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Top 20 Seminaries
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Graduate Theological Union |
The Graduate Theological Union is the largest and most diverse partnership of seminaries and graduate schools in the United States, pursuing interreligious collaboration in teaching, research, ministry, and service. |
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Hartford Seminary |
Long a frontrunner in multifaith education, Hartford Seminary describes itself as "an educational institution where a consciousness of God is cultivated and shared." It "affirm[s] the goodness of religious differences that exist in the world and...support[s] faithful living in a pluralistic and multi-faith environment." According to its mission statement, "Hartford Seminary serves God by preparing leaders, students, scholars and religious institutions to understand and live faithfully in today's multi-faith and pluralistic world; by teaching, research, informing the public and engaging persons in dialogue; by affirming the particularities of faith and social context while openly exploring differences and commonalities." Hartford Seminary's Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, founded in 1893, is the country's oldest center for such study. It works to promote understanding between the two faiths and to foster mutual tolerance in local, national and worldwide communities. This historically Christian institution now has an Islamic Chaplaincy program to train and certify institutional chaplains. In another vein, Hartford Seminary's "Pedagogies for Interfaith Dialogue" project was launched to enhance the capacity of seminaries to include interfaith dialogue in their teaching. The seminary's Women's Leadership Institute (WLI) has attracted a multireligious circle of participants since its inception. More recent still is the Building Abrahamic Partnerships program. |
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Harvard Divinity School |
Harvard is home of the Pluralism Project, led by Professor Diana Eck. The divinity school faculty is robustly multireligious. Recent graduates of its Master of Divinity program have included Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus and more-along with its traditional Christian constituency. It describes itself as an institution which "draw[s] on its historical strength in Christian studies and its significant resources in global religious studies [to educate] scholars, teachers, ministers, and other professionals for leadership and service both nationally and internationally. To help in building a world in which people can live and work together across religious and cultural divides, we strive to be a primary resource in religious and theological studies for the academy, for religious communities, and in the public sphere." |
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Hebrew College with Andover-Newton Theological Seminary |
Andover-Newton Theological Seminary and Hebrew College have forged a partnership unique in this study. The two institutions have shared a campus for more than a decade. Cross-registration is encouraged. Several courses feature Jewish and Christian professors team-teaching. Rabbinical and ministerial students are required to study the Hebrew Bible together. Founded in 1999, the Interreligious Center on Public Life is a joint program of Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School that brings together scholars and lay leaders representing the three Abrahamic faiths. The Center offers a forum for Jews, Christians and Muslims to analyze, explore and disseminate the principles and ideas of these three faiths as they relate to foremost issues of public concern. Programs have included conferences on such topics as "In God's Name: Waging War for the Sake of Heaven" and "Inside Islam: Unlocking Text and Traditions." The Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE) was founded in 2008 as a joint initiative of Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) and Hebrew College. Its mission is "to nurture a new generation of moral and spiritual leaders equipped for service in a religiously diverse world." |
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