| Yale Divinity School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1822 |
| Type | Private |
| Location | New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Dean | Harold W. Attridge |
| Website | divinity.yale.edu/ |
Yale Divinity School is a professional school at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. preparing students for ordained or lay ministry, or for the academy. The nonsectarian school's mission is “To foster the knowledge and love of God through critical engagement with the traditions of the Christian churches in the context of the contemporary world.” The school grants the Master of Divinity (M.DIV.), Master of Arts in Religion (M.A.R.), and Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.) degrees. Both the M.Div. and the S.T.M. - being terminal degrees - earn the graduate the right to wear the Yale blue doctoral gown.
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The main mission of Yale College at its founding in 1701 was religious training, serving the Congregationalist churches of Connecticut. In its charter, it was designed as a school "wherein Youth may be instructed in the Arts & Sciences who through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church & Civil State." A professorship of divinity was established in 1746 and in 1822, a separate department developed, later known as the Yale Divinity School.
The Berkeley Divinity School affiliated with Yale Divinity School in 1971. While Berkeley retains its Episcopal Church connection, its students are admitted by and fully enrolled as members of Yale Divinity School. The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University, a division of the divinity school, maintains a large collection of primary source materials about Jonathan Edwards, a 1720 Yale alumnus.
Recent years have seen the Divinity School develop a specialty in various aspects of narrative theology, or postliberalism. Many if not most leaders of this movement are YDS graduates.
The Georgian style campus, The Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, designed by Delano & Aldrich, was built in 1932, modeled, in part, on the University of Virginia. It was named after Yale Law alumnus and benefactor John William Sterling, name partner at the New York law firm Shearman & Sterling. The school formerly occupied East and West Divinity Hall (1870–1931) designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Since razed, this site is now occupied by Calhoun College.[1]
Initiative in Religion, Science & Technology (IRST) is an ongoing Yale Divinity School interdisciplinary program begun in 2005 to explore how religion and spirituality encounters and interacts with science and technology. It was co-founded by current dean of Yale Divinity school Harold Attridge along with former dean Rebecca Chopp and professor of communication Wes Avram. It is funded by Dean Attridge, the Metanexus Institute, and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. The initiative hosts philosophical debates via e-mail.
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