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Former name | Yale School of Religion |
|---|---|
| Motto | Lux et Veritas |
Motto in English | Light and Truth |
| Type | Private |
| Established | 1822; 203 years ago (1822) |
| Founder | Yale Corporation |
Parent institution | Yale University |
| Accreditation | Association of Theological Schools |
Religious affiliation | Interdenominational and nonsectarian |
| Endowment | $670 million |
| Dean | Gregory E. Sterling |
| Location | , U.S. 41°19′24″N72°55′17″W / 41.32333°N 72.92139°W /41.32333; -72.92139 |
| Mascot | Heavenly Dan |
| Website | divinity |
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Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools ofYale University inNew Haven, Connecticut. Its influential alumni, unique selectivity, and faculty have made it one of the most prestigious schools for the academic study of theology in the world.[1][2]
Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has its roots in a Theological Department established in 1822. The school had maintained its own campus, faculty, and degree program since 1869, and it has become more ecumenical beginning in the mid-19th century. Since the 1970s, it has been affiliated with theEpiscopalBerkeley Divinity School and has housed theInstitute of Sacred Music, which offers separate degree programs. In July 2017, a two-year process of formal affiliation was completed, with the addition ofAndover Newton Seminary joining the school. Over 40 different denominations are represented at YDS.[1]
While Divinity Schools typically have higher admit-rates, Yale is an exception, with acceptance rates around 10-15%.[1] YDS is the most selective theological school in the world.[2]
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Theological education was the earliest academic purpose of Yale University. WhenYale College was founded in 1701, it was as a college of religious training forCongregationalist ministers inConnecticut Colony, designated in its charter as a school "wherein Youth may be instructed in the Arts & Sciences who through the blessing of Almighty God may be fitted for Publick employment both in Church & Civil State." A professorship of divinity was established in 1746. In 1817, the occupant of the divinity chair,Eleazar Thompson Fitch, supported a student request to endow a theological curriculum, and five years later a separateYale Theological Seminary[3] was founded by theYale Corporation.[4] In the same motion,Second Great Awakening theologianNathaniel William Taylor was appointed to become the first Dwight Professor of Didactic Theology.[5] Taylor was considered the "central figure" in the school's founding, and he was joined in 1826 byJosiah Willard Gibbs, Sr., a scholar of sacred languages and lexicographerChauncey A. Goodrich in 1839.[5] A dedicated student dormitory, Divinity College, was completed on the college'sOld Campus in 1836, but the department had no permanent classrooms or offices until several years after the end of theAmerican Civil War.
After a significant period of enrollment decline, the school began fundraising from alumni for new faculty and facilities.[5] Divinity Hall was constructed on the present-day site ofGrace Hopper College between 1869 and 1871, featuring two classroom wings and a chapel.[5] Around the time of the new campus' construction came the arrival of new faculty, includingJames M. Hoppin,George Edward Day,George Park Fisher, andLeonard Bacon.[5] The first Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) was conferred in 1867, and the department became a separate School of Divinity in 1869.[4] The school remained across from Old Campus until 1929, when a new campus was constructed on the northern edge of the university campus, at the top ofProspect Hill.
Berkeley Divinity School affiliated with Yale Divinity School in 1971, and in the same year the university replaced the B.D. with aMaster of Divinity (M.Div.) program. While Berkeley retains itsEpiscopal Church connection, its students are admitted by and fully enrolled as members of Yale Divinity School.The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University, a division of the Divinity School, maintains a large collection of primary source materials aboutJonathan Edwards, a 1720 Yale alumnus. The Yale Institute of Sacred Music (ISM) is jointly-affiliated with the Divinity School and School of Music. It offers programs in choral conducting, organ performance, voice, and church music studies, and in liturgical studies and religion and the arts.
In May 2016,Andover Newton Theological School presidentMartin Copenhaver announced that Andover Newton would begin a process of formal affiliation with the Divinity School over the next two years. In the 2016–17 academic year, a cohort of faculty relocated to New Haven teaching students and launching pilot initiatives focused on congregational ministry education, while Andover Newton continued to operate in Massachusetts over the next two years. In July 2017, a formal affiliation was signed, resulting in smaller Andover Newton functioning as a unit within Yale Divinity School, similar to its arrangement with Berkeley.[6]
In October 2020, YDS received a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment as part of the foundation's Thriving Congregations Initiative to fund a program entitled, "Reimagining Church: New Models for the 21st Century." Reimagining Church will involve 40 congregations in Connecticut as well as YDS students, faculty, and staff over a five-year period.[2]
In November 2020, the Yale Divinity School Women's Center revived the publication ofThe Voice Journal of Literary and Theological Ideas, a feminist journal that initially ran from 1996 to 2002.[7]
Yale Divinity School isaccredited by theAssociation of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS)[8] and approved by ATS to grant the following degrees:
Students pursuing an M.A.R. can choose between acomprehensive andconcentrated program. The following concentrations are offered:[9]
Students in any degree program at Yale Divinity School can also earn certificates in any of the following areas:[10]
Gregory Sterling, a New Testament scholar andChurch of Christ pastor, has been the dean of the divinity school since 2012, succeeding New Testament scholarHarold W. Attridge, who returned to teaching as aSterling Professor upon completing two five-year terms as dean.[11] The leaders of the affiliated seminaries areAndrew McGowan, Dean and President of Berkeley Divinity School, and Sarah Drummond, Founding Dean of Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School. OrganistMartin Jean is director of the Institute of Sacred Music.
| Name | Years served | Academic Field | Denomination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gregory E. Sterling[12] | 2012–Present | New Testament | Churches of Christ |
| Harold W. Attridge | 2002-2012 | New Testament | Catholic |
| Rebecca Chopp[13] | 2001-2002 | Theology | Methodist |
| Harry B. Adams (acting dean) | 2000-2001 | Pastoral Theology | |
| Richard J. Wood[14][15] | 1996-2000 | Philosophy | Quaker |
| Thomas Ogletree[16] | 1990-1996 | Ethics | Methodist |
| Aidan Kavanagh (acting dean) | 1989-1990 | Liturgics | Catholic |
| Leander Keck | 1979-1989 | New Testament | Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) |
| Colin W. Williams | 1969-1979 | Ethics | Methodist |
| Robert Clyde Johnson | 1963-1969 | Presbyterian | |
| Charles Forman (acting dean) | 1961-1963 | ||
| Liston Pope | 1949-1962 | Ethics | Congregationalist |
| Luther Allan Weigle[17] | 1928-1949 | Christian Education | Lutheran/Congregationalist |
| Charles Reynolds Brown | 1911-1928 | Theology | Congregationalist |
| Edward Lewis Curtis (acting dean) | 1905-1911 | ||
| Frank Knight Sanders | 1901-1905 | Semitics | Congregationalist |
| George Park Fisher | 1895-1901 | Church History | Congregationalist |
| George Edward Day[18] | 1888-1895 | Hebrew | Congregationalist |
When the department was organized as a school in 1869, it was moved to a campus across from the northwest corner of theNew Haven Green composed of East Divinity Hall (1869), Marquand Chapel (1871), West Divinity Hall (1871), and the Trowbridge Library (1881). The buildings, designed byRichard Morris Hunt, were demolished under theresidential college plan and replaced byCalhoun College, now known as Grace Hopper College.[19]
In 1929, the trustees of the estate of lawyerJohn William Sterling agreed that a portion of his bequest to Yale would be used to build a new campus for the Divinity School.[20] The Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, completed in 1932, is aGeorgian-style complex built at the top ofProspect Hill. It was designed byDelano & Aldrich and modeled in part on theUniversity of Virginia.
A $49-million renovation of Sterling Divinity Quadrangle was completed in 2003. Sterling Divinity Quadrangle contains academic buildings, Marquand Chapel, and graduate student housing for YDS students.[21]
Yale Divinity School is currently planning the construction of the Living Village, a zero-waste, sustainable living community that will house 155 YDS students.[22]
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