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GTU Department

Religion and Practice

The Religion and Practice department fosters interdisciplinary studies of the lived experience, communal and individual, of faith practitioners and communities, including the history, theology, and phenomenology of particular faith expressions – ritual, liturgical, homiletical, formational, and educational. Students in this department hone critical skills in the interpretation and development of religious practice and leadership, while drawing from a broad array of disciplinary fields and methodological approaches – including history, theology, anthropology, communication theory, sociology of...
GTU Department

Theology and Ethics

Students in the department of Theology and Ethics acquire knowledge and skills to engage in the ongoing task of interpreting religious and cultural traditions in ways that are responsive to modern and post-modern culture. Students may focus on analysis of these traditions by tracing influences on the development of theology, comparative religion, or interreligious dialogue. Students may also specialize in theological and social ethics, or focus on issues related to particular topics such as health care or the environment. These explorations are pursued in ecumenical and interreligious...
GTU Department

Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion

The Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion department concentrates on the place of religion, spirituality, and theology in society and everyday life, from ancient times to the present. Students develop broad skills in the historical, cultural, social-scientific, comparative, and interdisciplinary study of the world’s sacred and secular traditions, and they gain expertise in a specific field of concentration. Students may focus their work in a single tradition (e.g. Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism), a single time and place (e.g. medieval Europe, the contemporary Middle...
GTU Department

Sacred Texts and Their Interpretation

This department provides a strong foundation for research and teaching in the fields of Hebrew/Old Testament, New Testament, Hindu Sacred Texts, Islamic Sacred Texts, and Rabbinic Literature. Beginning with the acquisition of appropriate language skills, a student’s study of primary texts includes a variety of methods, including transdisciplinary, and contextual approaches. Students may focus their work on a single religious tradition or engage in a comparative study of texts and their interpretations.

Department Chair: Professor Rebecca Esterson

GTU Concentration

Jewish Studies

Students in this concentration study Jewish history, culture, and literature from antiquity until the present. Students are trained in theoretical approaches such as literary and cultural criticism as well as historical and sociological analysis. Students acquire general competence in the history of Judaism from late antiquity to the present. Resources are particularly strong for study in rabbinics, medieval Jewish history, Jewish-Christian interactions, and Eastern European Jewish literature and culture. Students may focus on themes such as language, translation, secularization, gender, and...
GTU Concentration

Comparative Theology

Inspired by an increasingly pluralistic global context that brings diverse religious worlds into contact, this concentration prepares students to engage in the study of the distinct theologies, practices, and ethics of different religions from a dialogical perspective. Students follow systematic, thematic, or constructive approaches to the comparative exploration of global faith traditions and religious cultures as they reflect on the meaning of religious pluralism for practitioners and theologians alike. Students gain the conceptual and analytical tools that will enable them to undertake...
GTU Concentration

Yoga Studies

Interested in studying Yoga Beyond the Mat? 

The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley offers fully accredited Certificate, Masters, and Doctoral programs that focus on the academic study of Yoga.

Students in the Yoga Studies concentration study Hindu and Jain yoga traditions with attention to research topics such as:

  • Contemplative yoga
  • Yoga of self-knowledge (jñāna)
  • Yoga of devotional love (bhakti)
  • Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali
  • The Bhagavad Gītā

Other themes to be explored include:

  • Immortality and Liberation
  • Tantra Yoga
  • Dharma and Yoga philosophy
  • Nāda Yoga (the yoga of sound vibration and music)...
GTU Concentration

Religious Education

The Religious Education concentration, which is intended to educate scholars in the interdisciplinary field of religious education, integrates theology and interfaith studies with educational theories and practices available in both GTU and UC Berkeley. Particularly from a critical pedagogy perspective students are expected to develop competency in theology (or their own religious traditions) and the literature and practices of education as well as relevant social sciences such as education, sociology, and psychology.  Integrating scholarly reflections and practical educational concerns out...
GTU Concentration

Practical Theology

Within the interreligious, multi-racial, and multicultural context of the GTU, students are prepared to develop competency in multifaceted practical theologies. In contrast to Applied Theology, practical theology is understood as a method of reflection that seeks to connect beliefs with life, faith with practice, and theory with praxis. Students engage in systematic and critical reflections on religious life in the world through mutually interpretative and mutually critical examinations of traditional beliefs and contemporary experiences. Through interfaith engagements with theological and...
GTU Concentration

Missiology

This discipline within mainstream Christian theology explores the nature, purposes, methods, history, and contemporary approaches to mission as it relates to global Christianity. Mission studies involves interdisciplinarity, drawing from biblical, theological, and historical foundations as well as the cultural and social sciences. Explored topics consist of interactions between global and local churches; evangelism and witness; faith and cultures; ecumenism and interreligious dialogue; as well as issues around justice, liberation, and the spirituality of empowerment.  The concentration...
GTU Concentration

Liturgical Studies

Students in the Liturgical Studies concentration engage in critical research into the historical evolution of Christian rites; theological reflection about Christian ritual practice (historical and contemporary); and analysis/interpretation of the ritual practices and embodied faith expressions of particular liturgical traditions.  They develop familiarity with the major figures, themes, and tasks in liturgiology, as well as research skills that include a critical use of primary sources, textual analysis, and ritual interpretation. In addition, they integrate perspectives from the social...
GTU Concentration

Homiletics

Students in the Homiletics concentration work to become scholar-teachers who are conversant with the body of literature associated with the history, theology, theories, and practices of preaching. They engage in dialogue with other disciplines (e.g., theological, biblical, cultural, rhetorical and performative studies) in order to interpret and construct theories of proclamation for diverse public, cultural, and ecclesial contexts. The GTU’s distinctive ecumenical and interreligious context fosters an understanding of preaching that intentionally engages the complexities and injustices of the...
GTU Concentration

Theology and Science

The primary goal of the concentration in Theology and Science is to promote creative mutual interaction between natural science and academic theology. Students explore the implications of fields such as physics, cosmology, evolution, genetics, neuroscience, and astrobiology for constructive research in philosophical theology, systematic theology, and ethics. They learn to monitor and critically assess debates and controversies arising in the broader field of Science and Religion. A concentration in Theology and Science may be combined with work in Buddhist Studies, Christian Theology, Ethics...
GTU Concentration

Philosophical Theology

Students in this concentration employ various philosophical traditions and resources to address theological questions and to explore the philosophical presuppositions and implications of theological doctrines. A broad range of questions, typical of the philosophy of religion, is opened here – from the existence and attributes of God to issues of divine providence, theodicy, prayer, and divine action. Students develop competencies in the methodologies of both philosophy and theology as well as knowledge of the ways that philosophy and theology have interacted in various historical periods of...
GTU Concentration

Islamic Philosophy and Theology

This concentration focuses on the systematic study of the Muslim intellectual tradition devoted to explorations of divine revelation, religious belief, and philosophical developments. Rooted in their knowledge of the Qur’an and Prophetic Tradition, students investigate various topics that emerge from the pillars of faith, articles of faith, jurisprudence, ethics, spirituality, and philosophy.
GTU Concentration

Hindu Theology

Students in this concentration pursue study and translational research (application) in Hindu systematic, natural, and constructive theology. They develop competencies in foundational theological and philosophical categories and cultivate research skills in relation to particular theological lineages (Sampradaya-s). This multidisciplinary study includes the theological dimensions of music, sacred sound, art, semiotics, ritual studies, and key elements of praxis to gain a deep understanding of the multivalent ethos of Hindu theology. The concentration fosters the ability to uncover the...
GTU Concentration

Ethics

The Ethics concentration prepares students to contextualize the major figures in the development of ethics and social theory, to interrelate ethics with a secondary concentration, to do research, and to construct an ethical argument. With these skills, students are prepared to teach in undergraduate and graduate programs in colleges, universities, and seminaries; to provide leadership to organizations, agencies, or corporations; and to serve churches at the local, regional, and national levels. As students make progress in their studies, they become increasingly capable of speaking and...
GTU Concentration

Comparative Ethics

Students in this concentration focus on a comparison of two or more theological approaches to topics in the field of ethics. Using descriptive and/or conceptual methods, students explore major moral teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and other traditions; engage in studies of social, business, health care, feminist, or sexual ethics; and address specific concerns or particular moral problems across these traditions.
GTU Concentration

Christian Theology

Students in this concentration engage in the ongoing task of interpreting Christian belief in response to modern and post-modern cultures. Students analyze the ancient biblical faith by tracing its influence on the history of ideas, its traditional reformulations, and its various contemporary or diverse cultural articulations. They can also focus on emerging forms of theology in specific local or regional settings, such as liberation, African, or Asian theologies. Emphasis is given to the need for theology to be pursued in an ecumenical spirit and to the increasing attention to cross-cultural...

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