites the impact of Obama's inclusion of the Qu'ran quotations and Muslim courtesies in his anticipated speech from Turkey on June 4.
June 1, 2009
Presbyterian Outlook
Roman Catholic sister named new dean at SFTS
Dr. Elizabeth Liebert will become the first Roman Catholic sister named as dean of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary when she takes over the position July 1 at San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo.
April 7, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
Will Obama’s words matter to the Muslim world?
Director of the Center for Islamic Studies speaks to the reception of President Obama’s remarks to the Muslim world yesterday in Ankara, Turkey.
April 6, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
Obama’s entreaty to Islam surprises Muslims
Director of the Center for Islamic Studies provides a comment in this article on Obama’s outreach to Islam despite the U.S.’s rocky past with Muslim majority nations.
March 10, 2009
College News
Nicole Lamarche, former Miss California, makes unlikely career move
Former 2003 beauty pageant star Nicole Lamarche now serves as a church Pastor after earning an MA in theology from the Graduate Theological Union and a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion.
March 4, 2009
East Bay Express
The Fuzziness of Human Rights
On the anniversary of its legal birth, the concept is losing its interpretive luster. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, part of Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union, is sponsoring a semester-long "Faith in Human Rights" project, consisting of courses, talks, art, and films.
February 27, 2009
Kansas City Star
Posters also has been used to draw people to church
In the beginning there was light. And soon after, it seems, there were movies.
And with movies came movie posters — the “heralds” that drew people into movie theaters, particularly during the Golden Age of Hollywood: the 1920s through 1950s. This was a time “when fantasy architecture made its visitors feel as though they were entering into a sacred space,” says the Rev. Michael Morris, a Dominican priest, film scholar and avid movie poster collector.
January 20, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
Obama's faith comes to the public square
James A. Donahue addresses how our new President’s faith may shape life in the public square in an Inauguration Day Op-Ed.
January 18, 2009
KCBS Radio
James A. Donahue addresses what Barack Obama was aiming for when he chose ministers to lead the prayers at his inauguration: “What’s at play here is how Obama is trying to present the role of religion as a resource for American public life.” Read summary...
January 1, 2009
California
Mohammad comes to Holy Hill
Increased interest in Islamic studies has brought new programs to the Graduate Theological Union as well as to Berkeley.
December 28, 2008
Former GTU student becomes leader of the Orthodox Church in America
Metropolitan Jonah, née James Paffhausen, was installed as Metropolitan of All America and Canada, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, following his November 12 election. He served as a bishop in Texas for less than two weeks before his selection. He was a PhD student at GTU during 1991-92 but left to study in Russia. Read Santa Cruz Sentinel article…
December 2, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle
Out of the ghetto, and Italy, a Jewish history
David Rosenberg-Wohl, a joint doctoral student in Jewish studies at the Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley, now also a curator, vividly tells the stories of Jews living in Italy through his exhibit "Il Ghetto: Forging Italian Jewish Identities 1516-1870" at the Museo ItaloAmericano in San Francisco.
August 27, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle
Can religion make a difference in politics?
GTU President James A. Donahue addresses the opportunity and responsibility inherent in the interfaith forums being held at the Democratic National Convention.
July 11, 2008
London Daily Telegraph
GTU Alumna Among 50 Most Influential Figures in the Anglican Church
Dr. Jenny Plane-Te Paa, Ahorangi or Principal of Te Rau Kahikatea at the College of St. John the Evangelist in Auckland, New Zealand, and 2001 GTU PhD graduate is 20th on the Telegraph’s list of 50 most influential Anglicans.
The Telegraph calls her “an influential voice in Anglican liberal circles,” for her outspokenness in condemning homophobia, and her claim that the obsession of the church with trying to determine who should be allowed to remain within its fold distracted it from the suffering in the world. Read more...
Note: 2nd on the Telegraph’s 50 most influential Anglicans list was Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the US, who earned an MDiv and DD from GTU’s member school Church Divinity School of the Pacific.
May 5, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle
Berkeley art historian Jane Dillenberger on creativity, prayer and the spirituality of Andy Warhol
Professor emerita Jane Daggett Dillenberger discusses the underlying spirituality of legendary artist Andy Warhol.
April 15, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle
What the Pope will see in America
GTU President James A. Donahue addresses the religious and political atmosphere which will greet Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to America and his expected responses.
KQED Radio
James A. Donahue converses with Michael Krasny on Forum concerning the Pope's visit to America.
March 28, 2008
Religious News Service
In anticipation of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America, GTU President James A. Donahue contributes to what the Pope might address during his visit.
March 16, 2008
KRON 4 TV
GTU's Center for Islamic Studies Director speaks with Henry Tenenbaum on Morning News Weekend about the opening of the Center for Islamic Studies and its subsequent significance.
February 9, 2008
KCBS Radio
GTU President James A. Donahue says Catholic-Jewish relations may be strained after the Pope allowed revision to a Good Friday prayer.
For coverage prior to 2007, visit the archive.