Border Crossing
The Border-Crossing Immersion requirement in the Andover Newton Master of Divinity curriculum is one way Andover Newton seeks to deeply engage students with communities and persons of different social, cultural, ethnic, racial, economic, national, and faith identities other than their own in order:
- to work toward the elimination of the category of “the other,” while developing hospitable ways to relate to difference;
- to develop greater understanding and sensitivity to the dynamics of privilege, power and disadvantage as they are seen in patterns and structures in one’s own and others’ contexts;
- to provide an opportunity to develop tools for social analysis, theological reflection, and deeper self knowledge;
- to create visible change, evidenced in possessing a larger lens, to see themselves and the world in which they live;
- to contribute to the development of multicultural sensitivity and skills which help one become more agile, knowledgeable and respectful in border crossings and;
- to deepen the student’s commitment to live one’s faith through engaging vital issues for the church and the world with communities and persons who challenge one’s own assumptive world and meaning making.
Border-Crossing Immersions are offered throughout the academic year, with most being offered in the winter and summer sessions. There will be some “intense immersions” lasting from ten days to twenty-one days, and some “slow simmers” happening over the course of a semester or full year.
Applications and more detailed information on Border-Crossing Immersions may be found in the Border-Crossing Immersion Handbook.
