James Donahue

For almost 40 years the GTU has been a significant part of my life, a part that underscored the theological notion of vocation that each of us is called in a particular way by God to enter a path that will enable us to grow and to use our skills and potentials to make a significant contribution to the world, along a path that will lead us to our own fulfillment.

This idea of vocation or “call” has shaped my own personal history, especially where the GTU is concerned. The GTU has called me three times, the first in 1975. As I searched for graduate programs in theology, I heard a buzz...

It is a bittersweet occasion for me to inform the GTU community that our beloved president, James Donahue, has been selected to be the next president of St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga. The first non-Christian Brother to be president of St. Mary’s, Jim will assume his new role in July 2013.

Jim has served as president of the Graduate Theological Union since 2000 and has provided significant leadership in establishing the GTU as one of the most vibrant centers of theological learning in the country. During his tenure as president, the GTU has strengthened its academic...

The resignation today of Pope Benedict XVI marks a significant departure from precedent and historical tradition in the Roman Catholic Church.

Citing the challenges in meeting the extraordinary demands of the Pope to oversee the global Catholic Church and his concern in his not being able to fulfill the responsibilities, he has presented a moment in which the church has the opportunity to assess its historical practices about how the pope provides leadership both now and for the future. The Pope's decision opens up the possibility for serious discussion and exploration about how in...

October 18, 2012

Speakers:

James A. Donahue, President and Professor of Ethics, Graduate Theological Union Daniel Itzkovitz, Professor of American Literature and Culture, Stonehill College Zahra Billoo, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations Robert A. Rees, Visiting Professor of Mormon Studies, Graduate Theological Union Marianne Farina, C.S.C., Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Graduate Theological Union (moderator)

At a September 17 event, GTU President James Donahue and CIS Director Munir Jiwa spoke against the violence perpetuated in Libya and Egypt, actions which spawned protests around the world, following the circulation of a 14-minute movie trailer maligning the Prophet Muhammad. They addressed a full-house alongside of Hatem Bazian, UC Berkeley and Zaytuna College; Zaid Shakir, Zaytuna College; and Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Zaytuna College. Hanson is also a doctoral student at the GTU. The panel was moderated by journalist Sandy Tolan.

The event, “Between Militarism and Extremism: The...

Certainly ethicists have always asked the normative questions about what is right and good. That hasn’t changed since I did my doctoral work at the GTU in the early eighties. Relying on the canonical work of Tillich, the Niebuhrs, Durkheim, Rahner, Weber, Barth, and others for a grand unified theory, we focused on identifying laws, norms, and principles that guide behavior.

Today, we find ourselves in a more particularized, diverse, post-modern intellectual world, where we can’t assume that one size idea fits all. To engage the complex issues that emerge, contemporary scholars now...