School Notes: Yale Divinity School
September/October 2009

Reflections magazine garners awards

Reflections, Yale Divinity School's twice-yearly magazine of theological and ethical inquiry, received a number of awards for issues published in 2008, including the top prize for the category "In-Depth Coverage: Magazine," from Associated Church Press. Reflections was honored with awards in eight different ACP categories and also received an award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). In selecting the fall 2008 issue of Reflections for top honors in in-depth coverage, the contest judge called the stories "intellectually stimulating, well-written, and instructive." The issue, entitled "Who Is My Neighbor? Facing Immigration," featured a lead article by law professor Harlon Dalton ’73JD, who served as faculty guest editor for the fall 2008 issue, as well as articles by, among others, George Rupp ’67MDiv, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee; Emilie Townes, associate dean of academic affairs and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology; and Amy Chua, the John M. Duff Jr. Professor of Law.

New faces on the faculty

Four young scholars have joined the faculty as assistant professors, effective July 1. Chloë Faith Starr, assistant professor of Asian theology, holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford and has been a lecturer in Chinese studies at Oxford; Clarence E. Hardy III, assistant professor of the history of American Christianity, taught religion at Dartmouth and earned his PhD at Union Theological Seminary in New York; Tisa J. Wenger, assistant professor of American religious history, recently of Arizona State University, holds a PhD from Princeton University; and Vasileios Marinis ’03MAR, assistant professor of Christian art and architecture (appointed through the Institute of Sacred Music), earned his PhD from the University of Illinois before joining the faculty at Queens College in New York.

Commencement 2009: amid economy woes, reasons for hope

Despite the gloomy economy, there was more than enough inspirational talk by commencement 2009 speakers to send newly minted YDS graduates out into the world with a measure of confidence and optimism. "The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness that God has placed in the heart of every person; it keeps us from discouragement; it sustains us in times of abandonment," said Jaime Lara ’90STM, chair of the Program in Religion and the Arts. Kristen Leslie ’86MDiv, associate professor of pastoral care and counseling, encouraged students to "go out into the world using the skills and the gifts that you have . . . to make a difference in a world that is suffering." And in his annual charge to graduates, Dean Harold Attridge said, "A fearful world needs your ability to inspire hope, a grieving world needs your capacity to console."