Catholics, Mennonites and Graduate School

[O_Porcupine]

Hey Everybody,

I've lurked in the shadows of this board long enough... time to contribute. I thought I might ask for wisdom from any and all who are willing to give it!

I am deeply influenced by the Hauerwas/Yoder stream and am currently doing an honors project that analyzes Christian nonviolence in two particular communities through von Balthasarian aesthetics (to give you an idea of my interests, thus the Menno/Catholic subject line). As you can see, I am applying to Duke and ND, which might be obvious (though I know Hauerwas is due to retire soon). Marquette is attractive because of my Catholic leanings and D. Stephen Long. Additionally, I have Therese Lysaught on my honors project committee who is faculty at Marquette. I have read that they are notoriously stingy with funding; perhaps having her on my committee will help? Has anyone had positive experiences with funding there?

Essentially, I'd love some suggestions as to other programs that might fit my interests. Some professors have suggested BU, Yale, Emory and Baylor... anyone have any feelings regarding funding at these schools? I am married and my wife is planning to go into a nursing program while I attend to my grad studies, thus funding is a primary concern.

Oh! I have completed 3 semesters of Koine Greek, have 4 years of high school German and a current undergraduate GPA of 3.81, if that is at all helpful. I am -regretfully- planning to take the cursed GRE later this month.

Peace,

Justin

[RyanN]

Hey,

I have just started at Fuller, and have found it very amenable to those sympathetic with the Anabaptist wing of the church. Nancey Murphy is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and sympathetic with virtue ethics, and Yoder/Hauerwas' work; also Erin Default-Hunter is here, a Mennonite and a narrative theological ethicist herself. It's not a fit for everyone, but it's worth a look. Peace!

[RD_Paul]

O_Porcupine, I have very similar interests to what you listed. In fact, My wife and I began to affiliate myself with the Mennonites in college because of what we read of Yoder and Hauerwas, among others. I did a lot of work with Yoder's theology in college, and I just recently visited the Mennonite Historical Archives in Goshen, IN on a visit to Notre Dame. It was amazing! They let me dig through several boxes of his old letters, unpublished manuscripts, lecture notes, etc. I highly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance.

Have you gotten the chance to visit ND or Duke yet? I just visited both last month, so I'll relay my impressions about each in the hopes that it might help you. In some ways, I was really encouraged by my trip to ND. I met with a guy who had just graduated from the program, and he said Yoder and Hauerwas were really popular with the students while he was there. Obviously, this might be different with each new class, but it was still encouraging to me. On the other hand, I was really discouraged when I met with a New Testament prof. She was actually quite rude and unapproachable. Then again, she could have just been having a bad day. Overall, ND seems like a great place to engage with a lot of different perspectives, especially for a Yoderian.

And Duke was amazing! There are a lot of Mennonite (read, Yoderians!) at Duke. And since Hauerwas has exerted a tremendous influence there, the question of violence is a major one right now. I liked the feel of Duke because I could tell that there are many there who deeply sympathize with the Yoderian/Hauerwasian stream of thought and many who don't. That will no doubt make for great dialogue. My wife and I actually got the chance to go out to a bar with a group of the Anabaptist-leaning Duke students, so I was able to get a really good idea of how I would fit in at Duke. I left Durham really excited about the prospect of Duke.

Anyway, you may have already visited and thus didn't need my insight at all. If so, sorry about the rambling. Regardless, best wishes!

[O_Porcupine]

Thanks to all who gracefully contributed wisdom to a fellow traveler. Outis, I had some brief e-mail correspondence with Dr. Stone and he seems wonderful, though even with larger funding prospects Boston (as a city) remains rather expensive. I will still be applying.

Ryan, I have not visited either Duke or Notre Dame as my wife and I both work while attending school, but have applied to Duke and plan to apply to Notre Dame. It is indeed encouraging to know that folks at ND are still reading Yoder, as I have a professor that studied under him at my current school and he wasn't sure as to what extent the Yoder legacy- if there ever was one- remained. I have perused the faculty list and noted plenty of engagement with peace theology/Catholic social thought, not to mention their fine people in systematics (Betz, Murphy, O'Regan). Additionally, the Mennonite Historical Archives sounds fascinating indeed... I would nerd-out there for a long time, no doubt. The Catholic presence at Duke is substantial for a Methodist institution and I am glad to hear that there are Anabaptist sympathizers as well. It would certainly make for an interesting and ecumenical community experience. Perhaps we will cross paths at one of these institutions?

Marquette is still another live option given their faculty's commitments to peace and von Balthasar. I have been told by admissions that funding prospects are poor but that they might be able to 'swing' something my way; ambiguous language is not helpful while my life hangs in the balance! Ughhh. Still, if these are my largest problems in life, I suppose I have little to gripe about. Thanks again.

Peace and Advent blessings,

Justin