Dean's Team
Christopher Ocker
Interim GTU Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of the History of Christianity
Contact:
510-649-2443
cocker@gtu.edu
Diandra Erikson
Associate Dean of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
Contact:
(510) 649-2511
derickson@gtu.edu
John Seal
Consortial Registrar
Contact:
(510) 649-2462
jseal@gtu.edu
Essay Competition: Comparative Theology and Peacemaking
Essay Competition: Comparative Theology and Peacemaking
All students of the Graduate Theological Union are invited to submit an essay of not more than 2000 words to be considered for a $1000 scholarship award for the best essay in comparative religion or theology addressing some aspect of the role of comparative theology in peacemaking.
The Surjit Singh Lecture and Symposium in Comparative Religion and Theology for 2025 will take place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. It will feature a lecture by Prof. Norbert Litoing, S.J, of Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya, and a response by Prof. Amir Hussain, Prof. of Islamic Theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
In addition to a $1000 scholarship award, the winner of the Comparative Theology and Peacemaking prize will help design and lead a student Symposium with Professors Litoing and Hussain on the morning of Wednesday, November 5, 2025.
Submission Guidelines:
- 2,000 words (excepting footnotes and bibliography), Double-Spaced, 12 pt Font
- Microsoft WORD or PDF
- Style: Turabian or Chicago Manual
All entrees must be original work. All resources used must be properly cited in footnotes or bibliography. Citations are not included in the word count. AI-generated work is not invited to be entered into the contest, and if entered, it will be subject to disqualification.
All essays will be submitted to blind review. To facilitate anonymity of contributions, please place your name and any personal identifying information on a separate title page of your document. Repeat the title of your essay at the head of the first page of actual essay text.
Please submit your essay by the end of Friday, September 12, 2025, to the Executive Assistant of the GTU Dean, Shelley Nelson (snelson@gtu.edu).
Award Committee:
Marianne Farina, CSC, Professor of Theology and Philosophy
Christopher Ocker, Dean and John Dillenberger Professor of the History of Christianity, Graduate Theological Union
Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, S.J., Dean, Jesuit School of Theology