Reasons to Give
Constructing meaning
Dwight Hopkins is professor of theology and the director of MA studies in the Divinity School.
Mystical language
Elizabeth Kendig taught English at the secondary school level for 33 years before pursuing graduate studies in religion. "When I retired, I could have gone back to school for a PhD in comparative literature, which would have been a perfectly reasonable direction," says Kendig. "But I was always interested in literature that dealt with big ideas...and came to realize that the biggest ideas were in the literature of religion."
Religion and reasoning
Paul Mendes-Flohr, professor of modern Jewish thought in the Divinity School, arrived at the University of Chicago in 1999. His research interests include modern Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, and religious thought; philosophy of religion; German intellectual history; and the history and sociology of intellectuals.
Q&A's with Dean Margaret M. Mitchell
2011 - The university recently received a Mellon Foundation grant to support islamic studies. What does the grant mean for the divinity school?
2010 - How do gifts to the annual fund make a difference in the day-to-day workings of the school?
Ethical grounding
“We live in a culture of chatter but inarticulacy. People have a difficult time talking about what is deepest for them. The study of religion is one way to become articulate about the most profound matters of life,” says William Schweiker.
Charting a new course
A Florida native, Wesley Sun received a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and philosophy before arriving at the Divinity School. He planned to earn an MDiv and then pursue doctoral studies, but decided on a ministerial career after completing two bouts of fieldwork: the first at a nearby African American congregation, and the second at two homeless shelters in the city.
