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GTU News

Center for Swedenborgian Studies Becomes the GTU's Newest Center of Distinction

The Graduate Theological Union is pleased to welcome the Center for Swedenborgian Studies (CSS) as its newest Center of Distinction. The Center for Swedenborgian Studies offers theological education to men and women seeking to minister within the Swedenborgian Church, serves as a hub for scholarship regarding the Swedenborgian tradition, and provides Swedenborgian theological resources for the wider church and community. CSS joins the Graduate Theological Union after fifteen successful and productive years as a House of Studies within Pacific School of Religion, one of the eight member...
Center for Swedenborgian Studies (CSS)Pacific School of Religion (PSR)
CSS | Center for Swedenborgian StudiesPSR | Pacific School of ReligionSwedenborgJim Lawrence
GTU News

New! Qu'ranic Studies Online added to GTU Library's Electronic Resources

The Graduate Theological Union's Flora Lamson Hewlett Library is subscribing to a new electronic resource, the Qur'anic Studies Online collection hosted by Brill.  Qur'anic Studies Online includes:  Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān Online is an encyclopaedic dictionary of qur’ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur’ānic studies.  Early Western Korans Online is a collection of 62 korans printed in Arabic type in several Western European cities between 1537 and 1857.  Qurʾān...
Library
Flora Lamson Hewlett Library
GTU News

GTU Doctoral Student Carmen Lansdowne Selected to Receive Second Prestigious FTE Fellowship

Carmen Lansdowne, a GTU doctoral student in Interdisciplinary Studies, has been selected to receive a 2011 Fund for Theological Education (FTE) North American Doctoral Fellowship, a competitive national award with a stipend of between $5,000 and $10,000. Lansdowne, whose research interests include urging the prophetic witness of churches to address the continuing injustices facing native peoples in the Americas, was also a North American Doctoral Fellow in 2010. FTE North American Doctoral Fellowships foster diversity in the academy by accelerating the successful completion of Ph.D. degrees...
Life at GTUCurrent Student Resources
Human RightsCarmen LansdowneInterdisciplinaryStudentsFund for Theological Education
GTU News

50th Anniversary Gala Celebrated the Success and Future of the GTU

The GTU’s Golden Anniversary was capped by a gala at the St. Regis in San Francisco on February 28. The event brought together the faculties and administration of the member schools, in addition to alumni, students, and supporters from the community, to celebrate the uniqueness of the GTU — honoring our history and looking toward our future. In addition to remarks by President James Donahue and Board of Trustees Chair Harold T. “Hal” Leach, Jr., invocations were given by Bishop Emeritus John S. Cummins and Rabbi Stephen Pearce; Trustee Rita Semel, faculty member and former dean Judith Berling...
50CurrentsSpring 2013
GTU News

Announcing a Virtual Gallery Opening for the GTU Sacred World Art Collection

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is proud to announce the opening of a virtual exhibition of the GTU Collection of Sacred World Art, an extensive teaching collection of sacred objects donated by F. Lanier Graham. A gallery opening will be held via Zoom on March 4, 2021, at 4pm PT.  Graham is widely known as a professional curator, professor of museum studies and world religions, and president of the Institute for Aesthetic Development. He began donating art pieces and sacred objects to the GTU in 2014 and continued through the present, building an impressive collection that expands the...
Center for the Arts & Religion (CARe)GTU Sacred World Art Collection
gtu sacred art
GTU News

The GTU Welcomes Newbigin House of Studies as the Fifth Affiliate

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to welcome Newbigin House of Studies to its consortium as its latest affiliate. Newbigin House is an ecumenical study center developing leaders through theological education. They are committed to renewing a vision for Christian ministry in a rapidly changing world by training and mentoring missional leaders in partnership with churches and seminaries. Their staff, along with senior and teaching fellows, bring rich experience in church and non-profit work, social justice ministry, vocational discipleship, counseling and pastoral care.  “We are...
News & Events
GTU News

GTU Community Opportunities to Gather in Solidarity and Prayers for Peace

October 9, 2023 Dear GTU Community, I am writing to you today with a heavy heart as our community grieves the heartbreaking violence that is consuming Israel and Palestine — the latest example of human suffering, conflict, and mass violence that occurs all too often around the world.  This devastating loss of life is one that touches us all. The impact of war is one that reverberates across the globe, and most certainly, our community at the GTU. Through such cataclysm, we hold fast to the staff of hope in a spirit of prayer for peace, cooperation, and reconciliation.  The beauty of the...
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GTU Alum Directs Humane Society’s Animals and Religion Program

Few people know about the harsh lives of approximately 10 billion animals raised on U.S. factory farms every year before appearing on our dinner plates. One who knows much about these animals is Christine Gutleben, M.A. ’05. Gutleben is director of the Animals and Religion program of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and co-producer of the film Eating Mercifully, which showcases the plight of these animals, and profiles people who are engaged in what the Humane Society calls “the ethics of food and faith.” The film premiered at the Washington National Cathedral last fall.   The...
AcademicsGTU Alums
GTU News

GTU Receives $100,000 Gift to Create First-Ever "Class-eum"

BERKELEY, CA – November 6, 2023 – The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to share that an anonymous donor has generously gifted $100,000 to the GTU to support ongoing improvements to the GTU’s flagship campus, the Hewlett Building. This significant contribution will facilitate the transformation of the space currently occupied by the President's office and alcove into a state-of-the-art, first-ever "class-eum."  A "class-eum" is a hybrid concept that fuses the traditional classroom with the enriching atmosphere of a museum. It is designed to serve as a unique environment for select...
GTU News

Dr. Valerie Miles-Tribble Named 2025 GTU Excellence in Teaching Award Winner

BERKELEY, CA-May 27, 2025- The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to announce that Rev. Valerie Miles-Tribble, PhD DMin, Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Practical Theology and Chair of the Women's Studies in Religion Certificate Program, has been selected as the recipient of the GTU Excellence in Teaching Award for 2025. The honor was announced at the GTU Commencement exercises on May 22.  The Excellence in Teaching Award is presented annually to a member of the GTU’s core doctoral faculty who exemplifies the values of interreligious sensitivity and commitment, takes an...
GTU News

GTU Announces the Hiring of Dr. Uriah Y. Kim as Dean

For Immediate Release, May 4, 2016 The Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, California, has announced the hiring of Dr. Uriah Y. Kim as Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs and John Dillenberger Professor of Biblical Studies. Dr. Kim will begin his service at the GTU in January 2017. As Dean, Kim will oversee the further development and implementation of the GTU’s newly redesigned PhD program as well as its MA program, working with faculty and administrative colleagues to create an interactive learning environment that fosters dialogue among the world’s religious traditions and...
DeanUriah Kim
GTU News

GTU Alumna at the helm of new Keshet Bay Area office

From "Expanding the rainbow: Jewish LGBT group Keshet opens Bay Area office," jweekly.com When Sasha Goldberg thinks back to coming out at 14, she recalls the things that made the process easier than it could have been. “My mother was very supportive, and I was at the Latin School of Chicago [prep school], and they were very supportive,” she remembered, noting that she started the school’s first gay-straight alliance. “I wouldn’t say it was easy to come out at 14, but … that made a world of difference.” Goldberg is thinking about support as she dives into her role at the helm of Keshet’s new...
GTU Alums
AlumniJudaismSasha GoldbergArticleMedia
GTU News

GTU and Wiley to Partner for Teaching Theology & Religion in 2020

Berkeley, CA – February 14, 2019.  The Graduate Theological Union is pleased to announce a new partnership with John Wiley & Sons to begin overseeing publication of the journal Teaching Theology & Religion in 2020. Since its establishment in 1998, Teaching Theology & Religion has served as a leading voice in theological education in the United States and around the world. For the previous 22 years, the journal has been published by Wiley in partnership with the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. Dr. Uriah Kim, dean and vice president for academic affairs at the...
GTU News

GTU Announces Dr. Kamal Abu-Shamsieh as Director of Interreligious Chaplaincy Program

Berkeley, CA – November 22, 2019 - The Graduate Theological Union is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kamal Abu-Shamsieh as Director of the new Interreligious Chaplaincy Program and Lecturer in Practical Theology. The founder and director of Ziraya Muslim Spiritual Care, Dr. Abu-Shamsieh has extensive international experience in primarily Arab and Muslim countries as a trainer for spiritual-care providers, and has served since 2012 as a relief chaplain at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. He completed his PhD in Practical Theology and Islamic Studies (with a focus on chaplaincy) at the...
AcademicsNews & EventsGTU AlumsGraduate Theological UnionThe Center for Islamic Studies (CIS)Interreligious Chaplaincy Program
Kamal Abu-ShamsiehInterreligious ChaplaincyChaplaincyAlumniCIS | Center for Islamic Studies
GTU News

GTU President James Donahue Selected as Next President of St. Mary's College of California

It is a bittersweet occasion for me to inform the GTU community that our beloved president, James Donahue, has been selected to be the next president of St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga. The first non-Christian Brother to be president of St. Mary’s, Jim will assume his new role in July 2013. Jim has served as president of the Graduate Theological Union since 2000 and has provided significant leadership in establishing the GTU as one of the most vibrant centers of theological learning in the country. During his tenure as president, the GTU has strengthened its academic programs,...
James DonahueMedia
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GTU's Jesuit School Contributes to Launch of New Oakland Cathedral

A thousand years ago, the cathedral was the heart around which all the life of a medieval town revolved. Today the Cathedral of Christ the Light on the shore of Oakland’s Lake Merritt — the first cathedral built in the twenty-first century — is expected to serve more than 600,000 Catholics as “a place of welcome and inclusivity that embraces the diversity of faiths, peoples and cultures,” according to The Catholic Voice. As part of its outreach, the cathedral grounds will feature a small “healing garden” for survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Tom Scirghi, Associate Professor of Liturgy at the...
GTU News

The NEW Center for the Arts & Religion at the GTU

From the Fall 2016 issue of Currents, view PDF By Elizabeth S. Peña Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God. —Gerhard Richter The arts—literature, dance, music, and the visual arts—enhance religious experience and evoke transcendence. Artistic expression often provides common ground for scholars and practitioners representing a wide variety of faith traditions. In the classroom the arts offer entry into complex concepts and philosophies. These are just a few of the reasons why the...
Center for the Arts & Religion (CARe)The Center for Islamic Studies (CIS)
Elizabeth PenaCARe | Center for the Arts & ReligionRiess PotterveldKathleen KookMunir JiwaAlla EfimovaDoug Adams GalleryDillenberger Lecture SeriesRossitza SchroederWriting Our FaithsBerkeley Repertory TheatreLeft Coast Chamber EnsembleBerkeley Center for the Study of ReligionKathryn BarushNicholas ColeyCynthia Moe-LobedaRita ShermaDevin ZuberCarol BierCIS | Center for Islamic StudiesAlicia WalkerBryn Mawr College
GTU News

The GTU Mourns the Passing of the Rev. Dr. Joseph D. Driskill

The GTU is saddened to learn of the death of the Rev. Dr. Joseph D. Driskill. Joe earned his PhD from the GTU in 1995, with a dissertation supervised by Professor Elizabeth Liebert that fused psychological and theological anthropologies to serve the purposes of pastoral counseling and spiritual direction. Joe served for two decades as Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Pacific School of Religion and as Dean of the Disciples Seminary Foundation in Berkeley. As a member of the GTU’s Core Doctoral Faculty, he was a cherished colleague and a mentor to a generation of students in...
GTU Alums
GTU News

Commemorating the Life and Contributions of GTU President Robert Barr (1939-2021)

The Graduate Theological Union mourns the loss of our fourth president, Robert “Bob” Barr, who tragically passed away at his home in San Diego, CA, on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, due to COVID-19 related complications. He was 81. President Barr led the GTU from 1988-1992, and also served on the Board of Trustees. Before coming to Holy Hill, he led member school San Francisco Theological Seminary as acting president from 1984-1985 and was a notable member of the business community in Colorado from 1973-1983. As a student, he earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at Ohio Wesleyan...
GTU News

Fulbright Indonesia Scholar Dr. Sulaiman Mappiasse at CIS/GTU through February 2022

Fulbright Indonesia Scholar Dr. Sulaiman Mappiasse at CIS/GTU from Fall 2021 through February 2022 Congratulations and a warm welcome to Dr. Sulaiman Mappiasse, a Fulbright Scholar from Indonesia, who has been at the CIS/GTU since Fall 2021 and will be here through February 2022. His research focus is on how religious educators, practitioners, and researchers in America understand and practice interreligious education at schools, universities, and society. More specifically he looks at how they define, experience, and practice interreligious education, what goals they have achieved, what...
The Center for Islamic Studies (CIS)News & EventsGraduate Theological Union
CIS | Center for Islamic StudiesSulaiman Mappiasse

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