The collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
The Ecumenical Programs at Union Theological Seminary were designed to help students through programs within the Seminary and through exploration of opportunities for exchange study with seminaries around the world. The collection contains correspondence, reports, pamphlets, negatives, slides and other material.
Series 1: Program background, circa 1970 -- 1991
This series contains administrative documents such as those related to budget and finance, policies and guidelines for the programs, and weekly calendar notices of events; notes by Robert McAfee Brown, Professor of Ecumenics and World Christianity; and a five-year plan for the World Christianity Program. Also available are source files, including books, brochures, and other informative materials. One folder is specific to resources relating to Africa. Internal correspondence within Union and correspondence with outside individuals is available. Among the notable correspondents are Elie Wiesel and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Other correspondence includes letters from Union Students studying abroad. Other records included document trips taken to Latin America, Africa and Argentina by Kosuke Koyama, Professor of Ecumenics and World Christianity at Union from 1980-1996, on behalf of the program.
Series 2: Oikoumene, circa 1970 -- 1992
This series contains material related to Oikoumene, which focused on presenting various activities for the Seminary community with topics relating to religious, sociological, political, world, national, or local themes. Included in this series are newsletters, lists of events and worship activities, as well as materials relating to the appointment of Oikoumene Co-Chairs.
Series 3A: Exchange and Cross-Cultural Studies, Luce Foundation, 1978 -- 1991
This series contains materials relating the Luce Foundation grant that supported the three-year Union-Asia-Union program, an exchange between Asian and American theological faculty members and students. Materials in this subseries include reports to the Luce Foundation; those relating to the Luce Visiting Professorship; and materials relating to each of the three years of the grant, plus the preparatory year.
Series 3B: Exchange and Cross-Cultural Studies, Travel seminars, 1979 -- 1992
This series contains material related to the January trips to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Among the materials included are correspondence relating to each trip, memos, reports, and programs. Also included are the student papers from each year's trip, plus slides of select years in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
Series 3C: Exchange and Cross-Cultural Studies, Exchange programs, circa 1970 -- 1991
This series contains material relating to the Program's exchange programs, and includes student requests to study abroad, student applications to study abroad, correspondence, as well as materials specifically related to the exchange programs in Africa, Nicaragua, and Africa.
Series 4: International students, circa 1970 -- 1991
This series contains materials relating to the international students at Union. Included are orientation materials intended to get visiting students familiar with New York City and Union's surrounding neighborhood, as well as materials relating to the international student advisor position.
Series 5A: Theological Education, Plowshares Institute, circa 1977 -- 1999
This series contains administrative materials for the Pilot Immersion Program, such as correspondence, budget and funding information and minutes of the Globalization of Theological Education Coordinating Committee. There are folders for each of the immersion experiences – India, Brazil, Africa, and New York City – which include applications to the program, related correspondence, memos, notes, and readings.
Series 5B: Theological Education, Course offerings, 1980 -- 1988
This series contains a listing of ecumenical courses at Union as well as materials specifically relating to the course J251: Church and Society. These materials include a course outline, surveys, findings, and other related documents.
Series 6A: Special formats, photographs, circa 1950 -- 1999
This series contains photographs and unidentified negatives, including images of India in the 1950s, a photograph of Professor William Bean Kennedy, the Clearwater trip, and a closing dinner event. This series also contains material which did not pertain specifically to other previously mentioned programs.
Series 6B: Special formats, cassette tapes, circa 1980 -- 1991
This series contains 40 cassette tapes, including recorded lectures from visiting professors and Union's own Professor Koyama, chapel services, and those which relate to the Pilot Immersion Project orientation for India.
William Adams Brown Ecumenical Library Archives
This collection is arranged in ten series: Series 1: Program background; Series 2: Oikoumene; Series 3A: Exchange and Cross-Cultural Studies, Luce Foundation; Series 3B: Exchange and Cross-Cultural Studies, Travel seminars; Series 3C: Exchange and Cross-Cultural Studies, Exchange programs; Series 4: International students; Series 5A: Theological Education, Plowshares Institute; Series 5B: Theological Education, Course offerings; Series 6A: Special formats, photographs; and Series 6B: Special formats, cassette tapes.
The collection is open for research.
Onsite storage.
Some material in this collection may be protected by copyright and other rights. Information concerning copyright, fair use, and reproduction requests can be consulted at Columbia's Copyright Advisory Office.
Item description, WAB: Ecumenical Programs records, series #, box #, folder #, The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University in the City of New York.
The exact provenance of this collection is unknown.
Columbia University Libraries, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary
Materials were placed in new acid-free folders and boxes. The collection was originally organized and described in 1996. The finding aid was created by Rebecca Weintraub and Brigette C. Kamsler in 2012 with the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, and edited by Leah Edelman in 2024.
2024-05-01 PDF converted to EAD and description updated by Leah Edelman.
Union Theological Seminary in New York City (UTS) actively pursued an interest in ecumenical programs and world Christianity. In 1976 Robert McAfee Brown was brought back to the UTS faculty as Professor of Ecumenics and World Christianity, and in this capacity he researched and created "a program designed to help students learn more about the world through programs within the Seminary walls and through exploration of opportunities for exchange study with seminaries around the world." In 1977, with the support of President Shriver, plans were made to develop the first exchange study programs conducted by UTS. The yearly brochure for Ecumenical Programs (also referred to as the Ecumenics and World Christianity Program) describes the philosophy that guided the program through the 1980's: "Theology which is responsible to local situations must also be well informed by what is happening to humanity on a global scale....Such theology is able to see local challenges in an ecumenical perspective and the world church through the perceptivity gained in its local commitment.... The Ecumenical programs are an active expression of the conviction expressed as globalization of theological education. The programs are to invite all members of the Union community — students, staff, faculty, and spouses — to grapple with the question: How can the church live responsibly in today's world?" Over the years, the Ecumenical Program developed ongoing work in three main areas: Oikoumene, international students, and cross-cultural study. Oikoumene focused on presenting various activities for the Seminary community with topics relating to religious, sociological, political, world, national, or local themes. Ecumenical Programs was also in charge of coordinating support programs for all the international students. This was accomplished through hiring a student to serve as advisor to the international students. As its third major responsibility, the Program coordinated both short and long term exchange programs for students and faculty. The best known and continuous of these were the January travel seminars to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The booklet titled "From Roots to Reality" presents a brief history of the travel seminars from 1979 to 1988. The Program also created guidelines for study and assisted in funding students or faculty who were interested in traveling to other areas of the world. One of the special areas that Ecumenical Programs was instrumental in coordinating was the "Union-Asia-Union Exchange" project funded by the Luce Foundation. Some students and faculty were assisted in traveling to different countries in Asia, and the exchange also allowed for some Asian faculty to come to Union. Another special project was the Pilot Project on Globalization of Theological Education, coordinated through the Plowshares Institute. Union was chosen to be one of twelve participating seminaries for this five-year project. The plan was to cluster three or four dissimilar theological schools and form teams of people to go on three-week travel seminars together, then to return and to try to use the experience to help evaluate education at their schools. The immersion seminars went to India, Brazil, southern Africa, and local areas of New York City. Ecumenical Programs have always been under the direction of the Professor of Ecumenics and World Christianity. From 1980 until spring 1996, this position was held by Kosuke Koyama. The internal organization of the program varied over the years, but often had an advisory committee, full-time staff support, and part-time student staff. This collection currently ends around February 1993, although Ecumenical programs and Globalization projects still continue as a part of the Seminary's mission.
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