29 Friday Aug 2014
Posted in Considering HDS
Tags
Diversity, Events, Faculty, Lectures, Muslim, Noon Service, Open House, Prayer, Prospective Students, RSL, Staff, Student Life
Harvard Divinity School students come from an array of different ages, ethnicities, and religious and secular backgrounds. When I first visited HDS on Admitted Students Day, I was delighted to find a diverse student body and especially excited to find a Muslim community here, to call my spiritual home.
11 Tuesday Mar 2014
Posted in Academics
Tags
Aspirations, Christianity, Classes, Faith, Field Ed, Humanist, Interfaith, Jewish, MDiv, Ministry, Muslim, Pagan, Religious Pluralism, Theology
My book shelf. Photo by Chris Alburger
25 Monday Nov 2013
Posted in Student Life
Tags
Buddhism, Catholic, Clubs, Community, Community Tea, Evangelical, Faculty, Friends, Hear & Now, Humanist, HUUMS, Interfaith, Jewish, Ministry, Muslim, Noon Service, Retreats, RSL, Spirituality, Staff, UU, WomenCircle
Walking the Labyrinth during the HDS Fall Retreat. Photo by Chris Alburger
I see Harvard Divinity School as a spiritual community, within which there are many distinct spiritual communities. HDS is full of kind, caring, altruistic people, because that’s who the school attracts. Classmates, faculty, and staff have all ministered to me and supported me through difficult times. I often have conversations with people that inspire or challenge me to be my best self (like a good sermon). The Divinity School, like we say at my church, is “a place where we practice being human.”
Community Tea on Tuesday afternoons is like “Coffee Hour” at church to me. It’s when Continue reading
01 Friday Nov 2013
Posted in Applying
Tags
Academics, Buddhism, Christianity, Diversity, DivEx, Fit, Interfaith, LGBT, Muslim, Religious Pluralism
November at HDS. Photo by Chris Alburger
Major vocations, careers, and life callings are antecedents of a secondary or inconsequential, but illuminating moment in one’s existence. If I could express this concept more thoroughly, I would say it is similar to attending a well-organized Nutcracker performance, based on the 1891 production by Tchaikovsky, and imagining yourself as a ballerina/ballerino; and assessing the complexities (I have no plans in this vocation, by the way). For me, Diversity and Explorations (DivEx) served that, and more. At DivEx I envisioned my role at Harvard Divinity, made relationships, and critically observed Harvard Divinity. Along with all the free goodies that went with being a participant, DivEx served as an enlightening moment for my subsequent decision, and my life at HDS now. Continue reading
12 Tuesday Mar 2013
Posted in Experiential Learning
Tags
Christianity, CSWR, Field Ed, Greeley Fellowship, Interfaith, Muslim, Opportunities, Study Abroad, Summer, Theology
When considering divinity school, and the ways in which Harvard Divinity School in particular may be the right fit, you have probably spent a bit of time thinking about how your pursuit of a degree at such an institution might benefit or influence you professionally.
In those considerations, I imagine most thoughts have revolved around various dimensions of on-campus opportunities, and not necessarily the possibilities of career exploration abroad. While my campus experiences have been enriching in so many ways, one of my most formative experiences came in the form of a summer abroad. Continue reading
29 Tuesday Jan 2013
You don’t normally think of a divinity school as the place to do Islamic Studies. Certainly when I began looking into MA and PhD programs in contemporary Islam or the Modern Middle East, I looked at other, more conventional programs: the Harvard Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Chicago MA program in Islamic Studies, the Columbia MESAAS program. So why the div school, you might ask? Continue reading
11 Tuesday Dec 2012
Posted in Student Life
Tags
Agnostic, Aspirations, Buddhism, Catholic, Community, Diversity, Episcopalian, Friends, Growth, Humanist, Jewish, MTS, Muslim, Noon Service, Pagan, Quaker, Spirituality, Theology
I will admit that I was very nervous about being asked to write about my experience of pluralism at HDS. My first thought was, “what do I have to offer to this? I’m Catholic; quick, grab a Muslim, a Pagan, a Humanist, anyone but me!” After thinking on what it is like to be a student here at HDS, I can say that it has been an immense time of growth for me. I have chanted with Buddhists, been silent with Quakers, high-fived over commonalities with Episcopalians and burst into tears of frustration over impassioned theological debates. Continue reading
