“Asherah and Astarte in the Old Testament and Ugaritic Literatures” Ph.D. Dissertation by Alice Lenore Perlman
“The Cult of Liberation: The Berkeley Free Church and the Radical Church Movement, 1967-1972” Ph.D. Dissertation by Harlan Douglas Anthony Stelmach
Frankl Library inaugurated
In 1977, the Viktor E. Frankl Library and Memorabilia was inaugurated at GTU with Robert C. Leslie as curator. The special collection was established to contain all of Frankl’s writings and include all known books and articles about the psychotherapist and logotherapy. Frankl (1905-1997), a Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist, survived four concentration camps and founded […]
New Religious Movements studied
A Program for the Study of New Religious Movements began in June. Concerned about their effect on American culture, the Rockefeller Foundation funded a conference in Berkeley, leading to a book, Understanding New Religions (1978), edited by Jacob Needleman and George Baker. In the next phase, 1980-83, the Program became the Center for the Study of New […]
“Practical Mysticism: The Psychosocial Dynamics of Change in the Mystical Tradition, Christian and Zen Buddhist” Ph.D. Dissertation by Francis James McGuire
Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute joins the consortium as an affiliate
The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute becomes an affilate with GTU. The Institute’s mission is to educate, communicate, promote and sustain the traditions, values, teachings and culture of Orthodox Christianity.
Annual Faculty Lecture established
The Annual Faculty Lecture was “established by the GTU to honor distinguished scholars on the faculty, and to allow the community an opportunity to hear the results of their scholarship.” The lecturer is to embody the ecumenical spirit of the GTU in writing and teaching. The name was changed to the Distinguished Faculty Lecture in […]
The Center for Ethics and Social Policy founded
Faculty from GTU and UCB founded the Center for Ethics and Social Policy to explore new approaches to bring together resources from the social sciences, public policy makers, and theological ethics to focus on vital social policy issues. Important participants included Charles McCoy, Mark Juergensmeyer, Fred Twining, and Robert N. Bellah. The Center offered courses […]
Franciscan School of Theology joins consortium
In 1854, Mission Santa Barbara was chartered as an apostolic college and continued in that capacity until 1885. From 1869 to 1877, the school also functioned as a college for laymen. In 1896, it began as a four-year high school seminary program. The high school and college departments became separate institutions in 1901 and 1929. […]
Center for Judaic Studies founded
The Center for Judaic Studies (later the Center for Jewish Studies and now the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies) was GTU’s first specialized institute. Professor and Rabbi David Winston was appointed to head the Center, becoming the third faculty appointment to be supported by GTU funding. While not a rabbinical school, the Center […]