GRADUATE
THEOLOGICAL UNION
May 2009 Dean’s
Newsletter
Volume 13, Issue 8
May 2009
From The Dean - NO MORE “BUSINESS AS USUAL”
Inside this issue:
From the Student
Representative to
the BOT, Sociology
of Religion movie
night, Doctoral
Placement Services
2
Library News, From
OIA and Financial
Aid Offices, Summer 3
Language Courses
Travel Grant and
Chan Essay Contest
4
Deadlines, CJS and
CIS Events
Fall 2008-Spring
2009 GTU Graduates, Commencement/ Reception
information
5-7
We all know that the global economy is in a recession deeper than
any since the 1930s. At first the
news was all about the statistics:
foreclosures, bank failures, plummeting home prices, and the decline in stock portfolios. Then
came questions about the duration
and extent of the recession: How
long will it last? How deep will it
go? Now it seems that the media
and the public are ready to wonder about the long-term effects of
this economic downturn.
A good example is the current
issue of Time magazine. The cover
depicts a jar of coins with a label
heralding a special report on “The
New Frugality.” The caption
reads: “The recession has changed
more than just how we live. It’s
changed what we value and what
we expect—even after the economy recovers.”
I’m sure that most of us are
practicing a “new frugality” in our
personal lives. So are all of our
societal institutions, including our
religious communities and the
schools of the Graduate Theological Union. The phrase that I keep
hearing in meetings and around
the halls is “no more business as
usual.” The world of graduate
education in theology and religious studies is profoundly different now, and there will be no
going back. Financially, things
are tough now and look to get
tougher, but that isn’t really anything new.
What is new—and I think
rather exciting, even hopeful—is
the prospect of some deep structural changes. “No more business as usual.” Now is the time
to do some things differently in
our personal budgets, in our
religious organizations, in our
schools, and throughout the
GTU. Now is the time to be
creative and innovative—and
also time to get back to our core
values and traditions.
The GTU has been there before! Forty-five years ago in 1964
a Time magazine article entitled
“Joining the Theologians for
Thrift and Tolerance” described
the origins of this recentlyfounded consortium of theological schools:
Back in 1959, the seminary presidents began meeting to discuss
the possibility of exchanging
teachers and pooling library re-
sources, eventually worked out
the common doctorate program.
“No one can do things independently any more,” says
G.T.U. Dean John Dillenberger,
46. “It has become too expensive
to create academic excellence.” (http://www.time.com/
time/magazine/
article/0,9171,876411,00.html?
iid=chix-sphere)
The GTU has never been about
“business as
usual.” Our
heritage—
and our
future—is
all about
experimentation, innovation, cooperation
across
Dr. Arthur Holder,
Academic Dean and
religious
Vice President of Acaboundademic Affairs
ries, and
respecting differences while
working together for the common good. This is the ongoing
and most unusual business
of the GTU!
McCoy Lecture:Religion, Ethics & Media; May 4
Honorable Mention 8
The GTU and PSR will host the
6th annual McCoy Memorial
Lecture on Religion, Ethics and
Public Life on Monday, May 4
at 7pm in PSR’s Chapel of the
Great Commission with a reception to follow at 8pm in the
Badé Museum. This year’s lecture will feature Michael
Krasny, host of KQED-FM radio’s award-winning Forum, a
news and public affairs program,
professor of English, San Francisco State University, and author
of Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life in dialogue
with James Donahue GTU president and professor of ethics.
Krasny and
Donahue will
touch on the
religious ideas Michael Krasny, host
and issues of of KQED’s “Forum”
the day, the people who are framing these issues, and what the
media’s responsibility is for framing the issues.
Page 2
May 2009 Dean’s Newsletter
From the Student Representative to the GTU Board of Trustees
Emily Wu, doctoral student
in the Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion is the
student representative to
the GTU Board of Trustees
My year as the student representative on the GTU Board of
Trustee has been an exciting one.
I have been honored to meet our
trustees and to work alongside
them. They have both passion
and dedication to work with the
GTU through the current financial crisis. I have been equally
honored to talk with many of my
fellow doctoral students, and be
able to voice their concerns to
the Board. The experience has
taught me to be more openminded and empathetic, yet also
to be confident and strategic in
demanding systemic change.
Communication was the theme
I emphasized with the Board
this year. Together with the
Student Advisory Committee
(SAC) and the GTU deans, we
investigated how we can improve
communication among different
constituencies within the GTU
Common Enterprise and possibilities of centralized communi-
cation among member schools.
We initiated action by reaching
out to the Doctoral Areas and,
with the help of Trish Vanni
(doctoral student representative
on the Alternative Futures Task
Force), presented information on
the Alternative Futures of the
GTU this Spring. In many of
the Areas, we were able to lead
discussions where faculty and
doctoral students raised their
concerns as part of the GTU
community and provided helpful
suggestions. My most sincere
gratitude to all who shared your
perspectives and ideas at these
Area meetings!
The SAC members and I also
presented a proposal to the Doctoral Faculty Council on policies
and practices to advance sensitivity toward diversity. As this dialogue continues, we urge the
Doctoral Faculty Council to take
a lead in advocating for faculty
training in diversity sensitivity
and diversity-inclusive pedagogies.
Finally, Dean Maloney and I
requested that the student representative be able to regularly
report to the Board. As a result, the first-ever annual student report, which includes a
summary of the student input
from Area presentations and
the SAC Open Forums, will be
included in the May Board
meeting. In this same report, I
also call for the trustees to participate in becoming more sensitive to the diversity of the
GTU community and to take
action in addressing the issues
outlined in the student report.
The diversity proposal to the
Doctoral Faculty Council and
the annual student report to the
GTU Board of Trustees are
available on the SAC Moodle
site. Have a great summer,
everyone!
Sociology of Religion Movie Night on May 6: Camp Out
The next sociology of religion
movie night will be on Wednesday May 6, 6pm in JSTB room
216 and will feature the movie,
Camp Out. “Can you be GAY
and CHRISTIAN at the same
time?” Camp Out asks this challenging question by documenting
an Evangelical bible camp for
gay teenagers. The filmmakers
follow around 10 teenagers who
struggle to reconcile their sexuality with their faith in an atmos-
phere of acceptance and support. Camp Out is a great documentary that operates as a
prism for looking closely at
certain trends in American religion. Join us for a movie, conversation and FREE PIZZA
AND BEER! Please RSVP to
Jerome Baggett,
jbaggett@jstb.edu.
Doctoral Placement Services’ invitation to open a dossier
GTU doctoral candidates and graduates are invited to open a Doctoral
Placement Services dossier file. The
Dossier Service includes weekly job
announcements (via email) and the
ability to request a dossier be sent to
institutions with job openings. Also,
those who have an active dossier
file may submit a CV for inclusion
in Available for Appointment 20002010, to be compiled this summer
and published on the GTU website
in early fall. Call the Dean’s Office
(649-2440) or e-mail amu-
noz@gtu.edu for more information.
May 2009 Dean’s Newsletter
Page 3
Page 3
Library News: Art exhibit
Art in the Library- Eva
Bovenzi: Messenger.
A new art exhibition will be on
display in the library from
March 15 – June 15. The exhibition is titled Eva Bovenzi:
Messenger. “Visually, these
paintings were inspired by Byzantine
icons, early Renaissance Italian art,
and medieval maps. Conceptually,
idea of angels in the back of my mind
they were born of my fascination with …”
humanity’s need to create a narrative
that explains our presence in this
unexplainable universe… Angels
have been particularly interesting to
me, both visually and conceptually,
and this work was made with the
From the Office of Institutional Advancement: Web 2.0
We are working to make the
Graduate Theological Union more
accessible and interactive through
an online presence. We’re continually updating our website to streamline navigation, keep content current, and provide you with information on the exciting work generated by our students, faculty,
schools, and centers of distinction.
In addition:
GTU has branched out into the
world of social networking. Many
of you already are fans of the GTU
on Facebook, which has undergone
some changes recently. Some
changes have altered the placement
of information on our page. However, it has also allowed us to
stream into your Home News Feed
– a list of recent activity in your
social network -- so GTU information comes right to you.
On the professional side, GTU
encourages networking on
LinkedIn. There is a group and
upcoming events for GTU in addition to our school’s profile. The
more students and alumni add
GTU to their profiles, the easier it
will be to find classmates and stay
connected today and in the future.
We anticipate our first postings on
YouTube in the coming weeks
(username: GraduateTheologicalU)
and will embed our first video into
the GTU website.
Don’t expect our videos to go
“viral” and don’t expect a regular
Vlog anytime soon, but we look
forward to increasing GTU’s virtual
presence in our community and in
the world.
Financial Aid Office: Scholarship Resources Workshop, May 12
A Scholarship Resources for
Graduate Students Workshop
will be offered on Tuesday, May
12, 5:30-6:30pm in the Teaching Lab at the Flora Lamson
Hewlett GTU Library. This
workshop is designed to introduce students to key scholarship databases, application and
organizational tactics, as well as
research and dissertation re-
sources. To sign up for this
workshop please call 510–6492489 or email scholarships@gtu.edu. Please note that
the monthly electronic information sent out to GTU students
by the Financial Aid Office
now features a Scholarship Resources Newsletter page highlighting newly found scholarships, links to current scholar-
ships, practical strategies to consider in your search, and more.
Rebecca Davis, the GTU Scholarship Research Assistant, is also
available for personal assistance in
your search for scholarship and
grant information tailored to your
particular area of study. To schedule an appointment, please contact her at: scholarships@gtu.edu.
Summer French, German & NEW Spanish courses
The GTU will offer summer intensive
language courses in French, German
and Spanish (new!) July 20 through
August 14, 2009, Monday through
Friday, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.
(Location to be announced.) Students
are awarded 4 academic units for each
course. The tuition for each course is
$600 (non-refundable deposit of $100
due by June 30th, balance by July
17th). We must enroll a minimum of
seven students in a course in order to
offer that course. A course will
be cancelled if the minimum
enrollment is not met. Students
can certify proficiency in a modern foreign language by successfully completing a GTU summer
intensive language courses. To
Register please Contact John
Seal, GTU Assistant Director of
Registration (510-649-2462 or
jseal@gtu.edu). Students can
also take a course in Latin in the
summer that, if they successfully
complete the course, will certify
proficiency in that language. Students should consult with DSPT for
details.
The next modern
foreign language
examination is
Wednesday,
May 27th
1:00pm-4:45pm
in the Dinner
Board Room.
Students should
register with
Fredonia
Thompson,
fthompson@gtu.edu,
649-2400, at least
one week before
the exam,
Wednesday, May
20th.
There is a $10.00
registration fee.
Page 4
May 2009 Dean’s Newsletter
GTU Student Travel Grants Cycle #1: Deadline September 15
GTU STUDENT TRAVEL
GRANT Cycle #1 DEADLINE: Sept 15, 2009
Mark your calendar! The first
cycle deadline to compete for
a GTU Student Travel Grant
(formerly AAR/SBL Travel
Grant), is Tuesday, September
15, 2009 at 5pm in the GTU
Dean’s Office. GTU doctoral
students who are presenting
papers at the AAR and SBL
Annual Meetings along with
other comparable national conferences and meetings before
January 31, 2010 are eligible to
apply for the first cycle. Additionally, the GTU Student
Travel Grant Application form
must accompany supporting
materials (proof of acceptance to
conferences and paper précis). It
is available through the GTU
Dean’s Office and the GTU
webpage. For more information,
please consult the 2008 Doctoral
Program Handbook (p. 72), call
the GTU Dean’s Office
(649.2440), or email
amunoz@gtu.edu.
Chan Essay Competition: Deadline September 15
NEW TOPIC FOR CHAN
PRIZE COMPETITION
(DEADLINE: SEPT. 15, 2009)
Students interested in submitting
papers for the 2009-2010 Chan
Essay Prize contest must do so
by Tuesday, September 15,
2009 at 5pm in the GTU Dean’s
Office. All students in the GTU
and its member schools are eligible to submit work for this prize
of around $2500, established in
1987 by the Lionel Chan Family
Endowment. The topic will
now alternate from year to
year. In odd-numbered years
(including 2009) the topic
will be: “Identity and Practice across Religious
Boundaries: exploring a particular concept, theme, or
practice in two or more religions (e.g., Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam,
Judaism, etc.).” (In evennumbered years, the topic will
be “Religion and Economics.”) To enter, submit an
original essay, a term paper for
a course, or a chapter of a
thesis or dissertation, with an
introduction and conclusion to
frame it as an independent
essay. The GTU Dean and
Core Doctoral Faculty Awards
Committee select recipients
for this award. There is no
application form.
CJS & CIS Host Judith Butler: “Thinking Israel/Palestine”
Professor Judith Butler, UC Berkeley, will offer a public lecture entitled
“Thinking Israel/ Palestine” on
Wednesday, May 6 at 5pm in the
Judith Butler, UC Berkeley
GTU Dinner Boardroom. The
will speak at the GTU on
lecture will be followed by reflecWed. May 6
tions by Professor Munir Jiwa,
follow. This event is free and open
Director of the GTU Center for
to the public. For more information
Islamic Studies and Professor
email cjs@gtu.edu or cis@gtu.edu.
Deena Aranoff, Acting Director of
the GTU Center for Jewish Studies.
A question and answer period will
CIS & UCB Sponsor: Islamic Norms in Secular Public Spheres
The GTU Center for Islamic Studies will co-sponsor with UC Berkeley a series of panel discussions on
the topic of “Islamic Norms in
Secular Public Spheres” on May
7th - 8th 2009, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., in
the Lipman Room, Barrows Hall,
8th Floor, UC Berkeley. Panel
discussions include: Panel 1: Conflicts of normative systems (Valérie
Amiraux, University of Montreal,
Olivier Roy, UC Berkeley) Panel 2:
What is Sharia Law in Muslim and
Non-Muslim contexts? (John Bowen, Washington University, St
Louis, Dino Abazovic, University
of Sarajevo, Alexandre Caeiro,
Utrecht University, Daniel Weinstock, University of Montreal, Asifa
Quraishi Wisconsin University Law
School, Denise Helly, INRS,
Moussa Abou Ramadan, Birzeit
University, Chair: Saba Mahmood,
UC Berkeley, Muhammad Khalid
Masud, Council of Islamic Ideology, Andrew March, Yale University, Cedric Baylocq, CNRS Bordeau, Jean Noël Ferrié, CNRS
Grenoble) Key note lecture Peter
Danchin, University of Maryland,
“Use and abuse of religious freedom”(Chair: Christopher Kutz, UC
Berkeley School of Law, Anne
Saris, UQAM, Rajeev Barghava,
CPS, New Delhi, David Koussens
University of Montreal) Panel 3:
How have Western courts dealt
with cases involving Islam? Panel 4:
Adaptation of Islamic legal norms
in local legal environments.
Page 5
Fall 2008 and
Spring 2009
Graduates
Doctor of Philosophy:
Chung-Hyun Baik
Ontology and Epistemology in Contemporary Discussions on the Relation between the Immanent Trinity
and the Economic Trinity
Systematic and Philosophical
Theology
Ted Peters (Coordinator)
Michael J. Dodds, O.P.
Gaymon Bennett
On the Care of Human Dignity:
From Archon to Anthropos
Systematic and Philosophical
Theology
Ted Peters (Coordinator)
Diane Virginia Bowers
Martin Luther and the Joyful Exchange between Christ and His
Christian: Implications for the Doctrine of Justification and the Christian Life
Systematic and Philosophical
Theology
Ted Peters (Coordinator)
Sean D. Burke
Reading the Ethiopian Eunuch as a
Eunuch: Queering the Book of Acts
Biblical Studies
Mary Ann Tolbert
(Coordinator)
Michael Thomas Tupou Castori
“Israel and the Nations” in the
Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael and
Origen’s Homilies on Exodus: A
Study in Biblical Interpretation
Near Eastern Religions
Daniel Boyarin, University of
California, Berkeley
(Coordinator)
Youngkeun Choi
Rethinking Protestant Nationalism
in Colonial Korea, 1910-1945:
Chŏng In-gwa and the Christianiza-
May 2009 Dean’s Newsletter
tion of Korea
History
Randi Walker (Coordinator)
Francis Tae-Young Chung
Creating a New Space: Gendered
Space and Worship in Korean Church
Architecture
Liturgical Studies
Lizette Larson-Miller
(Coordinator)
Robert B. Coote (Coordinator)
Doo Hee Lee
Luke-Acts and “Tragic History”
Biblical Studies
David Balch (Coordinator)
Kang Hack Lee
Christian Spiritual Direction for a
Confucian Culture: A Korean Perspective
Christian Spirituality
Elizabeth Liebert, S.N.J.M.
(Coordinator)
Michele A. Connolly
Disorderly Women and the Order of
God: An Australian Feminist Reading of the Gospel of Mark
Won Yuol Lyu
Biblical Studies
The Significance of the SocioMary Ann Tolbert (Coordinator) Cultural Context in Preaching: A
Critical Analysis of the Preaching of
Joseph De Leon
Donald Owens
The Passion Drama at San FerHomiletics
nando: Mediating the Relationship
Mary Donovan Turner
Between Von Balthasar’s Theo(Coordinator)
Drama and Náhua Ritual Using
Royce’s Notion of Interpretant
Erica L. Martin
Art and Religion
Incest and Inner-Biblical Exegesis
Alejandro García-Rivera
Biblical Studies
(Coordinator)
John C. Endres, S.J.
(Coordinator)
Elizabeth Drescher
Practicing Church: Vernacular Eccle- Caroline N. Mbonu
siologies in Late Medieval England
A Redemptive Reading of the Doulē
Christian Spirituality
in Luke 1:26-38: Towards a LibArthur G. Holder (Coordinator) erative Process for Women in Igbo
Christopher Ocker
Society
Interdisciplinary Studies
Lynne Gerber
Eduardo C. Fernandez, S.J.
(Coordinator)
Ruling the Unruly Body: Cultural
Capital and Symbolic Power in Two
Katherine Anne Osenga
Parachurch Ministries
Her Veil: The Story of the Marian
Ethics and Social Theory
Jerome P. Baggett (Coordinator) Veil in Art History from the Catacombs up until the Reformation
Art and Religion
Andrea Giovannoni
Michael T. Morris, O.P.
Torture and the Catholic Moral
Imagination: A Sacramental Counter- (Coodinator)
Narrative
Hyung Shin Park
Systematic and Philosophical
Presbyterian Missionaries in SouthTheology
ern Manchuria, 1867-1931: ReligRobert Lassalle-Klein, Holy
Names University (Coordinator) ion, Society, and Politics
History
Philip L. Wickeri (Coordinator)
YoungHye Kim
The Levitical Heptateuch and PhineEmily Leah Silverman
has the High Priest
Crossing Over: The Queering of the
Biblical Studies
Religious Identities of Edith
Stein, a Jewish Nun and Regina
Jonas, a Woman Rabbi
Interdisciplinary Studies
Rosemary Radford Ruether
(Coordinator)
Marina True
Prophet of a New Humanity:
Paulos Mar Gregorios on Tradition, Context, and Change as a
Basis for Christian Community
Interdisciplinary Studies
Philip L. Wickeri
(Coordinator)
Tu Thien Van Truong
Mệnh Trời: Toward a Vietnamese Theology of Mission
Interdisciplinary Studies
Philip L. Wickeri
(Coordinator)
Martín Hugo Videla Córdova Quero
Multiply Hybrids: Japanese
Brazilian Migrants Negotiating
their Identities within the Roman
Catholic Church in Japan
Interdisciplinary Studies
Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajajé (Coordinator)
Master of Arts:
Justin D’Agostino
Resuscitating God: The Secular
Quest and J.D. Salinger’s The
Catcher in the Rye
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
Christopher Renz, O.P.
(Coordinator)
Elaine Elizabeth Belz
Seeing Through the Cross, the
Grotesque in the Comedy of
Salvation
Church Divinity School of
the Pacific
Marion S. Grau
(Coordinator)
Page 6
Page 6
Elise Bridgen
Anti-Judaism in Christian Biblical
Exegesis: “Authenticity,”
“Originality,” and “EmergingMissional” Theology in the Primitive Christian Narrative
Center for Jewish Studies
Naomi Seidman (Coordinator)
May 2009 Dean’s Newsletter
Berkeley
WITH HONORS
Lisa Fullam (Coordinator)
Jong Soo Kim
The Symbolic Meaning of the Stigmata of Francis of Assisi and Franciscan Spirituality
Kathryn Grindberg
In Faith Toward God and in Fer- Pacific School of Religion
vent Love Toward One Another: A Joseph D. Driskill (Coordinator)
Lutheran Eucharistic Ethic for the
Twenty-first Century
Jacqueline K. Lee
Pacific Lutheran Theological Women in Prison: History and PossiJessica M. Brown
Seminary
bilities for a Restorative Approach
The Ethics of Statecraft—
Michael B. Aune
Jesuit School of Theology at
Universal Human Rights Principles (Coordinator)
Berkeley
and a One-State Solution in IsraelLisa Fullam (Coordinator)
Palestine
Rebekah Holt
Jesuit School of Theology at
Re-Deafining Christian Unity: On Andrew T. Lewis
Berkeley
Creating Dialogue Between the
Death and Resurrection: The Atoning
WITH HONORS
Deaf and the Hearing
Work of Divine Agape and Eros
William R. O’Neill, S.J.
Pacific School of Religion
Pacific Lutheran Theological
(Coordinator)
WITH HONORS
Seminary
Inese Radzins (Coordinator)
WITH HONORS
Courtney Bruntz
Ted Peters (Coordinator)
Discussing Buddhism and Christi- Katherine Hug
anity: The Roles of the Bodhisattva Theorizing Cloned Flesh: Raëlian Moakumla Longchar
Avalokitesuara and the Virgin
Religion and Its Implications for a Revisiting and Retrieving Naga SpiriMary
Post-Humanist Self
tuality through Narrative Preaching
Pacific Lutheran Theological Pacific Lutheran Theological Church Divinity School of the
Seminary
Seminary
Pacific
Jane E. Strohl (Coordinator)
Ted Peters (Coordinator)
Linda L. Clader (Coordinator)
Megan Dowdell
“The Story Can Be Told Another
Way”: The Contributions of Womanist Ethics to the Principle of
Respect for Autonomy
Pacific School of Religion
Gabriella Lettini (Coordinator)
Phillip J. A. Fackler
Toward the Social Logic of the
Letters of Ignatius of Antioch
Church Divinity School of the
Pacific
WITH HONORS
Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski
(Coordinator)
Milutin Janjic
Inculturation in Orthodox Missionary Work According to Archbishop
Anastasios (Yannoulatos) of Albania
Patriarch Anthenagoras Orthodox Institute
John Klentos (Coordinator)
.
Eric Jones
The Bible is a Conversation: An
Articulation of the Authority of
Scripture
Pacific Lutheran Theological
Seminary
Steed V. Davidson
(Coordinator)
Sasha T. Goldberg
The Kosher Cut: Jewish Masculinity in the Works of Philip Roth
Masato Kato
Center for Jewish Studies
Negotiation of Religious, Ethnic,
Naomi Seidman (Coordinator) and Racial Identity among Japanese
American Tenrikyo Followers in
Jeffrey D. Gottlieb
the San Francisco Bay Area
Toward a Moral Life: Cultivating Pacific School of Religion
the Virtue of Compassion
William McKinney
Jesuit School of Theology at
(Coordinator)
Kathleen M. Lortie
A Queer Look at Theophany: Divinity, Disability, and Transcendence
Starr King School for the Ministry
Gabriella Lettini (Coordinator)
Patricia A. Martin
Toward an Inductive Theory of Human Rights: Learning from Experience How Rights Can Promote Human Flourishing
Jesuit School of Theology at
Berkeley
William R. O’Neill, S.J.
(Coordinator)
James R. Mayer
Biblical Fluidity—Gender Fluidity
Pacific School of Religion
WITH HONORS
Jay Emerson Johnson
(Coordinator)
Sarah Mohr
Developing a Criteria for Islamic
Feminism: A Comparison of Simone
de Beauvoir and Amina Wadud
Pacific School of Religion
Joseph D. Driskill
(Coordinator)
M. Alex Nichols
Voices of Resistance: Gay Theology
and Tradition
Pacific School of Religion
Mayra Rivera Rivera
(Coordinator)
Rachel Nielsen
Depression and Pregnancy: The
Ethical Dilemma of Antidepressant
Use in Pregnancy
Pacific School of Religion
Michael M. Mendiola
(Coordinator)
Kwang-Cheol Oh
Bonaventure’s Christ-Centered Mysticism: Centered on God’s Love in
the Mystery of Christ Crucified
Pacific School of Religion
James F. Lawrence
(Coordinator)
Jessica Oya
Hope for Communion: (In)Visibility
and Liminality in an Era of HIV/
AIDS
Pacific School of Religion
Mayra Rivera Rivera
(Coordinator)
Nicole Rose Pagano
Hope in Literary Alchemy: Dante’s
Reform of Three Ancient Narratives
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
Barbara Green, O.P.
(Coordinator)
Perry Richard Pike
Christian Zikr: Jesus, Sufism and
Embodied Prayer
Starr King School for the Ministry
Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajajé
(Coordinator)
Page 7
Page 7
Talia Ruth Raymond
Sacred Dance with Youth
Pacific School of Religion
Wilson Yates (Coordinator)
Susan Jane Robinette
A Combined Cognitive and Rhetorical-Critical Approach to Biblical Hebrew Poetic Texts: Psalm 1
and Jeremiah 17:5-8
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
Barbara Green, O.P.
(Coordinator)
Andrew Rorabaugh
Method in Liturgical Theology:
Definitions, Motives and Directions
Church Divinity School of the
Pacific
Lizette Larson-Miller
(Coordinator)
Uk Ryel Ryu
Searching Alchemy: Reflection on
Christian Worship as Drama
Pacific School of Religion
Andrea Bieler (Coordinator)
Heidi Lynn Thimann
The Body in the Book: The
Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux
May 2009 Dean’s Newsletter
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology
WITH HONORS
Michael T. Morris, O.P.
(Coordinator)
Jeramy Townsley
Ethics and Social Theory
Jerome P. Baggett
(Coordinator)
Nancy M. Wilson
In My Beginning Is My End:
Baptism and a Christian Spirituality of Dying
Pacific School of Religion
WITH HONORS
Joseph D. Driskill
(Coordinator)
Master of Arts With a Concentration in Biblical Languages:
Sean David Allen Albrecht
Church Divinity School of
the Pacific
Donn
F.
Morgan
(Coordinator)
Berkeley
John C. Endres, S.J.
(Coordinator)
Barbara Green, O.P.
Chungwon Chai
San Francisco Theological
Seminary
Robert B. Coote (Coordinator)
John C. Endres, S.J.
Christine Landau
Jesuit School of Theology at
Berkeley
Jean-François Racine
(Coordinator)
Barbara Green, O.P.
Lindsey Reed
Pacific School of Religion
Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan
(Coordinator)
John C. Endres, S.J.
Christopher J. Stephens
Pacific School of Religion
Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan
(Coordinator)
Judy Yates Siker
Jose E. Balcells
Jesuit School of Theology at
2009 Reception for Graduates & GTU
Commencement, May 13 & 14
The GTU commencement is
Thursday, May 14 at 4 p.m.
in the PLTS Chapel. A Reception follows the ceremony
outside the Chapel. Common
MA and doctoral students
planning on participating in
the GTU commencement
ceremony should report to the
Giesy Hall for robing and procession instructions by 3:15
p.m. Faculty are asked to report to Giesy Hall by 3:30
p.m. Contact Maureen Maloney, GTU Dean of Students,
649-2464 for information.
This year’s reception for
graduates will be held on
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at
5:00 PM at a new location:
Church Divinity School of the
Pacific (CDSP) St. Margaret’s
Courtyard & Tucson Common
Room 2451 Ridge
Road Berkeley, CA 94709.
The evening before commencement, on Wednesday,
the Graduate Theological Union Board of Trustees hosts a
reception to honor the
achievements of the graduating class. This is a lovely opportunity to gather with
friends, family and the entire
GTU community to celebrate
the successes of the graduating
class. The evening features a
program in which faculty advisors introduce their students to
guests and describe their work
and accomplishments. This is
an excellent opportunity to
catch a glimpse into the amazing diversity of the GTU academic community! For additional information about the
Reception for the Graduates,
contact Sandra Chavez at
events@gtu.edu or 510-6492420.
Volume 13, Issue 8
Page 8
Honorable Mention
MA STUDENTS
DOCTORAL STUDENTS
MA Theses Successfully Defended:
General Comps Passed:
Nathan Bjorge, PSR
Phillip Fackler,* CDSP
Sasha Goldberg, CJS
Jonathan Harvey, PSR
Rebekah Holt,* PSR
Eric Jones, PLTS
Jacqueline Lee, JSTB
Perry Pike, SKSM,
Andrew Rorabaugh, CDSP
Michael Jendza, THEO
* With Honors
Advanced to Candidacy:
MA -Biblical Languages Oral
Exams Successfully Passed:
Sean Albrecht, CDSP
Christine Landau, JSTB
Comps Proposal Approved:
Jung Hyung Kim, THEO
Jihoon Lee, HIST
Jong-Tae Lee, SPRT
Dante Quick, THEO
Daniel Smith, THEO
Kevin White, HIST
Patrick Lannan, ETHC
Lisa Webster, IDS
GRADUATE
THEOLOGICAL
UNION
Office of the Dean
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley, CA 94709
Phone: 510-649-2440
Fax: 510-649-1417
E-mail: amunoz@gtu.edu
Spring 2009
Doctoral
Student Election
Results
Oral Dissertation Successfully Defended:
KangHack Lee, SPRT
Katherine Osenga, ART
Martin Hugo Videla Cordova Quero, IDS
Luke Ssemakula, SPRT
Doctoral Council
Melissa James (ETHC)
Student Advisory
Committee (SAC)
Peter Claver Ajer
(BIBL)
Jiden Ewing (CHSR)
Andrea Sheaffer
(BIBL)
Grievance Committee
Erin Zion (ART)
Library Committee
Brian Green (ETHC)
THE DEAN’S NEWSLETTER
The Dean’s Newsletter is for official notices from the GTU Dean’s Office regarding
academic affairs and for announcements of educational events (lectures, conferences)
focusing on academic research and thus of particular interest to faculty and MA and
PhD students. Send submissions to Angela Muñoz, amunoz@gtu..edu.
Student Representative to GTU Board of
Trustees
Dante Quick (THEO)
American Academy of
Religion Liaison
Kayko Driedger
Hesslein (THEO)