And Then We Came to the End

Wow. It's over. It's really, seriously, over. I still woke up way too early today, but I woke up without wondering whether the Labyrinth got taken in off the quad (it did) or whether the caterer knew where to set the coffee (he did - thanks, Ben).

Last night, because of the more casual feel of dinner, we didn't get a chance to say very many of the thank yous that are owed around campus. Although the two of us (in our pink shirts) were among the most visible of the folks running around the past week, this truly was a community-wide effort to welcome new students.

We'll send personal thank you notes, but everyone who helped us out deserves a very public welcome as well.

To our 78 panelists who came and shared their stories, their advice, and their notes on plagiarism with you: THANK YOU.

To the 34 small group volunteers who came in on a Sunday afternoon to get "trained" and to help us stuff folders, and then totally rocked the following week's worth of programming: THANK YOU. (We even made you do a scavenger hunt! You're awesome!)

To the chapel team, who planned worship every day: THANK YOU.

To Jason, who managed all of the food for BTFO: THANK YOU!

To Denice, who filled our social calendar and kept the party going at karaoke and the coffee shop: THANK YOU.

To Kevin, who took care of childcare; and to Jenny, Katelyn, Will, and Sara who stepped up to help Kevin: THANK YOU.

To Katie, her sister Meg(h?)an, and Scott, who washed more dishes than I would have thought possible: THANK YOU.

To the entire student affairs/Seabury administrative wing (Dale, Mike, Julie, Mary Ann, Lisa, Jan, Anna, and Melissa): thanks for letting us hang out in your conference room, giving us pep talks when we needed them, and supplying us with scavenger hunt questions! (I'm still sorry we used up all of your toner. My bad.)

To Sachin, who made all of our tech stuff work: THANK YOU.

To the YDS custodial staff, who were the first people we saw every morning, and did everything we asked for and more: THANK YOU.

And finally to our unsung grab-bag volunteers, who showed up and did whatever we asked of them: Andy, who grilled and moved chairs; Hannah, who came out of nowhere to help with coffee hour; Sean, who helped move pizzas and made me laugh; Rainey, who took care of everything on Friday; Rachel, who put tampons in all the bathrooms; John, who cleaned the quad; James, who made the thoroughly excellent Labyrinth signs; Delfin, who supported us every evening; Jason, who was a model spouse; and Eric, who grilled, mixed drinks, and did so much else ... to you also, thank you, thank you and THANK YOU.

This post could seriously go on for ever. The way I described to at least one person was "You know, I feel like I did a giant trust fall into the arms of this community, and it actually worked." This totally could have ended up like Mean Girls*, where that one girl just gets dropped, but instead it really, really worked.**

The advice of at least the 2007 BTFO leadership team was pretty simple: do a good job, and then leave. I'm taking them at their word, and heading out later today for upstate New York, where there is not a divvie in sight:


When I get back, it will be September, time for classes to start, and time for me to actually get to know you new kids. Over the past week I've been in programming mode: to me, you have been data cells on a series of Excel documents, blips of information which needed to be moved from the Common Room to Niebuhr. When you tried to speak to me, even to thank me for how well the program was going (for which I resolutely blame our INCREDIBLE volunteer force), you got a confused or vacant look. Excel sheets aren't supposed to talk back to you.

What can I say? I'm a logistics person, and someone who shows love by doing rather than saying. When I made you nametags, when I forced you to line up in the hallway and the stairwell, when I made my camp counselor announcements at lunch ... what I was really trying to say was how excited I am that you're here.

So. Welcome. This place is yours now, just as much as it is mine. It's going to be a great year.

-Kate

*Why can't I find a clip on this on the internet?!?

** Last long metaphor of the blog: the first 1:30 of this video is so fitting! At first, back in March, everyone was around and supportive. Then they all disappeared over the summer, which totally freaked me out. And then, the week before the program, everyone came running back to New Haven, ready to grab a cooler and get to work. Phenomenal.

Marquand Chapel Choir Open Rehearsal Today

Hello everyone!

This is Colin Britt, a second year conducting student at the ISM. As the new director of the Marquand Chapel Choir, I'd like to invite you to come sing with us this week at the Chapel Choir's open rehearsal and at the Before the Fall Orientation Communion. If you are interested in singing with us this year, this service will be the perfect opportunity to "test the waters" and see what the year will be like. I believe that you will find our chorus to be an open, welcoming one with kind people and a fulfilling musical/spiritual experience.

Here's the plan:
*Open Rehearsal on Thursday afternoon (8/27) from 4:15-5pm, Marquand Chapel.
*BTFO Communion Service on Friday morning (8/28), with a short rehearsal beforehand at 10am, Marquand Chapel.

Please feel free to email me with any questions. I'm very excited to begin this year together, and I hope to see you later this week!

All my best,

Colin Britt
MM '10 Choral Conducting
colinDOTbrittATyale.edu

Updated Schedule for Thursday, August 27th

The panel, "Additional Resources for the Competent but Nervous" has been moved from S117 to Niebuhr Hall. Schedule posted here.

... And that's about it.

Keep on keepin' on, BTFO-ers.

So after Monday night's slight dinner fiasco, we're delighted to report that Tuesday evening's dinner left us with a ton of left-overs. We have sandwiches and trays upon trays of Thali Too food currently being stored in the Commuter Lounge fridge (where Holy Grounds is).

What we need from you all is quite simple. We need you to bring containers and take food home. Take lots of food home. Seriously, Seriously.

--Kate & Sandra

Recap from Caring for the Whole Self

Hey Everyone,

As promised, we're posting all of the phone numbers from the "Healthy Living at Yale" magnet.

Excluding 911, all numbers begin with area code 203.

Yale University Police/Fire/Emergency campus phone: 911 cell or other phone: 432-4400

• Mini-bus: (203) 432-6330

Yale University Health Services:

• Immunization & Travel: 432-0093
• Member Services: 432-0246
• Mental Health & Counseling: 432-0290
• Ob/Gyn: 432-0222
• Patient Representative: 432-0109
• Pediatrics: 432-0206
• Pharmacy: 432-0033
• SHARE Center: 432-6653

(Sexual Harassment Assault Resources & Education)--SHARE Center

• Student Medicine: 432-0312
• Student Health Education: 432-1892
• Substance Abuse Counseling: 432-7366
• Urgent Care: 432-0123

--Hope this helps!

When will I meet with my adviser?

Update: A list of who's assigned to which adviser is posted! See Lisa Huck's thoroughly awesome bulletin board for details.

I've gotten a ton of questions recently about when and where folks will meet with their advisers. Lisa Huck, our registrar, will address this tomorrow morning in her 9:30am session on registration and financial aid (Niebuhr Hall). Here are a few items to note:

You will NOT be meeting with your advisers this week. For one, not all faculty are back from vacation. For another, dealing with faculty is like herding cats.

Above: Denys Turner, Horace Tracey Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology.

Really intelligent cats, with advanced degrees, but cats nonetheless.


Faculty advisers will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday, August 26th), at which point a list will be available outside of Lisa Huck's door. (Lisa's office is on the same hallway as the candy bowl, as are the offices and cubes of most of my favorites.)

You will contact your adviser individually to set up an appointment. Many put up sheets outside of their door so you can sign up for an appointment. Others will email you. Some you'll have to email yourself to set up a time.

Again, Lisa will go over this with you tomorrow morning as well.

-Kate

Corrected Schedule for Tuesday, August 25th

So far, the only change is that the Library Session scheduled for S100 has been moved to the ISM Great Hall.

Schedule posted here.

From our Social Coordinator: Archie Moore's on Tuesday!

From Denice K., our social maven for BTFO:

Join old and new YDSers at Archie Moore's at 9pm for BTFO After Dark!!

Archie Moore's is located at 188 1/2 Willow Street, New Haven CT.

Walking:

If you are planning on walking over, go with a group of folks. It's about a ten minute walk from the Div. school, located on Willow street. Walk down Canner street to Whitney Ave (take a right out of the parking lot). Make a right turn and walk to Willow street. Take a left onto Willow and walk a few blocks til you hit Archie Moore's on your right.

OR

Have a car and willing to carpool?? Want a ride to Archie Moore's?? Meet at the Div. School Parking lot at 8:50pm and folks will be gathering to ride over together.

Bring cash for drinks and food and your government ID that proves you're 21 or older if you'll be drinking alcohol. There is an ATM in the bar as well.

Looking forward to seeing you there!!
Denice

Our Very First Day! (Is Over)

First of all, thank you all so much for your flexibility and your kindness. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our Small Group Leaders, who are being even more awesome and resilient than I might have expected. Other than our minor fiasco with dinner, we are doing pretty well -- and all of you rockstars handled that impressively. I hope in three months you get a chuckle out of saying to one another "Remember that time we had pizza on the quad at like 9pm? Wasn't that the first time we met each other?"

I'd also like to personally thank each and every one of you who came up and expressed your thanks. Unfortunately, I cannot do this, since I don't remember anyone's names. I do appreciate the compliments, though, and I look forward to actually figuring out who you are in September.

A few notes:

If you are coming late to BTFO, you will have to come find me and/or Sandra in order for us to link you up to your small group. Yes, that's pretty annoying, but we are easy to find, and we have quite a lot of stuff to give to you. Incoming students got a USB flash drive this year. We are generally camped out in the JE Dining Room; ask Patricia at the front desk to let you know where that is.

If you did not receive a name tag during registration, I apologize for that. Mail merge decided to hate me this week, and we're still not talking, but once I am off the blog I will be making you yours, by hand, and checking it several times.

If you have lost and found items during this week, Mike G. keeps the YDS lost and found, which is by the infamous candy bowl. Any items given to small group leaders or Sandra and I will eventually make its way there.

If you own an ice cream scoop please bring it to lunch tomorrow! We're having Ashley's, a local favorite (with either lunch or dinner, I can't quite recall...)

Finally, please also remember that we are on a drive to green BTFO a little bit this year. Please try to bring a water bottle to meals, so that we don't run through quite so many cups. Think of how many plates, cups, forks, and napkins we ran through tonight - quite a lot! Just bringing a water bottle will help a TON with this.

Thanks all! Four more days!

-Kate

PS - Matt L., who helped us move chairs in the morning and Gchatted me at 10pm gets a personal shout-out. Thank you Matt!

The Schedule is Here!

OK. I apologize if this is showing up in multiple places at once; I clicked a button on GMail and nothing happened (so far as I can tell). Instead,

HERE IS A LINK TO THE BTFO 2009 SCHEDULE.

A few things to point out:

1) This schedule has been slightly amended from the version you will get on Monday. To wit, three typos have been corrected.

2) There is a cover page which explains this schedule which is not attached. It has been saved as a separate document and will be available on Monday. This schedule may look daunting, but it's not. BTFO should and will be fun; we'll talk more on Monday about how to navigate this colossal work of genius event planning.

3) It is 9:48pm on a Saturday night, and I am still at school.

Once again, registration begins at 2:30pm on Monday! We'll see you then!

International Students' Pre-Orientation

It's almost here! Tomorrow is our very first BTFO event - international students' pre-orientation! International students will have the opportunity to visit the Office of International Students and Scholars, grab lunch with some select staff members, and hear a little about the academic atmosphere of Yale Divinity School. You can view a copy of the day's schedule here.

Please remember that this event is only open to international students, who should already have RSVP'd through Nathanael.

Happy Birthday Mike!

Our very favorite search engine turns 25 today. We got you a blog post!*
(Above: more or less how I spent the summer. Also, Dale Peterson.)

BTFO 2009 owes Mike a huge debt of gratitude. Without him, this program probably wouldn't happen. As YDS's institutional memory, Mike has helped us track down supplies, figure out who to ask for what favors, and generally served as a sounding board for all kinds of ideas. You can thank Mike for Dale Mail, the candy bowl, and making the earth revolve around the sun.** And while we may still wish we'd gotten walkie-talkies out of the deal, hey, nobody's perfect. And while it took forever for us to get walkie-talkies, hey, we eventually got our walkie-talkies. Apparently, perfection is attainable. It just takes a while. (This is starting to sound like an ad for booze.)

With that in mind, we'd like to dedicate the following 3:09 of internet to Mike:

-Kate and Sandra

*Also another present.
** Yes, these things are functionally equivalent.

Small Groups Are Assigned

So we also emailed this to y'all, but thought we should put it up on the blog, just in case. If you're not getting BTFO emails, be sure to let us know!

We’re now only one week away from the start of BTFO 2009! We hope you’re as excited as we are. Last night, we divided incoming students up into small groups, and assigned them to small group leaders.

This is what that looked like:
Mmmmyeah. It's either an SNL episode or something a serial killer might produce.

Your small group leaders are returning students trained to help you make the most of your BTFO and start the semester off strong. Your small group leaders will be in touch to introduce themselves and answer any questions you might have. In the meantime, we thought we’d add a few of our own words of wisdom.

Please bring a water bottle. We’re div school students, we like the earth. While we’ll provide cups and eating utensils for those who can’t or don’t want to provide their own, it’d be great if you could bring your own (reusable) water bottle. If you really want brownie points, you can even bring your own plate and utensils for meals. There’s a student kitchen where you can was these daily.

Dress in layers. It’s almost fall in New England, and that means hot days and cool nights. Sterling Divinity Quadrangle is also aggressively air conditioned, and you may be a little chilly in our classrooms.

Tell us your preferred first name. If this email is addressed to, say, “Katherine”, where you’d rather be addressed as “Kate,” please hit reply on this email and tell us ASAP. (Do not tell your small group leader; they don’t control the data.) We’ll be printing nametags soon, and would rather get yours correct than not.

Parking will be available during BTFO in our lot at 409 Prospect Street. Be advised that this is a small lot and will fill quickly. Street parking is also available on both Prospect and Canner Street. (When school starts, you will need to buy a pass for the lot.)

Family members and friends are welcome at almost all BTFO activities, including meals. Lunch is at 12:30pm every day, dinner at 6pm every day. Please email us ASAP (btfo2009@gmail.com) if you require childcare.

Remember to breathe. We’ve been planning for you all summer, and we’re excited to finally meet you.

Blessing and safe travels,

Sandra Valdes-Lopez & Kate Spelman
BTFO 2009 Co-Coordinators

Yale Health Plan, Part II (should you switch?)

Michelle, a second-year M.Div (whose name is pronounce Meee-shell, not Meh-shell, FYI), pointed out that I didn't really offer any input on whether or not you should think about switching to the Yale Health Plan. I have trouble remembering last August, for some stress-related reason (which actually makes me less nervous about BTFO - you won't remember a thing!), and so although I carefully considered my choices, I have little idea why I decided the YHP was the way to go. Below, Michelle offers some great reasons for switching to Yale's coverage.

Remember, you are already covered for Basic care by enrolling as a Yale student.

-Kate

If you’re moving to YDS from a career, you may be wondering: “what should I do about health insurance? I’ve heard horror stories about grad school health plans. Am I better off trying to keep my old coverage?”

Sandra and Kate have asked me to fill in some of the blanks, based on my expertise. My expertise is based on a couple of things: 1. I’m a second-career student who has lived in five states as and adult, and also spent far too much time in graduate school, so I’ve seen my share of health plans, 2. I have some pretty significant chronic conditions, so I’ve been able to see how health plans treat various illnesses, and 3. I spent most of my first three months at YDS on crutches, so I also know a little about how they deal with “emergent” conditions.

Based on my qualifications, I will state: Yale Health Plan is awesome. You should probably join.

This is not some mindless BTFO propaganda. In general, if you have health coverage from a previous employer or through a spouse/partner, there are a couple of things you will want to consider: cost of coverage up front, convenience, co-pays, where you are living and whether you will be remaining there throughout most of your time at YDS, and what your long-term options are.

I will be honest: the plan I had at my last job was expensive, had a $1000 deductible on prescriptions, and probably has no doctors in network in Connecticut. So I may be a little biased. But based on what I remember from other places where I worked, YHP seems like a pretty good deal all around. There are a couple of situations in which it might not be worth it to switch: 1. If your spouse/partner has excellent health coverage which is not likely to go away, you might want to consider either staying on that plan, or at least having the spouse/partner stay on that plan, 2. If you have lifetime coverage (like some programs for former government employees) which would you would invalidate by joining YHP, you should probably stay on that plan, 3. If you have a plan which has extensive and inexpensive national coverage, and you plan to travel or do mission trips, it might be worth it to stay on that plan.

Beyond that, I would recommend YHP. Sure, there are a couple of downsides (which I will note in brackets), but for the most part, it’s a good deal.

For one thing, your deductible on prescriptions is only $100 per year. After that, co-pays are insanely low. I take medications which would easily cost over $150 per month; most months here, I pay less than $25 total. (Note, this is only available through the YHP pharmacy – I can’t stop at the local chain drug store, and I have to plan ahead if I’m going to be traveling. I think there is a way to get costs reimbursed if you get prescriptions elsewhere, but I’ve never tried)

For another, visits to medical specialists are covered. And really good quality. One of my doctors is the chief of endocrinology at Yale. I see her for free, no co-pay, no nothing. Lab tests are also completely covered. (Again, there is one small downside, in that you may need to wait a little while to see a specialist. My endocrinologist only works there one morning per week – it took four months before I could see her. Obviously, if it’s an emergency, you will get attention. But if you need to routinely see a specialist, be prepared to wait a bit)

For slightly more run-of-the-mill situations (coughs, colds, sprains and strains), you have to go to the Student Health Center (17 Hillhouse). If it’s not an emergency, you might wait a little while in the waiting room, but I’ve never had to wait more than half an hour (you also have the option of calling to make an appointment, but those fill up fast, especially on Mondays).

Finally, there is one other huge advantage to YHP: no paperwork -- prescriptions, lab work, specialists -- all of that stuff is handled internally. No forms to fill out, no need to get reimbursed. Most of the time, all of this goes pretty smoothly, which is a huge advantage because you will have lots of other things to do once you get here.

Some of you may be reading this and thinking that your old plan had similar coverage. Or that your plan has dental or vision coverage, which YHP does not. Or that you would prefer to see your old doctor when you go home over breaks. This is fine. You will be covered for emergencies at Yale regardless of whether you’re in YHP or not. But, YHP is a great option to have, so be sure to consider it.

Peace,

Michelle

Introducing ... Susan Olson and the Career Couseling Office!

Susan is one of my more dedicated blog followers, and was kind enough to write a lovely little blurb introducing herself and her office. Also to provide a kind of hilarious photo (someone's got a Mac with photobooth!)



YDS is one of only three theological schools in all of the US and Canada to have its own dedicated career counseling office. (For the answer to which other schools share this distinction, you'll have to come to S-116 to ask me in person!)

While the whole "advertising jobs and cajoling you into applying for them" part of a career counseling office is far off for most of you, we do have several services that might be of interest to you now---

*first and foremost career counseling---free & confidential. I can't solve your love-life woes, but happy to take on those thorny questions of career and calling. Included in career counseling is the option to take the Strong Interest Inventory or the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator and have these interpreted. (I even have super-fancy looking certificates that say I'm qualified to do this!) This is a great first step if your career plans are, shall we say, murky, or if those once-crystal clear plans change.

* resume workshops, offered by my able work-study student Michelle Boomgaard

* tons-o-books to check out--about career options, resumes, cover letters, test-taking. We also have a lovely collection of GRE flashcards (both math and verbal) for loan.

* opportunities to connect you with alumni/ae who are doing the types of things that you are interested in pursuing.


Sadly, I'm not able to help spouses find work, or help with employment while you're in school. Part-time jobs can be found advertised on (say with with me, you know the answer by now) dalemail.

Hope to see y'all soon, and let me be the 934th person to say, welcome to YDS. I've held many, many different titles in my time at YDS, but the most important one I have is the first one I received: alum. If your days on the quad are even half as life-changing and fun as mine were, you will be indeed very blessed.

Peace,
Susan Olson

Things Div School Students Like

#1: God- or church-themed puns.

(Dennisport, Mass.)

See also: Before the Fall Orientation. Are we all in on the joke now? Apparently some second- and third-years have yet to be brought up to speed. Please do your best to educate. (Also.)

Spouse and Partner Orientation

The Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) does a lot of pretty amazing stuff. They're a little hush-hush about this fact, but all of their programming is open to non-international students, too. Most of us from the US don't have immigration paperwork issues or English language instruction needs, but many of us would be down for a bus trip to Boston or a shopping trip to Hamden. Their full event calendar is here.

We'd like in particular to draw your attention to International Spouse and Partners at Yale (ISPY) orientation (September 2nd, 3rd and 4th). Even if you just moved up from Darien, this orientation offers a fun way to meet other spouses and partners (from around the world, no less) and some genuinely cool events - you'll tour the Peabody and hear about ways to volunteer in New Haven, eat lunches out, and find out all the Yale resources you can access as your student's posse member.

-Kate

What I Wish I’d Known About the Yale Health Plan

Hi. Sandra and I just spent a week on Cape Cod, and did very, very little in terms of BTFO. (In the next few weeks, when something goes horribly awry, I’m probably going to chalk it up to this lost week.) Coming back to reality has been a bit harsh (I also got back at 2:30am Saturday morning, so there was that), and I seem to have left my watch in Vacationland. One of the first things I did yesterday was pick up a prescription at the Yale Health Plan, and it occurred to me then, as it has several times in the past, that this is a blog-worthy thing.

That is the worst segue I’ve ever written. I apologize.

Anyway.

You’ve probably already made your decision about your health insurance. So I won’t dwell on this too much. Basically, by enrolling at Yale, you’re also enrolling in a “basic” health care program that will cover most routine doctor’s visits. You can also elect to pick up hospitalization, prescription, and other such things from Yale; or you can elect to find your own insurance. No matter what, you have access to a primary care physician and to mental health services. Even if you waive Yale's insurance, you can still visit Student Health for basic services.

Yale Health Services is located at 17 Hillhouse Ave (at Trumbull). It took me all year and Sandra to figure out that the parking lot attached to the building is for patient parking – don’t park at a meter! So long as there’s room in the lot, you can park there for free. They are in the process of building a new health center building (which will probably be just as ugly … what is it with Yale and “innovative” architecture?), but for now we’re stuck with 17 Hillhouse.

There’s a pharmacy on the first floor where you can charge your drug purchases to your bursar’s account, where it will either be added to your tuition bill or deducted from you financial aid refund. This is very helpful if you’re forgotten your wallet. If a tall woman with big hair calls you “honey,” you’ve met my favorite Yale Health employee. I think her name is Jacqueline, and that she is fabulous. (Last time I was there, she told me never to say "I'm sorry" but to say "I apologize," because otherwise people would start to think I'm a sorry person. The time before she told me we should go crash a wedding together.)

Mental Health and Counseling through Yale (formerly the “Mental Hygiene” department, which is a little laughable) is free and available to all students. Like a few other systems at Yale, they will wan to do an intake interview with you and then match you to a therapist. The catch is that this is an overloaded system and the time between intake interview and matching can stretch out as long as two months. There’s thus really something to be said for doing an intake interview before you really need to. Former generations of YDS students have gone as far as to recommend to incoming students that they do an intake interview during the first week of classes. I won’t go as far as that, but will say that it’s better to head to mental health when you’re at the “Gee, it’d be nice to chat with someone about this” stage rather than wait it out to the “OMGWTFBBQ!1!!!” or “@$#*@#!!!” stages. Go earlier rather than later.

One of the worse things about the Yale Health Plan is that it doesn’t include dental (boo). I had several cavities filled by Dr. Alan Friedler this summer and generally liked him. Dr. Friedler teaches at Yale (we don’t really have a dental school, but we do dental surgery and some summer programs in dentistry and it’s a mystery to me why I know this) and gives 15% off of routine services to Yale graduate students. (I was so shocked at the estimate for my dental work that they ended up giving me 15% off that too, even though that’s not standard operating procedure.) I’ve been lucky enough to have had pretty minimal experience with dentists, so I’m not really sure where Dr. Friedler falls price-wise, but I can say his office was almost absurdly modern and the doctor himself really cared a great deal about my experience and teeth.

If you end up incurring dental expenses, the Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) has a Dental Expense Fund you can apply for reimbursement through. You need to pay the dental expenses out of pocket, then fill a brief form to get up to $500 back. An insider has told me that requests last year far exceeded funding available, so most of the awards were really small, but the hope is that this will alert higher ups to the fact that the fund needs more money. (Oh look, the GPSS also has another list of dentists who give Yale grad student discounts. My guy gives the steepest, which makes me feel good.)

Other than the sudden attack of the cavities, I’ve had a good year health-wise, and can’t share much more information. Since I went to El Salvador and opted to get a couple of optional shots, the department I visited the most at Yale Health during the year was immunization. (Routine blood work turned up the fact that my first round of Hep B vaccination didn't take, so I'm re-doing that too.) Their nurses are pretty great, despite (or because?!?) the fact that their job is to stick people with needles all day long. Go figure.

- Kate

New Haven Oral History Project

If you're an oral history dork like me, you might enjoy this. Their first project is about urban renewal. I haven't explored fully, but I loooooove stuff like this and am looking forward to spending more time on there in the fall!

-Kate

One More Annand Mentor ...

Harlon L. Dalton has been a professor at Yale Law School since 1981. Faced with a legal system that reflects the aspirations of the mythical “reasonable man,” his scholarly ambition has been to reconstruct law so that it takes account of our many nonrational qualities, including our capacity to love without condition, hate without reason, desire to our detriment, and connect spiritually. To that end, he was a pioneer in imagining and establishing law and sexuality as an academic discipline. He was also a pioneer in the field of AIDS law. And he played a significant role in launching and nurturing critical race theory as a distinctive enterprise. In recent years he has taught “Law and Theology,” “The Formation of Lawyers,” and “Law and Human Flourishing.”

In the mid-1990's, he began to respond to a quiet but insistent call to ordained ministry. On January 4, 2003, he was ordained a priest by the Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut. Since his initial ordination in June 2002 (as a transitional deacon), he has served as the Associate Rector of the Episcopal Church of St. Paul & St. James in New Haven. He currently serves on several Diocesan bodies, including the Standing Committee, and is a member of the Commission on Ministry committee that oversees the initial stages of the ordination process.

Since July 2006, he has been a member of the YDS and Berkeley faculties as a Professor (Adjunct) of Law and Religion. He was a founding member of the Initiative on Religion and Politics, and at present is conducting a survey of New Haven’s houses of worship that explores how they see and understand themselves as religious institutions (i.e. what do they do? why? how?).

During the Fall Semester of 2008, he led an Annand formation group for the first time. It proved to be a an enjoyable and enriching experience that allowed him to integrate his interest in formation with his interest in contemplative spiritual practices. He is living proof that we people of faith are works in progress. We are constantly in the process of being formed and reformed; done; undone, and made new. Thanks be to God!