The Seminary
Faculty
Students
Library
Alumni/ae
The clergy and lay church leaders who founded Union Theological Seminary in 1836 were committed to rigorous scholarship and a practical dimension to theological education, ideals that permanently forged Union’s identity. Union is the oldest nondenominational seminary in the nation and now, one of only a handful that are independent of any denomination or university.
Union’s founders believed that “large cities furnish many peculiar facilities and advantages for conducting theological education.” For today’s Union students, the vibrant, urban setting of New York City extends learning well beyond the classroom. In addition to their coursework, seminary students serve in 60 churches and 30 social service agencies throughout New York City.
The 1910 move to Union’s present campus on upper Broadway brought the Seminary into closer association with other major New York Institutions: Columbia University, Teachers College, Barnard College, The Riverside Church, The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and churches and community organizations in Harlem. Today, three senior faculty members at Union hold joint appointments in Columbia University’s Department of Religion.
Part of the Columbia University Library System, Union’s Burke Library is the largest theological library in the Western Hemisphere and serves a national and international field of scholars, pastors, and students. It contains more than 700 thousand volumes, periodicals, manuscripts, scores, and rare historic material.
|
Throughout its history, the Seminary has been home to leading theological scholars. In the late nineteenth century Union professor and later president, Charles Briggs, was a leading proponent of German Biblical scholarship in the United States. Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich were professors at Union in the mid- 1900s; their melding of society and religion revived Protestant theology. Martyred German WWII resistance- leader and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer; activist pastor Adam Clayton Powell; noted American author Frederick Buechner; and popular writer and lecturer Marcus Borg, all were Union students. More recently, Union’s faculty has included Beverly Harrison and Delores Williams, noted feminist and womanist theologians; James Cone, “father” of black liberation theology; and Ann Ulanov, pioneer in the field of psychiatry and religion.
Today’s Union faculty is comprised of internationallyacclaimed and academically-prolific scholars, many of whom have written the seminal literature in their respective fields. In addition to Drs. Cone and Ulanov, among them are: reformation scholar Euan Cameron; liberal theologian and social ethicist Gary Dorrien; expert in Jewish-Christian relations,Mary Boys; early church historian John McGuckin; wellknown preacher and current president of the Academy of Homiletics, Barbara Lundblad; and Paul Knitter, who is widely-recognized for his work in world religions and culture.
Union’s academic excellence coupled with its focus on social justice attracts a student body that excels in scholarship and is rich in diversity. There are 284 candidates for all degrees. The percentage of students by degree program are as follows: Master of Divinity (M.Div.), M.Div./M.S.S.W. (Master of Social Work), 58 percent; Master of Arts (M.A.), 16 percent; Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.), seven percent; Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) 15 percent; and four percent in joint degree programs with Columbia University. Union students come from seven countries and 37 different religious affiliations. Nearly half of the students enter Union after age 35 and 59 percent of Union’s students are women. Twenty percent are African-American, five percent are Asian American; six percent are Latino/a, and one percent are Native American.
The more than ten thousand alumni/ae of Union engage the world through leadership positions in churches, academia, and secular organizations. Ten percent of Union’s alums serve beyond the United States. Approximately 40 percent are involved in parish ministry or other church positions, eight percent are counselors or chaplains, 24 percent are academic professors, and 12 percent are lay leaders serving in business, law, journalism, or the arts, or as social service agency directors.
| More About Union
President's Welcome
Mission & Vision
President's Vision Paper
Union Timeline
Union at a Glance
Our History
Partner Institutions
Administration
Board of Trustees
Policy
Media Relations
Visit Union
Publications
Video Tour
Contact Us
|