“”Falling all around me”: Worship performing theodicy in the midst of San Francisco’s AIDS crisis” Ph.D. Dissertation by Sharon R. Fennema
Abstract: In the public political rhetoric that surrounded AIDS at the height of the crisis in the United States, AIDS was primarily interpreted theologically as God’s punishment for the sin of homosexuality. This rhetoric created a social theodicy that made sense of the suffering associated with the AIDS epidemic by correlating homosexuality with sinfulness and […]
Wireless internet installed in the library
Installing a wireless network recognized the prevalence of laptops and reduced the need for stand alone stations required in the Library. Built before computers were central to libraries, the Library integrated automation and computers as available. Acquisitions began automated ordering in 1986. The online catalog named GRACE (GTU Reference Access Catalog Experience) replaced card catalogs […]
“Crossing over: The queering of the religious identities of Edith Stein, a Jewish nun and Regina Jonas, a woman rabbi”Ph.D. Dissertation by Emily Leah Silverman
Abstract: This thesis examines how two Jewish women—Edith Stein, a Jewish nun, and Regina Jonas, a woman Rabbi—crossed over boundaries of religion and gender to express their identities and leadership during the Shoah. Edith Stein converts to Catholicism, but she does not feel that she has abandoned the Jewish community. She becomes a Carmelite, enters […]
Riess W. Potterveld, President 2013-2018
Dr. Riess W. Potterveld, Pacific School of Religion President, became Acting President of GTU on July 1 and elected President the following June. He served as President of PSR for three years. Potterveld earned his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, his M.A. and Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School, and is an ordained United Church of […]
Full-time Online Learning Specialist Hired
Kyle K. Schiefelbein hired as first full-time Student Coordinator of Online Learning and later becomes GTU Course Design Specialist.
GTU celebrates 50 years
Among the 50th anniversary events, the library held a special “blessing of the library” celebration to open its art and religion exhibition.
“Visions of awakening space and time: The world-view of Dōgen and the “Lotus Sutra”” Ph.D. Dissertation by Taigen Dan Leighton
Abstract: The Lotus Sutra is prominent among the many sources quoted in writings of Japanese Zen master Dōgen (1200–1253), highlighting the Mahāyāna context of his teachings and world-view. This work focuses on Dōgen’s use of the pivotal story in Lotus Sutra chapters fifteen and sixteen-myriad bodhisattvas emerging from underground and the inconceivable life-span of the […]
Carla DeSola acclaimed a “Living Legacy”
Carla DeSola, a dancer and choreographer at PSR/GTU since 1990, was acclaimed a “Living Legacy” at the Sacred Dance Guild’s Golden Anniversary Festival in 2008. Among her other recognitions, Modern Liturgy Magazine recognized her with the prestigious Bene Award in 1993.
“Humanitarian military intervention: The ethical imperitive vs the rule of law” Ph.D. Dissertation by Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe
Abstract: This dissertation argues that the existing disjunction between ethical and legal justifications for humanitarian military intervention undermines the international rule of law with respect to use of force and negatively impacts the efficacy and consistency of humanitarian military policy. The cause of the this disjunction is located in the unfortunate influence of analytic positivism […]
Center for Islamic Studies Opens
With the academic and religious resources to offer a distinctively interreligious and interdisciplinary approach, the GTU founded the Center for Islamic Studies (CIS) in 2007. The center is building an academic platform to help scholars and students of many faiths learn about the richness of Islam and the diversity of Muslims, and emphasizes study and […]