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GTU News

Introducing the Online Exhibit "The Spirit of the Tarot: The Search for God's Picturebook"

The Graduate Theological Union's Flora Lamson Hewlett Library has launched a new online exhibition, The Spirit of the Tarot: The Search for God's Picturebook.  The launch corresponded with the 2023 Reading of the Sacred Text lecture, presented by Rev. Dr. Justin Sabia-Tanis entitled, "Divining Freedom: Queer Reconceptions of the Tarot Deck." The exhibition explores the religious and spiritual aspects of the Tarot over the past 500 years. From a game, the cards became a way to perceive the future and a tool for meditation and personal development. A reading of the cards can suggest...
Library
Flora Lamson Hewlett Library
GTU News

Flora Lamson Hewlett Library News

Flora Lamson Hewlett Library News From the Spring 2019 edition of Skylight See PDF of this article  In the past twelve months, the GTU library has renovated several new academics spaces, including multiple classroom and conversation spaces and a new digital learning lab. We’re pleased to announce that we have also created for the GTU community on the library’s main floor, a new Prayer and Meditation Space. The space is designed to feel comfortable for students, faculty, and staff from any of the diverse religious traditions at the GTU. “As members of our community make use of the space, we...
LibraryCurrent Student Resources
Flora Lamson Hewlett LibraryGTU library
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The Subliminal Messages of Mel Gibson’s Passion

David Biale, Emmanuel Ringelblum Professor of Jewish History at UC Davis By now, as much ink has been spilled on the “Gospel According to Mel Gibson” as the copious blood his Christ spills in the movie. The world is now divided between those religiously moved by it – and the rest of us, a Manichean division that confirms Gibson’s view of the world and one that he has worked so hard to promote. Gibson’s professions notwithstanding, his Jesus is not a figure that unites, but one that divides. As a Jew asked to comment on this movie, I find myself placed willy-nilly in the traditional Jewish...
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Near Eastern Religions

FacultyJoint Ph.D. The joint degree program in NER is under review and, therefore, is not currently accepting new students. Prospective students interested in this program are encouraged to consider our program in Biblical Studies.   Purpose Students may study, in depth, the archaeology, history, languages, literatures, and thought patterns of the ancient Near East and Egypt, with emphasis on various forms of the religious expression of these ancient people. The Ph.D. is jointly administered and granted by GTU and the University of California, Berkeley.      Student Work...
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Doctoral Program Advisor Handbook

On this webpage you, the faculty advisor, will find a number of resources that will help you in the advising doctoral students.    Mapping your Doctoral Program: Doctoral students receive this document at their orientation. This sample and blank plan is for your reference, but you can use it as a tool during your advising sessions.  Advising Agreement: This document establishes the parameters of the relationship between you and your advisee.  Doctoral Program Quick Guide: The Quick Guide is based on the Doctoral Handbook and provides a synthesis of the program (new curriculum).  ...
GTU News

Call for Submissions: Teaching Theology & Religion

Teaching Theology & Religion is encouraging all members of the GTU community to contribute to upcoming volumes of the journal. Co-editors Drs. Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero (PhD ’15) and Jennifer W. Davidson (PhD ’11) are looking for full articles (4,000 to 7,000 words), In the Classroom essays about concrete teaching practices (up to 3000 words), Teaching Tactics on a specific repeatable practice (400 words), or reviews. Submissions can be made through the online portal: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ttr Two years ago, GTU and John Wiley & Sons partnered to bring Teaching Theology &...
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GTU News

Summer 2021 Interreligious Research Grants | Madrasa-Midrasha Program

The Walter & Elise Haas Fund has provided funding to the GTU in support of the Madrasa-Midrasha Program, a collaborative interreligious effort cosponsored by the Center for Islamic Studies and the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies. We are pleased to announce research grants for GTU students working on interreligious projects related to Judaism and/or Islam. Grants will range from $250 to $500 for individual projects and $500 to $1000 for joint projects, which are strongly encouraged. The following criteria will be applied to determine winning proposals: Student(s) must be in the...
Madrasa-Midrasha ProgramThe Center for Islamic Studies (CIS)The Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies (CJS)
Madrasa-MidrashaCJS | The Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish StudiesCIS | Center for Islamic StudiesWalter and Elise Haas FundMahjabeen Dhala
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Be the Change: Student Stories of Action and Resilience

Be the Change: Student Stories of Action and Resilience Students at the GTU grow and thrive in an intentionally interreligious and interdisciplinary environment, applying their knowledge and skills towards creating change for the greater good. In a year that has brought about a global pandemic, highlighted the widespread racial injustice and violence in the United States and worldwide, and a highly anticipated election season, GTU students have risen to address challenges that face their communities and served on the frontlines in offering service, healing, and hope. The GTU wants to...
Spiritual Care and Ethical Leadership for Our Times
GTU News

Madrasa-Midrasha Program Offers Summer 2019 Interreligious Research Grants

The Walter & Elise Haas Fund has provided funding to the GTU in support of the Madrasa-Midrasha Program, a collaborative interreligious effort cosponsored by the Center for Islamic Studies and the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies. We are pleased to announce research grants for GTU students and scholars working on interreligious projects related to Judaism and/or Islam. Grants will range from $250 to $500 for individual projects and $500 to $1000 for joint projects, which are strongly encouraged. The following criteria will be applied to determine winning proposals: Student(s)...
The Center for Islamic Studies (CIS) Madrasa-Midrasha ProgramThe Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies (CJS)
CJS | The Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish StudiesCIS | Center for Islamic StudiesMadrasa-MidrashaWalter and Elise Haas Fund
GTU News

From the President

From Skylight Magazine, Fall 2017 Welcome to Skylight, the new publication of the Graduate Theological Union. At the heart of the library all GTU scholars share is a skylight thorough which natural light pours into the building. This skylight provides the inspiration for our new GTU logo, which adorns these pages, our letterhead, and our newly redesigned website. For an interreligious and educational center, light streaming in and illuminating our learning space and human engagements seems appropriate. The logo’s intersecting lines suggest the converging paths and diversity found here at...
Riess Potterveld
GTU News

GTU Adopts New Doctoral Program Curriculum

The Graduate Theological Union has adopted a new doctoral curriculum beginning in fall 2016 that builds on the strengths of the existing program while enhancing opportunities for interdisciplinary scholarship and interreligious conversation among students and faculty. Dean Arthur Holder says, “With this new curriculum, the faculty is making the doctoral program more responsive to the diverse research interests and religious commitments that students bring to the GTU. Graduates of the program will now be even better prepared for their vocations of teaching, ministry, and service. And the...
Academics
doctoral programcurriculumInterdisciplinaryInterreligious
GTU News

CARe Publication Unites Artwork by Hagit Cohen and Essays by GTU Scholars

Berkeley, CA – October 3, 2018  The Center for the Arts & Religion at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) celebrates the publication of Gestures to the Divine: Reflections on Eco-Spirituality, a book that brings together the nature-focused artwork of Hagit Cohen and reflections on eco-spirituality by scholars from the GTU. The release accompanies the exhibition of Cohen’s work at the GTU’s Doug Adams Gallery in Berkeley through December 13, 2018. Hagit Cohen’s minimalist prints of plant seeds and pods inspire awe and contemplation. As she explains, “nothing is too small to be the object of...
Center for the Arts & Religion (CARe)
CARe | Center for the Arts & ReligionHagit CohenJay JohnsonRita ShermaDevin ZuberMatthew HartmanKeyona LazenbyYohana JunkerCynthia Moe-Lobeda
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Teaching for Peace in a Time of Impending War

Introduction to the GTU’s panel discussion on February 19, 2003 by Dr. Judith BerlingGraduate Theological Union, Professor of Chinese and Comparative Religions It is a tradition of the Core Doctoral Faculty to dedicate its February meeting to an issue of intellectual substance. When we decided on this year's topic (Teaching in a Time of Impending War), we realized that the topic was so timely and important that we should open the panel to the broader GTU and to the community. Welcome to you all. We are fortunate to have a very distinguished group of panelists: Rosemary Ruether, Professor of...
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Negotiating the Boundaries in Theological and Religious Studies

Ann Taves has recently been appointed as Professor of Religious Studies and the Virgil Cordano, O.F,M., Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Previously she was Professor of Christianity and American Religion at the Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University. She received a B.A. from Pomona College, and the M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Taves specializes in the history of Christianity since the Reformation with particular attention to religion in the North American context. Her current research examines the...
GTU News

From the President

From the Spring 2017 issue of CurrentsView PDF of article * View PDF of Entire Issue By Riess Potterveld    Right: Riess Potterveld and ISKCON monk Nimai Prabhu at the Govardhan Ecovillage.  Through the leadership of our Mira and Ajay Shingal Center for Dharma Studies (CDS), the GTU has established an ongoing relationship with Radhanath Swami, one of the key spiritual leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). This winter, CDS Director Dr. Rita Sherma and I flew to India to visit Govardhan, one of ISKCON’s Ecovillages. We were there not only to discover more...
Center for Dharma Studies (CDS)
Riess PotterveldIndiaSustainabilityGovardhan Eco VillageCDS | Center for Dharma StudiesSustainable SocietiesSustainability Studies
GTU Exhibition

Threads of Resilience: Salvadoran Stories Sewn in Honduran Exile

Library Gallery

Embroidered textiles created by Salvadoran refugees narrate the story of their displacement, their experiences in the Mesa Grande refugee camp in Honduras, and their eventual return to El Salvador. 

Upon hearing that Father Gerardo Pöter, a German Dominican priest who worked in the camp from 1983 to 1984, would be touring the United States and discussing the refugee situation, women in the camp made these tapestries to assist him in telling their story.

The note below was attached to the description of the tapestries.

The tapestries are grouped as follows (not all of the 20+ tapestries are...
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Support the GTU on Giving Tuesday

Help keep the GTU in the middle of #givinGTUesday by supporting the Graduate Theological Union's fourth annual Giving Tuesday campaign in 2018! Giving Tuesday occurs on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving--but you can make your gift securely online at any time using the form below.   Your gift supports: Public programs that speak to the real needs of our world with the wisdom of the world’s religious traditions Transformative classroom conversations that point the way to a more hopeful future Expanded resources in our world-class theological library The GTU's innovative approach to...
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GTU News

A Steady Hand

Throughout 14 years as GTU dean, Arthur Holder has led with wisdom and grace. This summer, Dr. Arthur G. Holder will be retiring as the GTU's Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs after 14 years of distinguished service. On the next three pages, you'll find excerpts from reflections written by members of the GTU community in celebration of Arthur's work. Visit www.gtu.edu/honoringArthur to see more - and to share your own words of appreciation. by Judith Berling From the Spring 2016 issue of Currents, See PDF About fifteen years ago, I sat down to lunch with Arthur Holder, then Dean of...
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Comments on Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ

Margaret Miles, GTU Emerita Dean and Professor of Historical Theology I would like to begin by setting our discussion this evening in context. Let us remind ourselves of the obvious: The Passion of the Christ is a movie. It is not a window on, nor a mirror of, reality. We, watching it, are spectators. As spectators, we do not see a movie as if for the first time. We are trained by our many viewing experiences to expect and respond to several film conventions. A number of learned responses are activated as soon as the theater darkens. The first of these is detachment. You are NOT there; you...
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International Student Applications

The GTU encourages international students to apply to the Master’s and Doctoral programs. 15% of our students are international, representing 20 countries from around the world. Completing the Application MA and Doctoral students submit the standard applications available from the GTU. A few items to note follow: TOEFL or GRE Scores International students from a country in which English is not the official language may submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Test (IELTS) from within the past two years. Official scores from...
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