Graduate Theological Union

Graduate Theological Union

File:GTUlogo.svg
Motto	"Grow In Knowledge. Thrive in Spirit. Unite in Solutions."
Type	Private
Established	1962 (1962)
Religious affiliation	Ecumenical and Multireligious
Academic affiliation	University of California, Berkeley
Chairman	Susan Cook Hoganson
President	Riess Potterveld
Dean of Students	Kathleen Kook
Academic staff	8
Students	245
Location	Berkeley , California , U.S. 37.875524°N 122.262079°W / 37.875524; -122.262079
Website	www.gtu.edu

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 and has established a relationship with the University of California, Berkeley that allows students from both institutions enjoying privileges accorded to their own students. Additionally, some of the GTU consortial schools are part of other California universities such as Santa Clara University (Jesuit School of Theology) and California Lutheran University (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary). Most of the GTU consortial schools are located in Berkeley around the campus of University of California, Berkeley, with the majority north of the campus in a neighborhood known as "Holy Hill" due to the cluster of GTU seminaries and centers located there.

History and administration

Many of the GTU's constituent seminaries were established at various locations throughout the Bay Area in the early 20th or even the late 19th centuries. Because of the foundation of the University of California, several of them relocated to Berkeley and established cooperative relationships with the University. In the wake of the formation of the World Council of Churches and the Second Vatican Council, Bay Area seminaries began negotiations to form a cooperative degree program. In 1962, agreement between the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School (now the American Baptist Seminary of the West), Episcopalian Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary enabled for the incorporation of the Graduate Theological Union in 1962. In 1964, the Pacific School of Religion, St. Albert's College (now the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology) and Starr King School for the Ministry joined the GTU consortium. In 1966, Alma College relocated to Berkeley and was renamed the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. In 1968, the Franciscan School of Theology moved to Berkeley from Santa Barbara and joined the GTU consortium, although in 2013 it merged with the University of San Diego, leaving the consortium and relocating to Oceanside, California . By 1971, the GTU was fully accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.

In 1969, the GTU common library was established and the individual libraries of the seminaries were merged into one collection. In the 1970s, construction began on a Louis I. Kahn-designed building to house the GTU library. The main library building was completed in 1987 and was named the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library in honor of the Hewlett Foundation.

Presidents and academic deans

Presidents

• John Dillenberger (1967–1971)
• Claude Welch (1971–1982)
• Michael Blecker (1982–1987)
• Robert Barr (1987–1992)
• Glenn R. Bucher (1992–1999)
• James Donahue (2000–2012)
• Riess Potterveld (2013–2018)

Academic deans

• Sherman E. Johnson (1962–1963)
• John Dillenberger (1963–1971)
• Claude Welch (1971–1987)
• Judith Berling (1987–1996; interim, 2016)
• Margaret Miles (1996–2001)
• Arthur Holder (2001–2016)
• Uriah Kim (2017–present)

The dean of the GTU is the chief academic officer. The dean also chairs the GTU's council of deans composed of the academic deans of consortial member schools. Traditionally, deans have held the John Dillenberger Professorship in their general field of specialization. The fifith dean, Margaret Miles, was the John Dillenberger Professor of Historical Theology while the sixth dean, Arthur Holder, was the John Dillenberger Professor of Christian Spirituality.

Member seminaries and research centers

Consortial seminaries

• American Baptist Seminary of the West (American Baptist Churches USA)
• Church Divinity School of the Pacific (Episcopal)
• Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
• Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University
• Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (ELCA)
• Pacific School of Religion (United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, and United Methodist Church)
• San Francisco Theological Seminary (Presbyterian Church (USA))
• Starr King School for the Ministry (Unitarian Universalist)

Affiliated Research Centers

• Asia Project
• Center for the Arts, Religion, and Education
• The Mira and Ajay Shingal DCF Center for Dharma Studies
• Center for Islamic Studies
• The Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies
• Center for Swedenborgian Studies
• The Francisco J. Ayala Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences
• Institute of Buddhist Studies (Buddhist Churches of America)
• New College Berkeley
• Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Academics

The GTU offers the Doctor of Philosophy degree cooperatively with the University of California at Berkeley and the Master of Arts degree in cooperation with its member seminaries. GTU consortial seminaries variously offer M.Th., M.Div, Doctor of Ministry, S.T.B., S.T.L., and S.T.D. degrees. Ph.D. students are encouraged not only to take advantage of the academic resources available to them at the University of California at Berkeley, but are required to include a non-GTU scholar in their exams or dissertation committees. As such, students have collaborated with UC-B faculty members in the anthropology, critical theory, ethnic studies, history, philosophy, sociology, etc. departments.

Departments and certificate programs

There are four doctoral departments, with more than 30 concentrations, encompassing the breadth of religious and theological scholarship at the GTU. The Sacred Texts and Interpretation department focuses on Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Rabbinic Literature, and studies in the sacred texts of Islamic and Hindu traditions. Historical and Cultural Studies of Religions encompasses studies in history of religions, art and religion, interreligious studies, and sociology of religion. Theology and Ethics focuses on theological and ethical reflections in the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu traditions. Other concentrations include comparative theology/ethics, philosophical theology, theology and science, and aesthetics. Religion and Practice focuses on homiletics, liturgical studies, missiology, practical theology, and religious education. The GTU also offers certificates in specialized studies.

All degree seeking students at GTU may take any classes offered at the University of California, Berkeley, and have access and borrowing privileges at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University libraries. Only Ph.D. students have unrestricted access to registering for UCB classes (subject to approval of course instructors); Th.D. and M.A. students can only take a maximum of 1 class per semester. Ph.D. students taking courses at UCB are able to obtain Cal 1 Cards, which can be loaded with funds for photocopying or for other purposes. Cross-registration opportunities are also available for GTU students at Dominican University of California, Holy Names University, and Mills College. Additionally, students can participate in international exchange programs with the University of Heidelberg, Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, Ryukoku University in Japan, and the Dharma Drum University in Taiwan.

Berkeley Journal of Religion and Theology

The GTU's in-house academic journal is the Berkeley Journal of Religion and Theology. The journal is managed by current doctoral students, although peer-reviewers include members of the consortial doctoral faculty. It publishes many of the lectures occurring throughout the year around the consortium, as well as several original articles and book reviews. Occasionally, special issues are commissioned to celebrate important milestones in the life of the GTU. The journal welcomes submissions from scholars from and outside of the GTU, and publishes one regular issue a year. All issues are available free online.

Campus

Although the GTU consortium occupies many buildings throughout the Bay Area, only three buildings are owned by the GTU. The largest of the buildings is the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, one of the largest theological libraries in the world, with around 529,000 volumes. It has a branch in San Anselmo, housed in the former library of the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Its material acquisitions are coordinated with the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University libraries. Borrowing privileges are available for all three institutions. Furthermore, GTU students are privy to borrowing from the University of Texas, Austin libraries as part of the RCLP agreement between University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and UT-Austin. In addition, GTU and UCB students can access the rare and special collections in both institutions' libraries. Altogether, GTU students have ready access to more than 20 million volumes of resources, more than any theological institution in the world. The building has three floors. The library's holdings and reference resources are available at the bottom two floors. The main floor houses a smart classroom, an art gallery, library administrative offices, special collections and archives, while the top floor houses offices for GTU administrators and staff, as well as the Richard Dinner Board Room, which used for lectures and other campus-wide events.

The GTU's Le Conte Building, located on 2465 Le Conte Avenue, is a student services building. Two study spaces are available: a basement study space and a much larger study lounge on the first floor that is often used for student events and campus workshops. Also on the first floor is the Doug Adams Art Gallery and the offices of the Center for the Arts and Religion. A mezzanine floor contains examination rooms. Administrative and faculty offices, as well as the HEDCO Seminar Room, occupy the second and third floors. The building is also home to the GTU's Richard Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, located on the second floor.

The GTU Annex Building, located behind the Le Conte Building, is home to the Center for Islamic Studies, the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences, the Shingal Center for Dharma Studies, and other GTU administrative offices.

Points of interest

• Flora Lamson Hewlett Library
• Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology at the Pacific School of Religion
• Douglas Adams Art Gallery
• Montgomery Chapel at the San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo

Notable alumni

• Virginia Burrus (Ph.D.), Bishop W. Earl Ledden Professor of Religion at Syracuse University
• Faustino M. Cruz, SM, (M.A.), Dean of Fordham University's Graduate School of Religion.
• James Donahue, President of Saint Mary's College of California and 6th president of the GTU.
• Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council
• Heup Young Kim (Ph.D. 1992), President of the Korea Forum for Science and Life, Korean Society of Systematic Theology, and Honorary Professor of Theology at Kangnam University.
• Nancey Murphy (Th.D. 1987), Professor of Christian philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary
• Robert John Russell (M.A.), Ian Barbour Professor of Theology at the Graduate Theological Union and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.
• Gregory E. Sterling (Ph.D.), Henry Slack Dean and Lillian Claus Professor of New Testament at Yale Divinity School
• George Tinker (Ph.D.) Clifford Baldridge Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff School of Theology
• Shibley Telhami (M.A.), Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland
• Laurie Zoloth, (Ph.D.), Dean and Margaret E. Burton Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Faculty

The GTU draws its consortial faculty from its constituent seminaries and centers. Although faculty members are employed at their respective seminaries and centers, they commit to supervising doctoral and masters students, as well as occasionally teaching advanced GTU-wide courses.

Notable current faculty

• Susan Abraham, Dean of the Faculty at Pacific School of Religion and Professor of Theology and Postcolonial Cultures.
• Jerome Baggett, Professor of Religion and Society at Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and a very well-known sociologist of religion, specializing in American Catholicism.
• Michael Dodds, OP, Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology.
• Wendy Farley, Professor of Christian Spirituality and Director of the San Francisco Theological Seminary Program in Christian Spirituality
• Thomas Massaro, SJ, Professor of Moral Theology at Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley
• Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, Professor of Christian Ethics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary
• Christopher Ocker, Professor of Church History at San Francisco Theological Seminary and affiliate Professor of History at University of California, Berkeley.
• Ted Peters (theologian), Distinguished Research Professor of Systematic Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and Affiliate Professor at the Ayala Center for Theology and Natural Sciences.
• Robert John Russell, Ian Barbour Professor of Theology and Science and Director of the Ayala Center for Theology and Science.
• Kirsi Stjerna, Los Angeles/Southwest Synod Professor of Lutheran History and Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

Notable former faculty

Former faculty members include David Alexander, John Dillenberger, and Roy I. Sano.

External links

• Official website