Seattle School of Theology and Psychology

[prepare2deluze]

Hey there - I've lurked these forums for a few months but decided to finally make an account so I can ask this question. 

I've been looking into different grad schools lately and came across this small grad school - The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. 

 

After looking into it a bit, it seems like it's a pretty continental / postmodern Christian type place - which is good.

 

That being said - does anyone know anything about it? Here's the site.

 

I feel like it's probably not a great choice since my plan is to move into a PhD after my MA, but I don't know much about their programs - so I thought I would ask here first! 

[Yetanotherdegree]

I don't know about it, but I looked at the website and they are a candidate for accreditation by ATS, the association of theological schools, not actually accredited.

Because they are not yet accredited, a degree from there is not likely to be acceptable to any of the mainstream institutions. When the top-tier places ask for a degree from an accredited institution, they mean ATS.

For this reason alone, I would not consider a degree from there if you ever hope to study anywhere else on the strength of that degree.

Edited July 25, 2013 by Yetanotherdegree

[Body Politics]

I'd stay far, far away from anything unaccredited (as YAD said). Are you looking to stay on the West coast/western US? What is it about this school that is attractive to you?

[prepare2deluze]

Oh wow - I didn't notice that. Thanks for pointing that out, Yetanotherdegree. I've stopped looking into it any further. 

 

Are you looking to stay on the West coast/western US? What is it about this school that is attractive to you?

 

 Body Politics - no, not really. I'm actually not on the West Coast right now. Ideally, I'm looking for Masters programs that lean strongly into philosophy (my BA will be in philosophy). I'm looking for something that at least has its feet wet into continental philosophy of religion. I can go more specifically into my interests if it'd help. But, broadly - continental philosophy of religion. 

 

Anyway, I was looking into this school because I saw it was attached to The Other Journal and it was advertised on a site I frequent. I couldn't find much information on it - I know it's small and kind of new.

 

I figured I needed some second tier schools - schools that might be more likely to offer more funding and such, which is why I was looking into schools that weren't the usual suspects. 

[sacklunch]

There is no reason to not apply to the top schools, since they usually offer pretty good funding. You may consider applying to an 'open' MDiv like HDS' since it may allow you to do some other coursework related to philosophy.

[cadences]

Just to back jdm's point - if anything, I think second tier schools are usually worse with funding than top tier ones...

[Body Politics]

You can land significant funding from smaller, second-tier schools sometimes, but it's not typical. I don't really know anything about schools doing much with continental philosophy (biblical studies guy here), but I imagine the big name div schools might not be bad places to look. 

[Yetanotherdegree]

The bigger schools definitely have more and better funding. I would start with places that have been around for a long time, with endowments and funding for many/most students. The smaller places will have and offer less $.

My MDiv was paid for by long-dead christian souls who had thoughtfully remembered my institution in their final bequests

I'm not sure about the philosophy side of things, but I know there are posters on here who could help with that, if you post and ask.

[Lux Lex Pax]

The divinity school at the University of Chicago might be a good place to look at for continental philosophy of religion. I'm thinking in particular of Marion and Hector.

[marXian]

I second Lux's suggestion. UChicago will probably fit your interests well, provide some funding, and give you great preparation for application to PhD programs, if that's your goal. A back up might be Claremont, but you're not going to get much if any funding there.

[prepare2deluze]

The divinity school at the University of Chicago might be a good place to look at for continental philosophy of religion. I'm thinking in particular of Marion and Hector.

 

U of Chicago is one of my top choices, actually. One of my professors got his Phd from there and really enjoyed the experience. 

 

 

A back up might be Claremont, but you're not going to get much if any funding there.

 

Claremont is my top choice, actually. But I highly doubt I would be able to attend, due to their funding problems.

 

jdharrison, I see you around here often - and the blog you write for - and you insight often seems really useful. If you think of any other programs that you or some of your colleagues went to and could recommend, let me know! 

[marXian]

jdharrison, I see you around here often - and the blog you write for - and you insight often seems really useful. If you think of any other programs that you or some of your colleagues went to and could recommend, let me know! 

 

Good to know someone is reading!

 

Chicago Theological Seminary would be a place you could do continental philosophy/theology. Ted Jennings does some work on Lacan, and one of his former students is Adam Kotsko (who wrote Zizek and Theology and is one of Giorgio Agamben's primary translators). That would probably be an MA in theology rather than religion (with a philosophy of religion emphasis) but you would still be doing a lot of philosophy of religion.  Again though, you probably won't get much aid, if any.

 

Yale's MAR program might be a good option too.

 

As you go forward though, I would advise flexibility and openness to what you'd be willing to study within the continental tradition. A lot of new grad students with interests in continental philosophy (typically Derrida, Lacan, Zizek, etc.) starting M* programs in religion or theology don't really consider the practicality of those interests in RS or theology programs as they're looking for places to apply for their PhD. Not saying it isn't possible, but the reality is that there are just very few programs (especially ones with good financial packages) that will allow you to specialize in, say, post-structural thought and theology or psychoanalysis and theology, and many of the ones that do are pretty tough to get into (UVA, for example.) I don't know what your interests are specifically, but being willing to do some work across the tradition (from Leibniz or Kant into the 20th century) is a good idea so that when you're researching PhD programs, you'll have many more options. You would have ample opportunity to do that at CGU, CTS, UChicago, or Yale. Also (as I've said in other threads) from what I've encountered so far, I think specializations in or dissertations on a historical tradition, genealogy, figure, etc. are more marketable than purely constructive/theoretical ones. The latter can be done in your second or third book!

[eliot]

By the way, I hear the Seattle School just received its accreditation. I think it sounds like a really interesting program for counseling/ministry prep, but I don't know if it'd be very helpful if you're pursuing academia. But I thought I'd leave the comment here in case anyone is interested.