In 2015, the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (September 16- 21) almost precisely overlaps with the period of the Hajj (September 20 – 25), which culminates in Eid al-Adha on the day after Yom Kippur. A public program at the GTU on Sunday, September 20 will explore many of the shared themes of this season, including repentance, pilgrimage, and sacrifice.
New Encyclopedia of Asian American Religion Celebrated
Graduate Theological Union faculty members and other contributors will celebrate the publication of their encyclopedia Asian American Religious Cultures at a special event this coming October 1, 2015. The editors and authors will share their insights on Asian American spirituality and on the project.
TIO Welcomes GTU as a New Partner
The Expanding Interreligious Horizon at Hartford Seminary
For interfaith devotees it is heartening to see venerable academic institutions take a lead in studying interreligion. Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College’s collaborative leadership training program stands out. Equally impressive work is going on at Auburn Seminary, Claremont School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Hartford Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, Naropa University, and University of the West, among others.
American Academy of Religion Opens Door to Interreligious Studies
It all began when I sat next to Prof. Barbara McGraw at an Interfaith Youth Core conference in Chicago in 2009. We were both impressed by the energy and passion of the religiously diverse young people gathered to talk about models of interfaith cooperation. Having helped launch the IFYC in my younger days and now learning the ropes of academic life in my position at Andover Newton Theological School, it struck me how powerful it would be to combine the scholarly depth of the academy with the passion of the interfaith movement. Barbara looked at me and suggested simply, “what about starting a new area at the AAR (American Academy of Religion) focused on interfaith work?”
Interfaith in Cyberspace
It all began for me in the early 1990s with a simple posting on an e-mail group list – a list of holy days during the coming month observed by different religious groups from Adventists to Zoroastrians. That monthly listing brought together two great interests of mine, interreligious dialogue and the emerging power of electronic communication.
Seminaries Buzzing with Interfaith Studies
Most of the several hundred seminary campuses crisscrossing Canada and the United States were developed by individual religious traditions. They wanted to ensure a steady, dependable source of new leaders for their denomination’s congregations. Over the decades most of these seminaries developed similar curricula – ancient languages, scripture, history, theology, ethics, pastoral care, and the liturgy, policies, and history of each school’s particular tradition. This shared curriculum, though, did little to connect the different traditions to each other. In most of these schools, memory, vision, values, and institutional structures all come through the lens of a particular tradition.