| Harvard Divinity School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1816 |
| Type | Private |
| Endowment | $619,000,000 |
| Dean | William A. Graham |
| Academic staff | 42 |
| Admin. staff | 110 |
| Students | 447 |
| Location | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Campus | Urban |
| Affiliations | Harvard University, Boston Theological Institute |
| Website | hds.harvard.edu |
Harvard Divinity School is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. The School's mission is to train and educate its students either in the academic study of religion, or for the practice of a religious ministry or other public service vocation. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. Harvard Divinity School is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States (some others being the University of Chicago Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, and Vanderbilt University Divinity School).
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Harvard College was founded in 1636 as a Puritan/Congregationalist institution, and trained ministers for many years. The separate institution of the Divinity School, however, dates from 1816, when it was established as the first non-denominational divinity school in the United States. (Princeton Theological Seminary had been founded as a Presbyterian institution in 1812 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1807.) Nevertheless, for most of its history, Harvard Divinity School was unofficially associated with the Unitarian church. However, it also retains a historical tie to one of the successor denominations of American Congregationalism, the United Church of Christ.
When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later in 1804, the overseer of the college Jedidiah Morse[1] demanded that orthodox men be elected. This angered the liberals with Unitarian leanings. After much struggle the Unitarian Henry Ware[2] was elected. This signaled a shift as Harvard Divinity drifted from orthodox Calvinist conservative roots towards liberalism and Unitarianism.[3] Jedidiah Morse went on to found the Andover Newton Theological School as an orthodox alternative to the Harvard Divinity School. Harvard Divinity was very much a Unitarian school even before Unitarianism was defined.[3] Harvard Divinity school became a national training ground hub for Unitarian ministers. Some orthodox and evangelical critics called this "The Unitarian takeover of Harvard."[3]
William Ellery Channing, a Harvard graduate and minister revered by Ralph Waldo Emerson, steered Unitarianism into a public and what evangelicals consider, controversial course. He publicly preached against the Trinity and the Congregationalist (those holding the Puritan/Calvinist ideals that only the elect receive salvation) churches split in half. The vast majority of Old Light Congregationalist churches became Unitarian and held Unitarian doctrines. To this day Old Light Congregationalist churches still exist, but in small numbers. The quip was made by critics and then later embraced by the Boston community that, "Unitarian preaching is limited to fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man and the neighborhood of Boston."[3]
Unitarianism became a distinct Bostonian religion, extending into New England but not much further. In the late 19th century it took hold of many highly educated people in cosmopolitan cities and diverse municipalities, especially Seattle and San Francisco.[3]
Unitarians, like the early Pentecostals and those who take the Bible literally, had to know the Bible very well to argue for their doctrines. However, Unitarians argued what they consider the fallacies in the Bible, and they also argued against the Trinity. Today some of the most intricate inter-faith arguments about the Bible take place between evangelicals and Unitarian students. Both groups are very well versed in the Bible, though each group interprets what the Bible says very differently[3].
Today its students and faculty come from a variety of religious backgrounds, Christian (all denominations), Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, etc. Its academic programs attempt to balance theology and religious studies, that is, the "believer's" perspective on religion with the "secular" perspective on religion. This is in contrast to many other divinity schools where one or the other is given primacy (Yale Divinity School, for example, emphasizes its ministry program, while at the University of Chicago Divinity School, the majority of students enroll in its "religious studies" Master of Arts program).
Harvard Divinity School is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and approved by ATS to grant the following degrees:[4]
In addition to candidates for the above, many Harvard graduate students pursuing PhDs in the study of religion work closely with Divinity School faculty. These students are formally affiliated with the Committee on the Study of Religion which is made up of 50% Arts and Sciences and 50% Divinity faculty members and housed in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Candidates for the MTS choose among 19 areas of academic focus:
Candidates for the MDiv are required to take:
The Women's Studies in Religion Program (WSRP) at Harvard Divinity School was founded in 1973 and was the first program to focus on the interdisciplinary study of women and religion. Since its founding, it has supported more than 100 scholars, representing over 50 institutions of higher learning in the United States and around the world.
The WSRP promotes critical inquiry into the interaction between religion and gender, and every year the program brings five postdoctoral scholars to HDS. The research associates each work on a book-length research project and teach courses related to their research. The director of the WSRP is Ann Braude.[5]
Founded in 1960 after an anonymous donation in 1957, the CSWR at Harvard Divinity School is a residential community of academic fellows, graduate students, and visiting professors of major world religious traditions. The Center focuses on the understanding of international religions through its research, publications, funding, and public programs. Its current director is Donald Swearer, a Buddhism scholar.
The CSWR sponsors a diverse range of educative programs, which are generally centered around an annual programming theme. For example, the organizing theme for 2006-07 was "Whose Religion? Which Morality? Conflict and Authority in World Religions." The series included seminars on historical and contemporary issues in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. It concluded with a conference titled "Visions of Peace and Reconciliation: Historical and Contemporary Patterns". The program's focus for 2007-08 will be "Rethinking the Human."[6]
The building that houses the Center was designed by Josep Lluís Sert.
The Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), which has been discontinued, was a two-week training program that sought to establish theological instruction and grounding for individuals engaged in community and economic development.
The program of study was divided into four modules: Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy; Organizational Development and Management; Housing and Community Development; and Finance and Economic Development. As a full-time residential program, holding classes five days a week, the educational focus lies on faith-based case studies of corporations and communities.
Since the SLI's inauguration in 1998, more than 450 participants have completed the program. About 50 people were selected each year from around the United States and internationally to participate in lectures, seminars, and field visits with faculty from across Harvard and other recognized experts. Participants also developed individual plans of action, on a case-study model, applicable to the local work in their communities.
The Program in Religion and Secondary Education is a teacher education program that prepares students to teach about religion in public schools from a non-sectarian perspective. Students in the master of theological studies or master of divinity degree programs integrate their work in religion with courses on education and public policy to understand the relationship between religion and education and to advance religious literacy within their fields of licensure.
Harvard Divinity School's Program in Religious Studies and Education (PRSE) has been temporarily suspended, pending new permanent funding that will allow the program to continue and to be capable of serving more students than can currently be admitted into the program. Beginning with the 2009-10 academic year, no new students will be admitted to the program for at least the next two years. Students who are already in the PRSE will continue and be able to finish their degree in normal fashion.
Andover-Harvard Theological Library was founded in 1836 and underwent expansion in 1911 when the collections of HDS and Andover Theological Seminary were combined. The Library is part of the larger Harvard University library system, which is available to all faculty, staff, and students at HDS. In September 2001, the library completed a $12-million renovation that enhanced its technology facilities and improved its information systems. Andover-Harvard participates in the Boston Theological Institute library program, which extends borrowing privileges to all members of the HDS community at any of the other BTI libraries.
(From the HDS 2007-08 Catalog)
Completed in 1911 at a cost of $300,000, Andover Hall was designed by Allen and Collens, a firm that focused largely on neo-medieval and ecclesiastical designs, and is the only building at Harvard built in the Collegiate Gothic style of architecture.[7]
Andover Hall was commissioned by Andover Theological Seminary, which, by 1906, saw its enrollment slide and entered an affiliation with the Divinity School in 1908. The Hall contained a chapel, library, dorms, and seminar and lecture rooms. Today, Andover Hall still contains a chapel and some classrooms, but it also holds many administrative and faculty offices.[7]
Harvard Divinity Bulletin is a magazine published by Harvard Divinity School's Office of Communications two times per calendar year – generally spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The magazine features nonfiction essays, opinion pieces, poetry and reviews generally linked to religion and its relationship with contemporary life, art, and scholarship. Also included is the text of each year's Ingersoll Lecture on Human Immortality.
HD Today is an alumni/ae magazine published three times per year also by the HDS Office of Communications. It includes original news articles, event listings, an alumni/ae journal, and class notes.
Founded in 1908, Harvard Theological Review is a quarterly journal that publishes original research in many scholarly and religious fields, including ethics, archeology, Christianity, Jewish studies, and comparative religious studies.
Cult/ure: the Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School is the online, student-run academic journal of Harvard Divinity School and the only graduate journal of religion at Harvard University. It publishes exemplary student scholarship in the areas of religious studies, ministry studies, and theology every spring.
The Wick is a journal for literary and creative works by the HDS community. The Wick publishes both published and non-published writers of fiction, poetry, essays, photography, sermons, and creative non-fiction.
The Nave is an online electronic newsletter of HDS student activities and events. It includes announcements of lectures, social events, important academic deadlines, and other matters. The Boston Theological Institute, along with other schools in the area, provides students, staff and faculty numerous cultural and academic experiences, many of which are featured in The Nave.
(Figures taken from 2007-2008 Harvard Divinity School Catalog)
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