Best doctoral programs for theopoetics?

[B-612]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm wondering if anyone might be able to recommend the best doctoral programs for theopoetics. I'm a process theology fanboy and theopoetics seems a great area to do my work because it incorporates process with narrative/postliberal theology and concerns of postmodernism. As someone who's done a lot of queer theology in the past, I also think this would be a good area since it focuses a great deal on embodiment and lived experience, which are crucial for LGBTQ people. 

 

I'd also like to work a little bit with Bible faculty. One of my greatest fears during my M.Div. program--and a fear voiced by many other LGBTQ people--was that the Bible had been monopolized by those on the anti-LGBTQ side of the argument and that LGBTQ people of faith had allowed it to be appropriated from them. I want the Bible to play a role in my theology, though it might be a different one than those on the other side of the theological fence.

 

Are there any programs/faculty you'd all recommend? Especially ones that have resources for queer theologians? 

[Body Politics]

You might look into the Joint Ph.D. at University of Denver & Iliff School of Theology. It is PhD in Religious & Theological Studies, within which students can specialize in Biblical Interpretation; Religion and Psychological Studies; Religion and Social Change; or Theology, Philosophy, and Cultural Theory. Although students concentrate, officially, in only one area, the program is set up to be interdisciplinary. So, if you went the TPCT route (which I'm assuming would fit your interests best), you would still be free to take courses in the BI area as well. The program is very LGBTQ-friendly. I'm not sure if there is anyone who is currently doing work in theopoetics (I admit, I had to google it -- but, then again, I'm just a BI/New Testament guy), but the Joint PhD program appears to pride itself in welcoming students with diverse projects, as long as the faculty is able to support them.

http://www.du.edu/duiliffjoint/index.html

 

(The site is godawful. Sorry.)

[Lux Lex Pax]

Checkout Mayra Rivera-Rivera at Harvard Divinity School. She seems to be into theopoetics.

[Fnkyfreshman]

Look into Claremont or GTU. That will be your best bet. But for most programs, particularly the most competitive ones, the term 'theopoetics' will have virtually no bearings. It would be best to drop that language and run with critical gender theory/process or postliberalism (though probably not both). Also, you will want to choose theology or biblical studies. But mentioning both of those may express that you aren't specific enough. Generalities are bad, specifics are good.

[marXian]

Drew and CGU are probably the only prominent places in which process thought is still being done. I have to be honest though--I think process theology is a dead end. Catherine Keller (at Drew) is really the only person doing anything interesting, and her work isn't even really rigorously process.

 

And I agree with fnkyfreshman--you'll need to choose whether you want to do theology or biblical studies. That doesn't mean you can't do a little of one from the perspective of the other, but biblical studies as a discipline entails a whole other set of skills (languages and particular research methods) that don't figure into theological work at all.

 

If you're interested in combining the study of embodiment/lived experience in religious practice with theology, a religious studies program with a theology track would also be a good fit, I think.

[B-612]

I definitely want to do theology. I just recall so many constructive courses in my M.Div. program requiring texts that we students eviscerated because they didn't really do any biblical work. Since many of us were training to do the clergy thing, we all thought, "Yes, this is great for graduate classes, but how do we bring this to our faith community when biblical concerns are a huge issue for our parishioners?"

[marXian]

There's a difference though between doing some biblical work (e.g. referencing biblical texts in order to support an argument) and doing Biblical Studies in a Ph.D program. The latter requires a level of language work that goes way beyond the sort of practical application you're talking about. If your concern is practice, I'd suggest again an RS department that does theology or maybe a practical theology program would be a good choice. Not trying to steer you away from doing theoretical work, but you're probably not going to be talking practical church application much in a traditional theology program--even one that does something like theopoetics.

[devona]

If you're open to UK programs, Gerard Loughlin at Durham would be an excellent resource in this field. He's queer theology and film/literature/media.