Najib Awad Arrives, Starts Teaching in the Fall

Dr. Najib Awad, the newly-appointed Associate Professor of Christian Theology, has opened his office at Hartford Seminary and is preparing to teach Introduction to Christian Theology in the fall semester. (He is pictured here atleft, meeting with Uriah Kim, Interim Academic Dean.)

In his syllabus for the course, Awad wrote that students will:

-- acquire an introductory knowledge of the basic components of Christian doctrinal claims

-- analyze and perceive the core argument of one contemporary issue related to each Christian doctrinal teaching and its impact on the Christian life today

-- be exposed to various theological literatures that will develop their ability to read coherently and perceptively Christian theological literature

-- recognizethe relation between the intellectual and the practical dimensions of Christian faith and construct an initial understanding of the mutual impact ofthese two dimensions of faith on each other.

Further information about the course and registration information is availableat our fall courses page.

Awad also will serve as Director of the International Ph.D. Program. He will work with the University of Exeter, the Seminary?s partner in the program, overseeing formal agreements, academic standards, and overall structure. He also will represent the program to external constituencies.

At the time of his appointment, Awad described the strength of Hartford Seminary as ?its perception of and serious attention to the radical and challenging paradigm shift that is taking place in theological scholarship in the context of the postmodernist world we live in.?

He added, ?In educating students from Christian, Muslim and Jewish backgrounds, and creating for these students a dialogue and interaction venue, Hartford Seminary makes a giant step toward the interreligious, intercultural and cross-cultural future our world is heading to rapidly.?

?My main priority will be strengthening and developing the Christian theology scholarship at the school, by offering courses on Christian thought, which, while introducing the main elements of Christian faith, go beyond the narrow boundaries of the traditional, doctrinal and systematic framework of Christian pedagogy and touch upon practical and contextual questions that are pertinent to today?s human existence,? Awad said.

Awad has a Bachelor of Arts from the Near East School of Theology, Beirut Lebanon, and a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy from King?s College, London. He currently is completing his Habilitationschrift (a second Ph.D.) at MŸnster University.

He is the author of three books: ?God without a Face? On the Personal Individuation of the Holy Spirit? (Mohr Siebeck, 2011); ?God, Man and Evil: A Theologico-Existential Study? (Codmus, 2004, in Arabic); and? The Passion Narrative in the Gospel of Matthew: A Historico-Narrative Criticism? (Al-Thaquafa, 2003, in Arabic). He is completing a new book, "And Freedom Became a Public Square: Political, Sociological and Religious Overviews on the Arab Christians and the Arabic Spring." The book is expected to be released in the next few months.

Outside work, Awad is a poet and has three poetry books published in Arabic. He enjoys art and cultural activities, as well as sports and, when he has enough time, traveling and discovering new places and sights.

Hartford Seminary welcomes Dr. Awad to its faculty.