Austin Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, Austin, Texas
Construction is about halfway complete on Anderson House, the new student apartment building on the Austin campus. The groundbreaking ceremony last November included special guests John and Nancy Anderson, Clifton Kirkpatrick, and Linda Valentine. This spring, the Mabee Foundation of Tulsa, Okla., awarded the seminary $2 million toward the $8.8 million construction costs, the largest foundation grant in the APTS history. When opened in the spring of 2009, Anderson House will enhance Austin Seminary’s ability to offer students an experience in residential Christian community, a fundamental goal of theological education at Austin Seminary.
Columbia Theological Seminary,
Decatur, Ga.
Columbia’s new $9.6 million student residence hall is expected to be completed and ready for students to move in by June 2009. Construction began in April 2008. The building structure was expected to be topped out in September and is on schedule to be completely under roof in December 2008. Columbia’s new residence hall will be one of the first buildings in Decatur, Ga., to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The building’s exterior is designed to complement the seminary’s traditional, brick gothic architecture.
University of Dubuque Theological Seminary,
Dubuque, Iowa
UDTS is delighted to welcome four new faculty members: Matthew Schlimm, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University, and Amanda Benckhuysen, a Th.D. candidate at the University of Toronto, have been appointed as Instructors of Old Testament. Annette Bourland Huizenga, a Ph.D. candidate at The Divinity School of the University of Chicago, has joined the faculty as Instructor of New Testament. Timothy Slemmons, who holds the Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Worship.
Louisville Presbyterian Theological
Seminary, Louisville, Ky.
Alexander Y. Hwang will serve as Assistant Professor of Historical Theology for a three-year contract term, beginning Fall 2008. Hwang comes to Louisville from St. Louis University, where he taught medieval church history. Since 2001, Hwang also has taught at Westmont College in California, Montclair State University in New Jersey, and Fordham University in New York City, where he earned his Ph.D. His other degrees are from the University of Illinois (B.A., European history) and Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.). Hwang’s three-year term will coincide with the three-year leave of LPTS Professor Kathryn Johnson, who is serving the global church as Assistant General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland.
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Pittsburgh Seminary will offer a broadcast series on theology and science Wednesdays in October. Participants at the seminary will connect via live feed to churches in Bakerstown, Pa., Wheeling, W.Va., and Fort Myers, Fla. “Beginnings: What Genesis Says (And Doesn’t Say)” will address the two creation accounts in the Bible. Steven Tuell, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Pittsburgh Seminary will lead the course. Visit www.pts.edu for more information on the event.
Princeton Theological Seminary,
Princeton, N.J.
After an intensive three-year review, Princeton is introducing a new curriculum in fall 2008. The new curriculum will “re-imagine” the original Princeton formula, phrased in 1812 as ”piety and learning,” now more precisely stated as “formational scholarship.” It reduces the required number of credits for the M.Div. degree from 90 to 78, allowing for more in-depth study, and adds short terms in January and May. These will provide opportunities for intensive study led both by seminary faculty and by outstanding ministry practitioners, improving the diversity of the educational experience and bringing the seminary closer to the church. Some short-term courses will involve travel, including upcoming courses in Taizé, France, on worship, in Israel/Palestine on the contested geographies of that land, and in Germany on the sites and sources of the Reformation. For more information, visit www.ptsem.edu.
San Francisco Theological
Seminary, San Anselmo, Calif.
San Francisco Seminary will open the new academic year with much to celebrate. Alumnus Bruce Reyes-Chow was elected moderator of the PC(USA) during the denomination’s bi-annual meeting in June. In July, Judy Yates Siker became the new vice president of the Southern California campus in Pasadena and professor of New Testament and Christian Origins. She joins Annette Weissenrieder, assistant professor of New Testament, and Annette Schellenberg, assistant professor of Old Testament, who were hired last year. “It has been a wonderful start, and we are excited about our in-coming class and seeing what God has in store for us this year,” said SFTS President Phil Butin.
Union Theological Seminary – Presbyterian School of Christian Education,
Richmond, Va.
Union-PSCE dedicated The Allen and Jeannette Early Center for Christian Education and Worship during opening convocation in Richmond on September 10. Built in 1897, the former library has been transformed into a center with classrooms, faculty offices, and a flexible worship space equipped with state-of-the-art technology. A new faculty member, Thomas A. James, has joined the department of theology and ethics to teach theology for a three-year term. At Union-PSCE in Charlotte, Christopher Lee, a master of divinity student, has been named a recipient of the Elo Henderson Scholarship, a scholarship that supports gifted African-American students in the preparation for ministry.
Other Seminaries
Fuller Theological Seminary,
Pasadena, Calif.
For six weeks this summer, Linda Wagener, associate dean of Fuller Seminary’s School of Psychology — along with a small group that included two graduate students in Fuller’s School of Psychology — traveled along the east-west route known as the Silk Road that links China to the Mediterranean Sea. Their journey took them through villages and cities in Bosnia, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and China. Their goal along the way was to connect and communicate with — and better understand — young people in distant cultures. Further, they hoped to better understand how young people handle difficulties and hardships, even during particularly challenging times and circumstances. What helps young people survive and even thrive in a difficult world?
