Yale Divinity School-Been in the Storm So Long

Abstract

The history of black theological education is increasingly perceived as being of critical importance to our understanding of the black church and its relationship with the wider Christian community. Recent studies have also suggested that this history is of critical importance to efforts aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of contemporary black theological education. Unfortunately, histories of the theological education of blacks at some of the most prominent and important centers of theological education in this nation have yet to be written. This collaborative project titled "Been in the Storm So Long': Yale Divinity School and the Black Ministry-One Hundred and Fifty Years of Black Theological Education," attempts to make a modest but important contribution to the correction of this oversight by chronicling and preserving the history of the black presence at Yale Divinity School from the 1830s to the mid-1980s. This projected three-year study explicitly links church and academy as it attempts to examine the impact that theological education at Yale has had on the lives and careers of generations of black ministers, educators, missionaries, and Christian activists, many of whom have made significant contributions both at home and abroad.

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Online Questionnaire

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Biographical Information:
* Name/Title:
* Email:
Your Mailing Address:
Your Phone:
Date and Place of Birth :
Religious Background and Affiliation:
Academic Background:
Undergraduate Education: Instituion, degree date
Graduate Education: Institution(s), degree, date
Professional Background:
Publications: (please list and include full citations of books, monographs, articles, etc. that you have authored)

YDS/Yale Affiliation: (years of attendance, degree, date of graduation):
1. What or who influenced your decision to attend YDS (friends, professors, pastors, YDS alumni, etc)?

2. What were some of your most memorable experiences (positive and/or negative) at YDS?

3. Who do you recall as significant figures (faculty, adminitrators, staff, classmates, organizational leaders) within the YDS community during your attendance? Please share briefly why these persons were significant.

4. To what extent did race and gender impact your experiences/successes at YDS?

5. How did the presence (or non-presence) of black and minority faculty, staff and administrators influcence your YDS experience?

6. What were your most memorable and/or significant learning experiences at YDS? What was it about the experience, class, content, or pedagogical style that made it effective and memorable?

7. What was the nature of your relationship with the wider university and surrounding community?

8. Did local churches ministers, and internships, etc. significantly impact your educational and ministerial experience at YDS? would you describe their influence as encouraging, supplementing or complementing your theological education at YDS? Please identify and elaborate.

9. What have been some of your most significant accomplishments since graduating from YDS?

10. How would you describe the overall impact that the YDS experience has had upon your personal and professional development?

11. What recommendations would you offer for improvement of theological education? Why or why not?

12. Have you or would you recommend YDS to black students seeking a theological educaiton? Why or why not?

13. Do you have photographs, newspaper clippings, etc that you would like to contribute to the archive? If so, please contact Smith at (203) 436-4818.	Yes! I have additional materials to share!
14. Please provide the names and contact information of other individuals that you think might contribute to the success of this project.

15. Please include additonal information that you would like to share.


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