First Emerson UUA Chair of Divinity Appointed at Harvard Divinity School
April 11, 2008
The theologian and historian Daniel Patrick McKanan has been named the inaugural incumbent of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Chair of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School (HDS). McKanan, who has taught at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, since 1998, will hold the title Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity, as of July 1, 2008.“This is an exciting moment for Unitarian Universalist scholarship, with increasing numbers of young Unitarian Universalists pursuing doctoral studies and a comparable number of more advanced scholars, including myself, gravitating to Unitarian Universalism from other religious traditions,” said McKanan. “As more and more Americans seek a spirituality that fits with their commitment to fighting oppression and fostering sustainability, moreover, I hope to help foster a vigorous dialogue between Unitarian Universalists and the various communities of the ‘religious left’ that have been the focus of my research.”
The creation of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Professorship of Divinity was announced on May 25, 2003, the 203d anniversary of the birth of Ralph Waldo Emerson. At that time, a two-decade effort on the part of Harvard Divinity School and the Unitarian Universalist Association culminated, as two gifts totaling $500,000, from W. Lowell Steinbrenner (MTS ‘87) and his wife, Janice, and from the late Rev. Dr. J. Frank Schulman (STB ’54) and his wife, Alice, provided the final funds needed to establish the professorship. These gifts built on previous donations from the UUA, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, on Long Island, NY (formerly the North Shore Unitarian Universalist Society), the Liberal Religious Charitable Society, and other individuals and organizations.
“I am extremely happy that we have been able to select an exciting young scholar who will bring to Harvard Divinity School a truly wide-ranging, creative approach to studies in liberal religion, especially the Unitarian Universalist tradition, which is so vitally entwined with our institution’s history,” said Dean William A. Graham in announcing the appointment.
McKanan, a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard College in 1989 (under the name Daniel Buchanan), earned a master of divinity degree at Vanderbilt Divinity School in 1993 and a PhD in the history of Christianity at the University of Chicago in 1998. He is the author of several books, including Identifying the Image of God: Radical Christians and Nonviolent Power in the Antebellum Period, an account of how antebellum liberal theology led to political activism in response to the abuses of power within chattel slavery. He is currently working on a book titled Prophetic Encounters: The Religious Left in American History, which will be published by Beacon Press.
Naming the professorship in part for Ralph Waldo Emerson is a gesture to honor a historical figure who had a significant influence on both the Unitarian tradition and Harvard Divinity School. Although HDS has always remained firmly interdenominational, it is recognized by the UUA as one of three principal schools providing theological training to Unitarian Universalist students preparing for ministry.
Follow these links for more information about the benefactors who made possible the Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Chair of Divinity and the establishment of the position.
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Last updated on Tuesday, May 24, 2011.
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