Faculty In The News - January 1, 2011

Professor Ingrid Mattson speaking on Purity, Simplicity and Balance at the Islamic Circle of North America 2011 convention.

Professor Lucinda Mosher is quoted in an article titled ?Reaching beyond ourselves: ATS schools respond to multifaith context? in the Fall 2011 Colloquy magazine of the Association of Theological Schools. The article reports on a study co-authored by Dr. Mosher on the state of multifaith education in American theological schools. Read article (pages 2-3 of the magazine)

President Heidi Hadsell has an article, titled "A Time for Dialogue," on the Progressive Christian website. In the article, she reflects on the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorists' attacks on American Christians.

Professor Scott Thumma is interviewed about his new book, ?The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church?s Spectators into Active Participants.? on the Grow My Church website. Click here to see a video and learn what Scott has to say about how a church?s leadership can address member mobilization and discipleship.

Professor Lucinda Mosher participated in the Archbishop of Canterbury's Building Bridges Seminar in Doha, Qatar in May. The theme of the tenth seminar, which was held at Georgetown University?s School of Foreign Service, was "Prayer: Christian and Muslim Perspectives." Click here to learn more and view videos of the public lectures.

Professor Yehezkel Landau attended an iftar dinner on August 26 held in Washington, D.C., at the home of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. It was the first iftar dinner hosted by an Israeli ambassador in the United States. Also in attendance were Hartford Seminary alumni Abdullah Antepli and Omer Bajwa (in photo with Ambassador Oren) , Muslim chaplains at Duke University and Yale University, respectively. Photo

Professor Ingrid Mattson has been named as one of ten inspiring women religious leaders in the United States by the Huffington Post. Click here to read the profile of Dr. Mattson.

Professor Ingrid Mattson is one of the scholars featured on a new website, produced by the Jewish Theological Seminary, that offers resources for the tenth anniversary commemoration of 9/11. The page has texts, talks, and music from Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions on tragedy, mourning and healing. Click here to view the website and listen to a video of Dr. Mattson.

Professor James Nieman spoke in May to members of the Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School leadership boards on the broad changes affecting churches and theological education at a time when mainline U.S. Protestantism is in steep decline. Read more> Video>

Professor Ingrid Mattson is featured in a new video posted by the National Religious Campaign against Torture. The video is titled ?Repairing the Brokenness.? Watch video

Professor Scott Thumma and co-author Warren Bird have published a new book, ?The Other 80 Percent: Turning Your Church?s Spectators into Active Participants.? In the book, the authors address the question of why there are so few active attenders in church and suggest various strategies by which a church?s leadership can address member mobilization and discipleship. Read More>

President Heidi Hadsell joined some 1,000 worldwide faith leaders and peace practitioners in May to explore the concept of "just peace" and recent advances in peacemaking practices at an International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston, Jamaica. The World Council of Churches sponsored the convocation, whose theme is "Glory to God and Peace on Earth." It marks the culmination of the Decade to Overcome Violence that the council initiated in 2001. Dr. Hadsell offered a presentation on Hartford Seminary as a model for interfaith dialogue.

Ingrid Mattson, Director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations and past president of the Islamic Society of North America, is the 2011 recipient of the Muslim American Contribution Award of the Muslim Student Awareness Network and the Islamic Society at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. The network and society annually bestow the award upon a Muslim-American who has made substantial contributions to knowledge and society. The recipient of the award is selected based on the magnitude of the impact of his or her contributions. The award ceremony will be May 23 at Stanford.

Uriah Y. Kim, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Hartford Seminary, has received a prestigious 2011-2012 Lilly Theological Research Grant for his new book, ?The Politics of Othering in the Book of Judges.? Read news release>

President Heidi Hadsell has been named to a three-year term on the Advisory Committee for the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion in Crawfordsville, IN.

Professor Yehezkel Landau and Aida Mansoor, a Hartford Seminary student and Board member of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut, will receive the annual Human Relations Award of the National Conference for Community and Justice of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts at a banquet in downtown Hartford on April 28.

Professor Scott Thumma is quoted in a Charlotte Observer article on the increasing number of churches that are extending their franchises by setting up satellites. "It's really become a hot trend: Grow larger just by spinning out a couple of satellite locations," Dr. Thumma says. Read Article>

Professor Timur Yuskaev is quoted in a USA Today article on the fact that more colleges are adding Muslim chaplains. Dr. Yuskaev directs Hartford Seminary's Muslim Chaplaincy program. Read article>