Interested in personal study and professional development? Today’s business culture and society have increasingly become challenged by the realities of suffering and injustice. Now, more than ever, conscientious individuals understand that studying the intersection between social ethics, religion, and spirituality can provide a means to achieving a more just society. Through Union Theological Seminary’s advanced certificate programs you will gain awareness and knowledge of existing power dynamics and oppressive structures in terms of gender, sexuality, race, class and identity through a foundational lens of one or more religious traditions.
Union’s advanced certificate programs are designed for students who want to apply spiritual and theological learning to practical societal application. The four-course, twelve-credit graduate program can be completed in as little as 9 months (but students have up to 24 months). Courses are taught by Union’s full-time faculty members as well as adjunct faculty and lecturers, taken with other Union students pursuing on-campus and online certificates and degrees. Courses are available on weekdays, weeknights, and, in some cases, weekends. Many courses can be taken online, but students will have a greater selection of courses and be able to complete the degree in the least time by taking some on-campus coursework. Courses are available in fall and spring term, with some offerings in January and summer. Certificates may serve either as a stand-alone credential for those interested in a particular area of focus or as a stackable credential that can later be applied toward a full seminary master’s degree.
A Stackable Approach to Learning
As accredited, post-baccalaureate, graduate-level programs, the advanced certificates are stand-alone credentials that can fulfill personal or professional development goals. The advanced certificates may, however, serve as stackable credentials to further graduate study. Anyone who completes an advanced certificate and later decides to pursue one of Union’s Master’s degrees, for example, will be given the option, upon successful enrollment, to request that the twelve completed credits be applied to the appropriate program requirements.
Programs
Advanced Certificate in Interreligious Engagement
You Will Learn To:
- Develop awareness of central concerns, approaches, and methods of interreligious engagement
- Expand knowledge of diverse religious traditions, including but not limited to, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam
- Develop skills for ethical interreligious engagement in a variety of professional contexts
Course Requirements
Successful completion of four courses, including a combination of field-specific and elective courses from across the Union curriculum.
- Three credits in theories and methods of Interreligious Engagement
- Six credits in two different religious traditions, or comparison of traditions
- Three additional Interreligious Engagement credits
Sample Courses
- African American Religious History (Professor Sorett)
- Antisemitism: Persistent, Protean, and Pernicious (Professor Mary Boys)
- Contextual Perspectives on Culture and Race (Professor Cruz)
- Ecology and the Bible (Professor Kahl)
- Genders and Sexualities of Early Christians (Professor Lillis)
- Imagine No “Religion” (Professor Thatamanil)
- Preaching and Protest (Professor Adkins-Jones)
- Social Ethics in the Making (Professor Dorrien)
- Womanist Theology and Critical Race Theory (Professor White)
Advanced Certificate in Religion and the Black Experience
You Will Learn To:
- Explore the religious experience, ideas and practices of the African diaspora in multinational, multifaith and gendered contexts
- Examine the complicated, contested and central organizing force of religion in the making of black life in America
- Engage with the groundbreaking work of scholars in areas including black theology, the black social gospel, and liberation and womanist theology
Course Requirements
Successful completion of four courses, including a combination of field-specific and elective courses from across the Union curriculum.
- Three credits in Philosophy of Religion (PR) or Theological Studies (TS)
- Three credits in Church History (CH) or Social Ethics (SE)
- Three credits in Worship, Preaching, Arts (CW) or Bible (BX, NT, OT)
- Three credits in Religion and Society (RS) or Interreligious Engagement (IE)
Online course offerings in this area for Academic Year 2022-2023 (subject to change; vary each year). NOTE: Advanced Certificate students are also encouraged to explore on-campus options.
Sample Courses
- African American Religious History (Professor Sorett)
- Contextual Perspectives on Culture and Race (Professor Cruz)
- Preaching and Protest (Professor Adkins-Jones)
- Social Ethics in the Making (Professor Dorrien)
- Social Justice: Philosophical Foundations, Structures of Injustice, Current Struggles (Professor Rehmann)
- Womanist Theology and Critical Race Theory (Professor White)
Advanced Certificate in Social Justice
Throughout history, religion has been a driving force for social justice and gaining an understanding of the religious underpinnings of social justice is critical to not only advancing social justice but also crucial to the ability to effectively collaborate with many of the partners and organizations in the social justice space who come at it from a faith-based perspective.
You Will Learn To:
- Explore the intersections between social ethics, religion and spirituality, and the ongoing struggle for a more just society
- Cultivate a basic understanding of the theological, theoretical, and critical foundations of one or more religious traditions
- Gain awareness and knowledge of existing power dynamics and structures in terms of gender, sexuality, race, class and identities targeted for oppression
Course Requirements
Successful completion of four courses, including a combination of field-specific and elective courses from across the Union curriculum.
- Three credits in one of the two foundational Social Ethics (SE) courses:
- SE 208 – Moral Traditions and Social Ethics
- SE 322 – Social Ethics in the Making
- Three credits in Social Ethics (SE) or Religion and Society (RS)
- Six elective credits from at least two of the following areas:
- A course in Theological Studies (TS), Church History/Historical Studies (CH), or Bible (BX/OT/NT)
- An Interreligious Engagement (IE) course of non-Christian tradition
- A course in Practical Theology (PT), Denominational Studies (DS), Preaching, Arts, and Worship (CW), or Religion and Education (RE)
Successful completion of four courses, including a combination of field-specific and elective courses from across the Union curriculum.
- Three credits in one of the two foundational Social Ethics (SE) courses:
- SE 208 – Moral Traditions and Social Ethics
- SE 322 – Social Ethics in the Making
- Three credits in Social Ethics (SE) or Religion and Society (RS)
- Six elective credits from at least two of the following areas:
- A course in Theological Studies (TS), Church History/Historical Studies (CH), or Bible (BX/OT/NT)
- An Interreligious Engagement (IE) course of non-Christian tradition
- A course in Practical Theology (PT), Denominational Studies (DS), Preaching, Arts, and Worship (CW), or Religion and Education (RE)
Online course offerings in this area for Academic Year 2022-2023 (subject to change; vary each year). NOTE: Advanced Certificate students are also encouraged to explore on-campus options.
Sample Courses
- Antisemitism: Persistent, Protean, and Pernicious (Professor Mary Boys)
- Contextual Perspectives on Culture and Race (Professor Cruz)
- Genders and Sexualities of Early Christians (Professor Lillis)
- Imagine No “Religion” (Professor Thatamanil)
- Mourning the Earth: Creating Rituals in Community (Professor Carvalhaes)
- Preaching and Protest (Professor Adkins-Jones)
- Social Ethics in the Making (Professor Dorrien)
- Socially Engaged Buddhism (Professor Snyder)
- Social Justice: Philosophical Foundations, Structures of Injustice, Current Struggles (Professor Rehmann)
- Womanist Theology and Critical Race Theory (Professor White)
Advanced Certificate in Spirituality
You Will Learn To:
- Cultivate critical self-awareness and emotional and spiritual maturity
- Engage in spiritual self- reflection with particular attention to interreligious engagement
- Respond to others with empathy and self-awareness
Course Requirements
Successful completion of four courses, including a combination of field-specific and elective courses from across the Union curriculum.
- Three credits in Psychology and Religion/Spiritual Care (PS)
- Three credits in Interreligious Engagement (IE)
- Three credits in Worship, Preaching, Arts (CW)
- Three credits in an elective relevant to the student’s goals
Online course offerings in this area for Academic Year 2022-2023 (subject to change; vary each year). NOTE: Advanced Certificate students are also encouraged to explore on-campus options.
Sample Courses
- Imagine No “Religion” (Professor Thatamanil)
- Mourning the Earth: Creating Rituals in Community (Professor Carvalhaes)
- Socially Engaged Buddhism (Professor Snyder)
Admissions
A student is eligible to apply for this program if they have a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited college or university, and a record of high achievement. Prior study in the field of religion is not required, but strong preparation in liberal arts studies is expected.
To apply, students are required to submit a $75 application fee, online application form, a statement of purpose, transcripts, CV or resume and letter of reference.
The total tuition cost for the certificate program is $10,000 ($2,500 each for the four, required, three-credit courses). NOTE: There is also a small additional student activities fee each semester of enrollment. This tuition rate represents a discount of more than 35% off of our standard, per credit tuition. Students in the Advanced Certificate are not eligible for federal loans or institutional scholarships.
APPLY NOW
A student is eligible to apply for this program if they have a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from an accredited college or university, and a record of high achievement. Prior study in the field of religion is not required, but strong preparation in liberal arts studies is expected.
To apply, students are required to submit a $75 application fee, online application form, a statement of purpose, transcripts, CV or resume and letter of reference.
The total tuition cost for the certificate program is $10,000 ($2,500 each for the four, required, three-credit courses). NOTE: There is also a small additional student activities fee each semester of enrollment. This tuition rate represents a discount of more than 35% off of our standard, per credit tuition. Students in the Advanced Certificate are not eligible for federal loans or institutional scholarships.
APPLY NOW