The class talks about the contrasting images evoked by feminine and masculine pronouns used in religious texts. They discuss the theological dilemmas that arise and the ways the issue has played itself out in their churches and synagogues. An annual summer program begun in 1993, YTI brings sixty rising high-school seniors to Emory to explore questions of theology, social ethics, and their own faith. The scholars come from as far away as California and Montana, and they embody religious traditions as diverse as Islam, Pentecostalism, and Judaism. In 1995, some 260 students vied for the program's sixty slots.
Selection is based on academic record, application essays, and recommendations.
They are supposed to be consumers of culture, not creators of culture. We want to teach them constructive ways to speak and envision for the future. . . . We think they are eager to have forums where we really pay attention to them, to the things they're really concerned about. . . . My church tradition teaches me that only through Jesus can we have salvation. The texts for these courses include the work of poet and novelist Sylvia Plath, theologian David Blumenthal, and scholar Joseph Campbell.