School Notes: Yale Divinity School
January/February 2011

Alumna to lead international organization

Christine Housel ’01MDiv is the new general secretary of the World Student Christian Federation, an international organization founded in 1895 that nurtured many of the leaders who later founded the World Council of Churches. The WSCF describes itself as committed to “dialogue, ecumenism, social justice, and peace” and constructive transformation “across boundaries of culture, gender, and ethnicity.” “I’m honored to lead this unique international community of Christian students that has been a prophetic voice to church and society for generations,” Housel said after the announcement of her appointment by the WSCF Executive Committee on November 4. “Leading the WSCF, I hope to further mobilize students in sharing their experiences of challenge and transformation, and to strategize together for change in our communities and the world.” An Episcopalian, Housel has spent the last 12 years living and working in Germany, China, France, and Switzerland, and has served as project manager at the WSCF international office in Geneva since 2008.

YDS students tour Saudi Arabia

At the invitation of key Arab leaders, 12 Yale Divinity students took part in a cultural tour of Saudi Arabia last October, accompanied by Lamin Sanneh, the D. Willis James Professor of Missions & World Christianity and director of the World Christianity Initiative at Yale, and Omer Bajwa, Yale’s coordinator of Muslim life. “Arabia isn’t my holy land, for sure, but on that final evening our trip felt a bit like a pilgrimage,” wrote one of the students, Eric Tipler ’12MDiv. “Islam is not Christianity, and Saudi Arabia is radically different from the United States. It is also, however, a country of people who, like many of us, are struggling to live out their faith in a modern, changing world. … The humane kindness of our hosts—and the fact that we, a Christian delegation, were there—left me hopeful that, in the long term, our similarities will outweigh our differences and that peace will prevail over a clash of civilizations. Our future, I think, depends on it.”

Tony Blair and YDS faculty discuss foundation work

Former British prime minister Tony Blair met with Yale Divinity School faculty on October 7 at the dean’s residence to discuss the interfaith work of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and how that work might intersect with Yale Divinity School interests. Blair teaches a course at Yale—Faith and Globalization—and the foundation has offices on Sterling Divinity Quadrangle. “Discussion included theoretical topics, such as whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and practical issues, such as strategies for dealing with issues of faith and globalization,” said Dean Harold W. Attridge. Blair also reflected on his time at Yale and what he had learned from teaching the Faith and Globalization seminar, launched in 2008 as part of a three-year effort to consider the engagement of religious faith in globalization issues. Co-teaching the course, which is open to Yale undergraduates as well as graduate and professional students, is Miroslav Volf, director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology.