currents fall 2009 - graduate theological unionbuddhist-christian dialogue at psr. “dialogue is...

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fall 2009 Where religion meets the world INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 2 A Prophetic Voice on Social Justice 4 Finding Slavery in Your Own Back Yard 5 A-twitter with American Buddhist Monk Heng Sure 9 The Gift Always Comes Back 10 News 11 New Books news of the G raduate t heoloGical u nion GTU continued on page 6 JAMES NOEL San Francisco Theological Seminary faculty T ake a black sermon, print it in a book, then read it, and you have no idea what it means because it has been abstracted from the living worship of the black church, says the Rev. Dr. James Noel, (Ph.D.’99), Farlough Professor of African American Christianity at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. The sermon’s meaning, he says, is deter- mined by the hymns sung, the testimonials, the prayers said before and after the sermon’s deliv- ery, as well as what went on that week for parishioners. “My fascination is with religious experience and its various modes of expression,” he says, “espe- cially African American religious experience, which is different than that of Europeans or white Americans. The disciplines generated by both the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment aren’t adequate for elucidating black religion, and this has implications for theological education.” Noel’s holistic view of African American religious experience and expression is reflected in his own life. This GTU graduate studies and teaches the history of African American Christianity, black religion in Africa and the Americas, and African American social, cultural, and intellectual history. He’s also a painter; a seventh degree black belt in Moo Duk Kwan, a traditional form of Tae Kwon Do; a playwright; and an author who recently published Black Religion and the Imagination of Matter in the Atlantic World (Palgrave/Macmillan: June 2009), which takes an The Moan and the Shout James Noel on African American Religious Experience Coltrane and the church — it’s the same thing. Background: “Continuity,” painted by James Noel

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Page 1: Currents Fall 2009 - Graduate Theological UnionBuddhist-Christian Dialogue at PSR. “Dialogue is much more than conversation,” he says. “It can effect change, but it can be tricky

fall 2009

W h e r e r e l i g i o n m e e t s t h e w o r l d

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

2 A Prophetic Voice on Social Justice

4 Finding Slavery in Your Own Back Yard

5 A-twitter with American Buddhist Monk Heng Sure

9 The Gift Always Comes Back

10 News

11 New Books

n e w s o f t h e G r a d u a t e t h e o l o G i c a l u n i o n

GTU

continued on page 6

”JAMES NOELSan Francisco Theological

Seminary faculty

Take a black sermon, print it in a book, then read it, and you have no idea what itmeans because it has been abstracted from the living worship of the black church, saysthe Rev. Dr. James Noel, (Ph.D. ’99), Farlough Professor of African American

Christianity at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. The sermon’s meaning, he says, is deter-mined by the hymns sung, the testimonials, the prayers said before and after the sermon’s deliv-ery, as well as what went on that week for parishioners.

“My fascination is with religious experience and its various modes of expression,” he says, “espe-cially African American religious experience, which is different than that of Europeans or whiteAmericans. The disciplines generated by both the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenmentaren’t adequate for elucidating black religion, and this has implications for theological education.”

Noel’s holistic view of African American religious experience and expression is reflected in hisown life. This GTU graduate studies and teaches the history of African American Christianity,black religion in Africa and the Americas, and African American social, cultural, and intellectualhistory. He’s also a painter; a seventh degree black belt in Moo Duk Kwan, a traditional form ofTae Kwon Do; a playwright; and an author who recently published Black Religion and theImagination of Matter in the Atlantic World (Palgrave/Macmillan: June 2009), which takes an

The Moan and the ShoutJames Noel on African American Religious Experience

Coltrane and the church — it’s the same

thing.

Background: “Continuity,” painted by James Noel

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Currents presents the news, people, andprogress of the Graduate TheologicalUnion. Published two times a year,Currents is distributed to alumni, faculty,students, staff, and friends of the GTU.

President: James A. DonahueDean and Vice President for Academic Affairs:Arthur HolderVice President for Advancement: Linda P. FrankVice President for Finance and Administration:Steven G. ArgyrisLibrary Director: Robert BenedettoDean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs: Maureen MaloneyCommunications Director and Currents Editor: Joanne BrownContributor and Photography: Cheryl BowlanDesigner: Barbara Nishi Graphic Design

We welcome your feedback.Please send comments and suggestions, alum updates, or address changes to [email protected].

Graduate theoloGical union

2400 Ridge RoadBerkeley, CA 94709510/649-2400www.gtu.edu

MeMBer schools

American Baptist Seminary of the WestChurch Divinity School of the PacificDominican School of Philosophy & TheologyFranciscan School of TheologyJesuit School of TheologyPacific Lutheran Theological SeminaryPacific School of ReligionSan Francisco Theological SeminaryStarr King School for the Ministry

Gtu centers of distinction

Asia ProjectCenter for Islamic Studies

*Center for the Arts, Religion, and EducationCenter for the Study of Religion and Culture

*Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences*Institute of Buddhist Studies*New College Berkeley*Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox InstituteRichard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies

*School of Applied TheologyWomen’s Studies in Religion

*GTU Affiliates

Currents is printed on recycled and recyclable paper using soy inks.

GTUcurrents

Gtu currents

The Rev. Carmen Lansdowne is also called Kwisa’lakw by one of theaboriginal peoples of Canada’s central northwest coast. The name,given her by tribal elders at a ceremonial potlatch, means “woman

who travels far,” and acknowledges the globetrotting work of this 34-year-olddoctoral student in Interdisciplinary Studies. Lansdowne serves on the WorldCouncil of Churches (WCC) executive committee, representing 560 millionChristians in 110 countries and territories.

At the GTU, Lansdowne is preparing for a career teaching theology at a seminary, focusing her study on indigenous epistemologies, or ways of knowing, and Christian missiology. Ordained by the United Church ofCanada, a denomination shaped by Methodism, Presbyterianism, andCongregationalism, she graduated in 2007 from the Vancouver School ofTheology (VST) with a Master of Divinity.

Lansdowne was called back to the church of her childhood and to ministryin her early 20s. At the time she was studying to become a charteredaccountant — a job she held a few years before starting VST — and serving an internship leading two rural congregations on the border ofAlberta and Saskatchewan. She continues her work at VST on a Master ofTheology, which she hopes to complete in 2010 as she pursues her doctoratein Berkeley.

“I came to the GTU,” Lansdowne says, “because I wanted to study missionand explore an indigenous perspective in a context that represented themainline Protestant tradition I came from. The GTU’s InterdisciplinaryStudies program was a perfect fit for me.”

Churches, she says, can do a lot to regain their prophetic voice about socialjustice in the world. “My hometown, Alert Bay, B.C.,” Lansdowne says, “isexperiencing a decline in coastal fisheries. The aboriginal people are reachingout to the church, which asks, ‘What has this got to do with us?’ If the dominant society of Canada, including my denomination, wants to be in solidarity with indigenous communities, then restitution of culture, speakingout about economic impoverishment, and supporting successful ventures foraboriginals is what needs to happen.”

Students

Carmen Lansdowne: A PropheticVoice on Social Justice

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3fall 2009

Lansdowne brings this view to herwork for the World Council ofChurches, which, in the past, helpedlead the fight against South Africanapartheid, a legal system that, shenotes, was modeled on Canada’s ownIndian Act. She has visited theOccupied Palestinian Territories inher role as co-moderator of thePalestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum, aWCC program formed to coordinateglobal peace advocacy in WCC-member churches, and she partici-pates in WCC’s Indi genous PeoplesProgram. In 2006 she took part inthe United Nations Permanent Forumon Indigenous Issues, and last yearshe traveled to the Philippines to startwork on indigenous perspectives ofecclesiology (theologies of Christianself-understanding).

“The world is a smaller place thanpeople imagine,” Lansdowne says. “Ifyou think the world is big, it’s easy tofeel disconnected from what’s goingin a mining community in the Philip -pines or in rural Armenia. Participatingin God’s mission in the world is atthe heart of my Christian faith.”

Hear Carmen Lansdowne recite poetry

to tribal music: www.gtu.edu/currents

“Churches can do a lot to regain their prophetic voice about social justice in the world.”

Lansdowne poses in Oakland by a totem pole carved by her uncle, Ted Wilson.

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Alumni

David Batstone’s business card reads: “I am not for sale.

You are not for sale. No one should befor sale.” This professor of ethics at Uni -versity of San Francisco, entrepreneur,author, and social activist — foundedthe nonprofit Not For Sale when he discovered slavery in his own back yard;Berkeley, that is.

Batstone (Ph.D. ’89) learned thatLakireddy Reddy, owner of

Pasand restaurant, hadkept cook and wait staffas slaves. Reddy confessed to felonies,including conspiracyto commit immigra-tion fraud and trans-porting a minor forsex, only after a tragic

accident came tolight:

A roommate found two teenage sisters— Chanti and Lalitha Prattipati —unconscious in a Berkeley apartment alsoowned by Reddy. They were poi soned bycarbon monoxide leaking from a blockedheating vent, and Chanti was pronounceddead at Alta Bates Hospital. An investi-gation revealed that Reddy and severalfamily members used fake visas and falseidentities to traffic adults and childreninto the United States from India. Inmany cases Reddy secured visas underthe guise that these were skilled tech -nology professionals who would beplaced in software companies. Theyended up working as waiters, cooks, anddishwashers at Pasand or other businessesReddy owned, forced to work longhours for minimal wages they returnedto him as rent for one of his apartments.Reddy had threatened to turn them into the authorities as illegal aliens if theytried to escape.

Shocked that his favorite restaurant hadbecome a hub for a trafficking ring,Batstone realized that far from being athing of the past, slavery likely crossesour path on a regular basis without ourawareness. His research reveals there aremore than 27 million slaves in the worldtoday, more than at the height of theTrans-Atlantic slave trade. A tool calledSlavery Map: http://slaverymap.org onthe Not For Sale website, www.notforsalecampaign.org, allows users to see, post,and report where slavery exists today.

David Batstone, Professor of Ethics at University of San Francisco and founder, Not For Sale

continued on page 7

Finding Slavery in Your Own Back Yardand deploying solutions to abolish it

“… you transformwhatever your gifts are to … free another person.”

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5fall 2009

You might need a list todescribe Heng Sure. He’s aBuddhist monk, director

of the Berkeley Buddhist Monas -tery, scholar, member of severalinterfaith organizations, GTU alumnus, teacher at Pacific Schoolof Religion (PSR), musician, singer-songwriter of Buddhist folksongs,story teller, youth leader, and mostrecently, a tweeter on Twitter. Oryou could drop the list and justsay he is real. His name — given tohim by his teacher Master HsuanHua when he became a monk —translated from Mandarin, means“constantly real.”

“In Buddhist tradi-tion, monks aregiven a namesignifyingwhat theyhave towork on,”Heng Suresays. I’dbeen anactor in sum-mer stock the-ater, and my badhabit was to con-tinue to act even off-stage. So my name is a teach-ing for me.”

In turn, Heng Sure teaches people

about happiness and how to endsuffering. He does this in workingwith youth, singing the dharma orbody of teachings ex pounded bythe Buddha, and in his class onBuddhist-Christian Dialogue atPSR. “Dia logue is much morethan conversa tion,” he says. “Itcan effect change, but it can betricky because leaders have to bewilling to take their hats off.”

In his Buddhist-Christian Dialogueclass, Christian students addresstopics such as compassion, from aBuddhist perspective, and Buddhiststudents speak from a Christian

perspective. “What amazesme,” Heng Sure says,

“is each year Ilearn moreaboutBuddhism inseeing myfaith com-mitmentthroughothers’ eyes.

“When I talkto young people

about happiness, Iask them, ‘When were

you last happy? How didyou know? What felt happy? —Your feet? Your heart? Your eyes?Did it last?’ Isn’t it funny, you

can’t hang onto it. We want happi-ness, but it is fleeting. So we workon satisfaction. And often thatcomes to us through giving andserving.”

Heng Sure grew up in Toledo, Ohio,a “Methodist baseball-playing,Mickey Mouse Club-watchingkid”. At age 12, he was captivatedby the Chinese characters in aChinese painter’s exhibition cata-log. “I knew they had meaning.

A-twitter with American BuddhistMonk Heng Sure

continued on page 8

Wise ones know we plant a seed,

With every word and deed;Once we plant it,

here comes karma now.

— first verse, Cause & Effect, or Here Comes Karma Now, from the CD,

Paramita: American Buddhist Folk Musicby Rev. Heng Sure and Friends

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6 Gtu currents

The Moan and the Shout… continued from page 1

interdisciplinary approach to thestudy of black religious experience.

All African American expression,Noel says, from singer MichaelJackson’s funeral program to JohnColtrane’s jazz saxophone works,includes “the moan and the shout.”At one end is the moan — a collec-tive sorrow invoking the culturalmemory of suffering, from theMiddle Passage of slaves across theAtlantic, onward into slavery andoppression. Then comes the cathar-sis, the shout that releases the pres-sure of this personal and collectivememory of oppression.

“The shout comes from theglimpse of the possibility of afinal release,” he says, “similarto what theologians call ‘real-ized eschatology,’ or the ulti-mate destiny of humanity. Theway to give utterance to what’sglimpsed is a deep, visceralshout, a ‘Hallelujah’ or ‘Thankyou, Jesus.’ I painted a portraitof Coltrane called, ‘Ascension.’That’s the shout. I’ve alsopainted people in churcheswith arms stretched high, andthat’s the shout, too. Coltraneand the church — it’s thesame thing.”

In his new book, Noel askswhether the way we thinkroots us in the reality of life.He uses a type of phenome-nology that views how human

beings are constituted in modernityby the activity of imagination andthe myths that arise from it.

“Art, the sciences, and literature areforms for expressing mythology,”Noel says. “The big myth is theworld view that undergirds valuejudgments we make as a culture orcivilization. Post-modernity, webelieve there is no coherent reality.

Before that we had the myth ofEnlightenment, which stressedhuman reasoning over blind faith.Our reality — and, therefore, reli-gious experience — is always oneimagined within contexts that arehistorically and culturally condi-tioned. And the conditions underwhich black people experiencedDivinity in modernity were differ-ent from those of whites.

“White Americans narrate their history in terms of agency — theability to control one’s destiny, sail-ing for the Americas for religiousfreedom, or to spread democracy —not in terms of debasement, subju-

gation, and dehumanization,”says Noel. He references theforced “dark night of the soul”and “state of nothingness”resulting from the abomina-tions on slave ships crossingthe Atlantic.

“The horror of that experiencewas un-name-able and ineffa-ble,” he says. “The collectivespirituality of people whoexperienced the Middle Passageor the Holocaust includes asense of the Divine that arisesfrom it. This is the a priori ofAfrican American religiousconsciousness.”

Hear poetry and a song

performed by Noel

at www.gtu.edu/currents.Noel’s ‘Ascension’ hangs in the office of GTU President James A. Donahue.

“Coltrane and the church — it’s the same thing.”

from “Ritual,” painted by James Noel

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77fall 2009

“The shoes I wear, the coffee I drink, the sugar I put inmy coffee — may all be invisible links to slavery,”Batstone says. “Being free to choose our destiny is fun-damental to how we see ourselves. That’s why humantrafficking strikes a nerve, and people want to help.”

Indeed, in two years of operation, NotFor Sale has 42 state operations; projectsin Uganda, Peru, Nepal, Thailand, andGhana; eight full time staff members;and countless volunteers, includingsome top sports and music celebrities.The organization’s success, Batstonesays, lies in a method they call “OpenSource Activism,” derived from thehigh tech industry. “We don’t write therules. We give you tools to act locallyand show you how your local action

connects with global activism.”

Another Not For Sale tool is Free2Work (www.Free2Work.org), a wiki, where users publish and find infor-mation on whether products they use are linked toslavery. The International Human Rights Forum nowdownloads its data into Not For Sale’s wiki. In additionto the wiki, Not For Sale invites companies to beFree2Work companies. These companies pledge trans-parency and allow investigators trained at Not For Saleto examine their operations and ensure they are freefrom slavery.

Not For Sale’s success undoubtedly arises from Batstone’sexperience as an investment banker working in under-developed nations. The nonprofit is part of a socialventure Batstone cofounded called Right Reality, whichalso includes business consulting services and a compa-ny that builds and sells organic farming tools. “RightReality is about helping nonprofits be financially viable,and companies be socially responsible,” he says.

The thread running through all of Batstone’s work? He

calls it a passion for transformation, and credits hisGTU education with nurturing it. He uses another NotFor Sale initiative called Free To Play as an example. Itstarted with Batstone’s kids’ basketball teams: If a kidscored a basket they gave ten cents to free kids some-where else on the globe. Now, a pitcher for the SanFrancisco Giants and a left fielder for the St. LouisCardinals give to Not For Sale when they score homeruns; an Oakland Raiders linebacker gives when hemakes a tackle; an international skating champion giveseach time he performs a triple toe loop.

“The beauty is you don’t have to be a celebrity to participate,” Batstone says. “The idea is you transformwhatever your gifts are to give a gift to someone else, to free another person.”

David Batstone is the author of seven books. His most

recent are: Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave

Trade and How We Can Fight It (HarperCollins, 2007) and

Saving the Corporate Soul & (Who Knows?) Maybe Your

Own (Jossey Bass, 2003).

www.gtu.edu

Hear a full interview audio podcast with David Batstone:

www.gtu.edu/currents

Finding Slavery in Your Own Back Yard… continued from page 4

“We give you tools to act locally and show you how your local action connects with global activism.”

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Watch our interview with David Batstone on video:

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They led me to the Tao Te Chingand then the 6th Patriarch’s Sutra— Buddhist scripture centered onenlightenment and direct percep-tion of one’s true nature — and Ifelt like I’d just been speaking withthe Patriarch that morning. MySunday School teacher was notsupportive, but my pastor told meto keep going.”

And Heng Sure did. He became aBuddhist while earning a master’sdegree in Oriental Languages atUC Berkeley in the ’60s. Hebecame a monk in 1976, took asix-year vow of silence, and withanother monk walked 800-milesfrom Los Angeles to Ukiah, bow -ing after every three steps. HengSure, who likes to talk, said thehardest part of the pilgrimage wasbeing silent. People threw stones,some threatened them with gunsand insults, but more often, theywould spontaneously offer to help.The main lessons from the pil-grimage, he says, were about him-self — his mental habits, hismind’s tricks, the limits of hisunderstanding.

After 18 years as a monk, MasterHsuan Hua asked Heng Sure if hewould like to get a Ph.D. Heinquired at two eminent graduateschools, which questioned his wearing monk’s robes on campus— “they worried that believing insomething might challenge myobjectivity,” he says. “But the GTU welcomed me, robes and all,and affirmed that my faith com-mitment wouldn’t scare off myclassmates. I was a satisfied cus-tomer at the GTU.”

Heng Sure welcomes everyone to

the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery:

http://berkeleymonastery.org

Check out Heng Sure’s tweets on

Twitter: twitter.com/revhengsure

See the lyrics and hear 30-second

previews of Heng Sure’s American

Buddhist folk music:

www.dharmaradio.org

“What amazes me is each year I learn more about Buddhism

in seeing my faith commitment through others’ eyes.”

8 Gtu currents

A-twitter with American Buddhist Monk Heng Sure continued from page 5

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The Gift Always Comes Back

The GTU welcomes Harold (Hal)Leach as Chair of the GTU Board ofTrustees. Leach has served on the

GTU Board since 2005. He is ChiefOperating Officer of Performant FinancialCorporation in Livermore and also the presi-dent of DCS, Inc., one of Performant’s sub-sidiaries. The companies focus on businessprocess outsourcing and workflow manage-ment technology in the accounts receivablesmanagement industry.

Leach learned about the GTU from AlanKelchner, Leach’s minister at DanvilleCongregational Church, and a current GTU Board member and alumnus. “When Iheard from Alan about the GTU mission, Iknew this was exactly what I wanted to be apart of,” Leach says. “People feel so stronglyabout religion, and they don’t always agree.The GTU encourages the dialogue that helpsunderstanding, and understanding can be the root of peace in the world.”

“When I attended my first commencement atthe GTU, I was amazed by the faculty, stu-dents, courses of study, and diversity. I under-stood that the GTU is more than a school;we teach people to serve in the world.”

“GTU is well worth my time and money.Giving to the GTU President’s Circle, ourleadership giving club, is a priority for me, as well as hosting events and writing lettersto introduce potential donors to the wonderful work of the GTU. My hope is for ourBoard to be active in raising and giving funds as well, serving as a strong model to thecommunity. Our donors play a critical role in allowing the GTU to carry out its mission, and I know that the gift always comes back.”

Leach says that in his 27 years at Performant he’s seen many economic peaks and valleys. He shares his wisdom: “I see transition as an opportunity. Timing is everything,and we’ll be seizing the opportunities as they arise.”

9fall 2009

SupportingThe GTU

Harold Leach

Celebrate!In 2008-2009:

• We surpassed our$30,000 challengegrant goal for new andincreased gifts

• Donor participationincreased by 18%

• The number of alumnidonors increased by80%

The GTU still needsyour help to provideinnovative interreligiouseducation, preparing ourstudents for careers inteaching, service, andministry.

DONATE ONLINE!www.gtu.edu/give

“I understood that the GTU is more than a school; we teach people

to serve in the world.”

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10 Gtu currents

GTUNews

New Church on the BlockUnity of Berkeley sits nestled on the cornerof Scenic and Le Conte, surrounded by threeGTU member schools. Rev. Dr. Patricia Keel,Unity’s minister, is excited to be here.

Keel says she was called in 2001 to pioneer aUnity church in Berkeley while meditating onHildegard von Bingen. “Hildegard was calledto leave her monastery and establish a newone across the Rhine. My message fromHildegard was to cross the Bay from a congregation I was a part of in Marin.”

Keel’s Unity church in the East Bay originallyoffered only weekday classes on meditationand creativity. Then national tragedy nudgedher into formal ministry: “I remember 9-11was on a Tuesday. I put a small ad in the localpaper for a service to be held the following Sunday. Nine people showed up. Today,we see more than 100 each week.”

The church moved to Holy Hill in fall 2008. “Our church’s building was beingsold, and when I called to rent classroom space at Pacific School of Religion, Ilearned PSR had just acquired the former University Christian Church. It was aprovidential moment.

“We were able to bring new life to a beautiful space. In essence, the walls werepainted with prayers of people who had worshipped here before. The building helda sense of holiness, vitality, and joy.”

Founded in the late 1800’s, Unity’s message comes from the life and teachings ofJesus and honors the universal truth in all wisdom traditions. The term “PracticalChristianity” is often used to describe Unity, which is grounded in positive prayerand healing. In addition to Sunday mornings, Unity offers classes, concerts, andevents throughout the week. A recent focus on healing included “Wisdom HealingQigong” and “Emotional Freedom Techniques.”

Unity of Berkeley looks forward to welcoming all of its Holy Hill neighbors, andRev. Keel hopes the church will become a unique spiritual center for the community.

Check out Unity’s schedule and offerings at www.unityberkeley.org.

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11fall 2009

christian Memories of theMaccabean Martyrs

Palgrave Macmillan

… by Daniel Joslyn-SiemiatkoskiAssistant Professor of Church History at Church DivinitySchool of the Pacific

“… analyzes the creation of Christian identity via thelens of veneration of the Maccabean martyrs, Jewswho died for the Mosaic Law … a model study onJewish/Christian interfaith culture.”

— Amazon editorial review

christian spirituality:the classics

Routledge

… presents thirty texts — including works byAugustine, Jonathan Edwards, Thérèse of Lisieux, andThomas Merton — as living wisdom that invite contemplative reflection and existential response.

… by Arthur Holder GTU Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs (ed.) and

Douglas Burton-Christie (Ph.D. alum)Nonna Verna Harrison (Ph.D. alum)Theresa Ladrigan-Whelpley

(Ph.D. student)Darleen Pryds (FST faculty) Elizabeth Liebert (SFTS dean)Timothy Hessel-Robinson

(Ph.D. alum)David Kangas (husband of

Inez Radzins of PSR faculty)Lisa Dahill (Ph.D. alum) Bruce Lescher (JST associate

dean), among others

Into GodComing to a Theater Near You!

The much lauded TV series on cosmos, consciousness and God,— Closer To Truth — is being made into a feature-length docu-mentary, Into God. It will explore issues of universe, brain/mind,religion, meaning, and purpose through intimate conver sationswith leading scientists, philosophers, scholars, theologians andcreative thinkers — including Robert Russell, GTU’s Ian G.Barbour Professor of Theology and Science, and Founder andDirector, The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences(www.ctns.org). Stay tuned for more details about release dateand distribution. See the trailer at www.gtu.edu.

Dr. Mia Mochizukihas been awarded a Ryskamp Fellowshipby the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. As part of her project— The Netherlandish Image Abroad, 1543-1639: Art, Religionand Economics in the Early Modern World — she’ll studyNetherlandish prints brought to Japan by the Jesuit mission.She is GTU Core Doctoral Faculty, Assistant Professor, andThomas E. Bertelsen, Jr. Chair of Art History and religion atthe Jesuit School of Theology.

GTU Tweets!… along with Harvard Divinity School, Barack Obama,Downing Street, Southwest Airlines, GTU alum Rev. Heng-Sure, the Sierra Club, and many more!

Stay connected with the GTU in real time. Follow us onTwitter! It’s easy: Go to http://twitter.com/tweetGTU andclick on “Join Today” to set up your account and follow ourtweets. That’s all there is to it! When we tweet, you’ll hearfrom us on your text-message-enabled phone, or you can turnthat feature off and hear from us on your computer’s Twitteraccount home page.

Support A Greener GTUHave you seen GTU’s new e-newsletter, insight? Through Currents by email, our newe-newsletter, insight, and our Web communications, we’re helping to lessen our impact on theenvironment! Support a greener GTU by subscribing to our email communications. It’s easy — go to the “Receive our free newsletters link” on www.gtu.edu.

New Booksby GTU People

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Graduate theological union

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Fall 2009 Currents Newsletter

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GTU Alumni Reception ~American Academy of Religion November 7th, 8–9:30 pmFairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel-Richelieu, MontrealGTU will honor heup YounG KiM, Ph.D. ’92 as2009 Alum of the Year

The Eli Katz Memorial Yiddish ConferenceSex and the Shtetl: Gender Roles,Erotic Practices and Marital Structuresin Yiddish Literature and AshkenazicCulture Presented by the Center for Jewish StudiesPanel discussions, lectures, film, live theater November 15-17 in various locationsFor more information:www.gtu.edu/sexandtheshtetl

Art and Human Rights:Reflections on Fernando Botero:The Abu Ghraib SeriesSpeakers include williaM o’neill,

reBecca Gordon, doctoral candidate in Ethics and Social Theory,GTU and Instructor of Ethics, Universityof San Francisco paMela Blotner, artist, educator and curator Munir Jiwa, Director, GTU Centerfor Islamic StudiesModerated by laurel fletcher, ClinicalProfessor of Law; Director, InternationalHuman Rights Law Clinic, UC Berkeley November 15, 3–5 pmPresented by the Center for the Arts, Religion and EducationMuseum Theater, Berkeley Art Museum2621 Durant Ave., Berkeley

Distinguished Faculty LectureAwkward and Alive: Secularizationand Religion Reconsideredphilip wicKeri, Flora Lamson Hewlett Professor of Evangelism and Mis sion, San Francisco TheologicalSeminary and GTU Core Doctoral Faculty. Respondent: eduardo fernández,

S.J., Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology& Ministry, JSTNovember 17th, 7 pmPacific School of Religion Chapel of the Great Commission1798 Scenic Ave. at Le Conte, Berkeley Reception following in the Badé Museum

GTU Alumni Reception ~Society of Biblical LiteratureNovember 21, 8–10 pmJW Marriott, New OrleansSt. Jerome Room

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S.J., Associate Professor of Social Ethics, JST