Academic Life ~ Opportunities for Global Engagement
Opportunities for Global Engagement
Global engagement is an important dimension of General Seminary's mission to form leaders for the Church in a changing world, and it is expressed in a number of ways. Course work in Mission and World Christianity offers direct academic engagement in the missiological and cross-cultural issues of Christian witness both historically and today. A speaker series in mission and world Christianity brings to campus persons with experience and expertise in other parts of the Anglican Communion and the world Church. The Visiting Professorship in Anglican Studies brings to campus a scholar from abroad who is present for a semester and teaches a course.
Cross-cultural exposure and/or study in other parts of the world is a vital dimension of seminary formation, affirmed by successive General Conventions of the Episcopal Church. Each year, grants are made on a competitive basis by the Seminary Consultation on Mission (SCOM), an endowed collaboration among the eleven accredited Episcopal seminaries, for cross-cultural exposure and/or study abroad, especially in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, or the Pacific. Projects must be for a minimum of three weeks and may take place in January, a summer, or be semester-long. The application deadline is Nov. 1 for an 18-month period, Jan. 1-Aug. 31. The Episcopal Education Society (EES), based in Virginia, makes grants on a broader basis, including projects abroad, and has a February deadline. Those planning projects are encouraged to consult with the Sub-Dean, who is General's SCOM representative.
M.Div. students are encouraged to consider study abroad as an opportunity to undertake theological inquiry from a different cultural perspective, especially in Africa, Asia or Latin America, and a limited number of students may be permitted this option each year. Institutions that may be especially fruitful for such study include St. Paul's United Theological College in Limuru, Kenya; the College of the Transfiguration in Grahamstown, South Africa; United Theological College in Bangalore, India; El Seminario San Andres in Mexico City, Mexico; and El Seminario Evangelico de Teologîa in Matanzas, Cuba; other settings are also possible. Consultation must be undertaken with the adviser and Sub-Dean well in advance to ensure that curricular requirements are fulfilled. Plans must be approved by the Faculty. Financial support may be sought from SCOM and EES.
The Seminary welcomes students from other parts of the world to its degree and non-degree programs. Our purposes are to broaden ministers' cross-cultural perspective for ministry in their home countries and/or to prepare scholars and teachers to be leaders in theological education in their home countries. For the Seminary, the presence of international students enriches theological dialogue and mutual learning in the community. International students may be Anglican or from other churches. Normally the first theological degree is received in one's home country, and General is ideal for further non-degree study or for a supplemental or advanced degree. Applications are made in the usual way, except that interviews are conducted by telephone. An International Students Colloquium provides a setting for discussing cross-cultural adjustment in the life of the Seminary.
The learning centers of the Desmond Tutu Education Center will have important international engagements in the areas of peace and reconciliation, inter-religious relations, and Christian spirituality.
Internships are often available in departments and agencies at the Episcopal Church Center that have international work, such as Anglican and Global Relations, Episcopal Relief and Development, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Peace and Justice Ministries, Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, the Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, and the Office of the Anglican Observer at the United Nations.
