Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 4-11, 1999

Volume 28, Number 7

Headstone dedication will
highlight Divinity Convocation

The dedication of a new headstone honoring the memory of a 19th-century African-American woman from New Haven who established a fund at Yale for the education of black ministers will be among the highlights of the Convocation and Reunion of the Divinity School and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale Monday-Thursday, Oct. 11-14.

The annual event will also feature talks by several distinguished theologians.

Richard Lischer of Duke University Divinity School will give this year's Beecher Lectures on the theme "The End of Words: Preaching the Gospel in a World Come of Age." The talks will examine the vocation of preaching "in a culture whose idea of normative speech is the pseudo-objectivity of CNN, in which all authority save that of the state has been reduced to the personal preferences of individuals," says Lischer.

The 1999 Taylor Lectures, "God: Incomprehensible or Hidden" by David Tracy of the University of Chicago Divinity School, will examine various aspects of two classical fragmenting forms of religious language that are again attracting interest today -- the apophatic and the apocalyptic.

In the Sorensen Lecture, "Is Liberation Enough: Beyond the Temple Door There Is No Promised Land," Delores S. Williams of Union Theological Seminary, will review selected claims of certain expressions of liberation theology in order to respond to the birth, development and loss of the concept of "safe space" in American culture.

A reception following Williams' lecture on Monday evening will celebrate the legacy of Black Seminarians at the Divinity School and pay tribute to Mary Goodman, who upon her death in 1872 bequeathed her entire estate of $5,000 to YDS "with the idea of aiding colored young men in their studies for the ministry."

An obituary in the New Haven Palladium on Feb. 2, 1872, said of Goodman: "Herself a member and regular attendant of the College street (sic) church, and thus accustomed to intelligent preaching, she felt that the time was coming in the rapid progress of her race and people, when they would require a more highly educated ministry." Goodman's headstone in the Grove Street cemetery was irreparably vandalized in late 1998; a new headstone will be dedicated to her memory during the reception.

On Tuesday, Canon Donald Gray, the 1999 Pitt Lecturer, will reflect on "450 Years of the 'Book of Common Prayer' in the Parish."

Tuesday's highlights also will include a service of Evensong, during which honorary degrees from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale will be conferred. Following the service, a reception celebrating the opening of a new exhibit titled "The Book of Common Prayer 1549-1999: Yale and the Anglican Tradition" will take place in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, corner of Wall and High streets.

Ian Barbour, professor emeritus at Carleton College and the 1999 recipient of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, will present the Templeton Lecture, "Science, Technology, and the Christian Tradition," on Wednesday afternoon. Barbour will discuss some recent proposals for the reformulation of traditional theological doctrines in the light of science, as well as distinctive Christian attitudes toward technology.

All lectures will take place in Marquand Chapel, Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, 409 Prospect St.

A complete schedule for the week can be obtained by phoning (203) 432-5568 or by visiting the Divinity School website at www.yale.edu/divinity/ne.

A registration fee of $25 includes all lectures, morning coffee, and all receptions during the Convocation/Reunion. Persons attending only part of the Convocation are asked to make an appropriate donation in lieu of the registration fee.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Women with breast cancer genes risk relapse with conservative therapies

Ex-Secretary of State describes greatest foreign policy challenges facing the U.S.

Researchers discover animals will shun others with infectious diseases

Exhibit will offer Yale community a peek at libraries' treasures

HHS Secretary to talk about Medicare, privacy issues

NY governor, UPenn president are year's first Chubb Fellows

Solicitor General Waxman to speak at Law Reunion

Conference to explore 'dilemma' over use of cost-benefit analysis to make policy decisions

Headstone dedication will highlight Divinity Convocation

Goethe's contributions to science, modern culture celebrated

Grant supports STAR program to promote success in sciences

Scientists studying how animals move in perfect tandem

Two-part sculpture coming together for first time at Yale center

Human figure and landscape explored in Asian art exhibit

Exhibit features works of Chinese artist who mixes Western and Eastern styles and symbols

Yale hosts day-long conference on Asian studies

Stalin's secret plans to invade Alaska among topics discussed at international conference . . .

Yale launching annual United Way fundraising drive

Series focuses on slavery in early U.S. and the Middle Ages

Drug for glaucoma will be tested in clinical trial at the medical school

Medical program will focus on topic of breast cancer

German scholar to speak to local Humboldt chapter members

. . . In the News . . .

Campus Notes