Letter from the Dean
Welcome to a new academic year at Chicago Theological Seminary! This is always an exciting time of the year for me, and I hope that you find it exciting as well. As the Academic Dean, I would like to call your attention to several things that are happening at CTS this semester. If you have questions about any of the announcements below, or other academic matters at CTS, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you are on-campus, feel free to stop by my office in Room 432, immediately across the hall from the Student Services Office in the building's West wing (Hooker Hall). New FacesOne of the most important events in the life of CTS is the arrival of new students. By the time you read this newsletter, our entering class will have completed their new student Retreat and Orientation. If you are a new student, please know that we are glad to have you with us. We look forward to getting to know you in the year ahead, as you have already started getting to know one another. This semester we are happy to welcome to the CTS community not only our entering students, but also several other new faces. Rabbi Dr. Rachel Mikva has joined us as Assistant Professor and the first Rabbi Hermann E. Schaalman Professor of Jewish Studies. Dr. Mikva comes to us from Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where she served as Assistant Professor. She earned her B.A. at Stanford University. After completing her Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and receiving her rabbinic ordination at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Rabbi Mikva served Jewish congregations for several years in both Illinois (including Chicago) and New York. She then went on to Jewish Theological Seminary, where she earned her Ph.D. before joining the faculty. Thus she brings to CTS both extensive ministerial experience and a solid academic grounding in the classical texts of Rabbinic Judaism. This semester she will be teaching “Dangerous Religious Ideas,” on Wednesday evenings; and “The ‘Great Books’ of Judaism: Introduction to the People of the Book after the Bible,” on Tuesday mornings. Mr. Steve Manning has joined us as the Vice-President for Finance and Administration. Mr. Manning comes to CTS with many years of experience in financial management at such companies as Grant Thornton LLP and Miglin Beitler Management Company. Most recently, he worked as Finance Director of the Park Lawn School and Activity Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, an agency serving persons with developmental disabilities. Mr. Manning is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who, in addition to earning his B.S. in Finance at Northern Illinois University, has studied in the Accounting Curriculum at DePaul University/University of Illinois-Chicago. Rev. Deborah Derylak has joined us as the Director of Theological Field Education. Rev. Derylak worked most recently at the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was Chaplain from 2004 to 2006 and Manager of the Department of Spiritual Care from 2006 to 2009. She served previously as the Coordinator of Congregational Health Partnerships for Advocate Health Care, and as Chaplain Resident at Advocate Christ Medical Center. Rev. Derylak earned the B.A. in Religion with a Classics minor at the University of Rochester; the M.A. in Divinity at the University of Chicago; and the M.Div. at Meadville/Lombard Theological School. An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, Rev. Derylak is a member of Second Unitarian Church of Chicago; and has been an active volunteer for such non-profit and community organizations as the Hyde Park-Kenwood Hunger Programs; the Hyde Park-Kenwood Interfaith Council; and Blue Gargoyle Community Services. Rev. Ayanna Johnson has joined us as the Director of Community Life. Rev. Johnson is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who served from 2006 to 2009 as Minister-in-Residence at the Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago. From 2005 to 2009 she was Pastor of the Family of Hope Christian Church in Blue Island, Illinois, a multicultural congregation that she founded together with a ministry team. In 2007 she was installed as First Vice Moderator of the General Board of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada, a position she held through the denomination's General Assembly this summer. Rev. Johnson earned her B.A. in Sociology from Yale University before completing both the M.Div. and the Master of Arts in Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. She has also studied at the University of Ghana; and was a Project Director for the Southwest Youth Collaborative, a community development group working with young people from diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds on the southwest side of Chicago. I am sure that you will want to join me in welcoming all of these new members to our community. Returning Faculty Members to Speak in Convocation ServicesThis semester we are happy to welcome back three full-time faculty members who have been on sabbatical. Each of these faculty colleagues will be speaking in a public Convocation service this year. On Wednesday, September 16, Dr. Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., Professor of Biblical and Constructive Theology, will be speaking. Prof. Jennings has been on sabbatical since January. He spent much of his sabbatical overseas, traveling to South Korea, the Philippines and Argentina as part of his work with the LGBTQ Religious Studies Center at CTS. He also visited our alumni/ae in Taiwan, and spent some time in Indonesia and Mexico. In May, Fortress Press published one of Prof. Jennings' most recent books, Transforming Atonement: A Political Theology of the Cross; and later this fall, Pilgrim Press will release his Plato or Paul? The Origins of Western Homophobia. This semester, Prof. Jennings is teaching “Interpreting the Gospels,” on Wednesday evenings; and “Frontier Questions in Queer Ethics,” on Monday afternoons. On Wednesday, October 7, Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Professor of Theology, will be speaking. Prof. Thistlethwaite has been on sabbatical since July 1, 2008, when she completed ten years as the President of CTS. While on sabbatical, Prof. Thistlethwaite worked on a new book, Dreaming of Eden: Why Innocence is Dangerous for America, and the World. In her book, Prof. Thistlethwaite offers a re-reading of the biblical "Fall" to challenge conservative dreams of innocent power, and liberal faith that to know the good is to do the good. She is also setting up a blog called "Dreaming of Eden," which will bring the perspectives articulated in the book to bear on specific policy issues in the public square. This semester, Prof. Thistlethwaite is teaching "Constructive Theology," on Tuesday afternoons; and an online course with an introductory weekend intensive called "Public Theology." On Wednesday, February 10, Dr. BoMyung Seo, Associate Professor of Theology and Cultural Criticism, will be speaking. Prof. Seo spent most of his sabbatical in South Korea. His research there focused on the writings of the early North American missionaries to Korea, 1895-1919. Prof. Seo is interested in understanding how the theology of these missionaries shaped Korean Christianity and the extent to which that theology was appropriated by Korean Christians. This semester, Prof. Seo is teaching "Global Sensitivity in Ministry," on Tuesday evenings; and the advanced seminar in "Philosophical Thought" on Thursday mornings. All three Convocations will be held on Wednesday afternoons at 12:00 p.m. in the Graham Taylor Chapel. They are open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. Community Lunch will follow immediately after Convocation at McGiffert House. Faculty SabbaticalDr. Seung Ai Yang, Associate Professor of New Testament, is taking a year-long research sabbatical in 2009-10. Prof. Yang's extended sabbatical is funded in part by a Lilly Theological Research Faculty Fellowship Grant. These grants are designed to assist full time faculty members of ATS accredited schools who offer well-developed plans for conducting significant research projects during an institutionally approved research leave of at least one full semester. Up to six Faculty Fellowships are awarded for substantial research projects reflecting high scholarly standards. Ken Stone |
September 2, 2009