Saturday, May 22, 2010

Non-christian religious colleges in the U.S.

Since I am going to Zaytuna College's summer Arabic program, I've sudden developed an interest in non-Christian religious colleges. Not finding a collective list of them, I've decided to try my hand at discovering the best of them. There are educational institutions for almost all of the major religions in the U.S. but not all of them are accredited by respectable agencies. The following are actual, respectable colleges and not religiously motivated degree mills or the academically-lax educational arm of their denominations.
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Multi-Faith: The Graduate Theological Union
There are a number of "non-denominational" colleges and universities around the U.S. but that label generally means they are a Christian university without a particular sect being officially represented by the school. Occasionally they are focused on the "judeo-christian tradition." G.T.U. on the other hand is honestly "non-denominational" and "multi-faith" to its very core.

The school is a union of multiple religious colleges that collectively provide graduate level studies in religion. In addition to Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Orthodox, Presbyterian, Swedenborgian, Roman Catholic, United Church member schools and centers, the school has a Nishi Hongwanji Buddhism-affiliated seminary, the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies, the Unitarian Universalist (Kinda Christian, Kinda not) Starr King School for the Ministry, and a Center for Islamic Studies. The Islamic institution, Zaytuna College, has also expressed interest in becoming affiliated with the school, which is not surprising considering that the school's sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson attended G.T.U. Additionally, G.T.U. and the University of California, Berkeley have a cross-enrollment agreement.

G.T.U.'s Official Site

Jewish: Yeshiva University
Being the second largest religious group in the U.S. at the moment. It is not surprising that there are a number of Jewish schools representing many denominations. The American Jewish University, Gratz College, Hebrew College, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Michigan Jewish Institute, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Spertus College, and Touro College are all Jewish school in the U.S. that are accredited as full institutions of higher education.

The well-known Yeshiva University, however, is a cut above. The school is a beacon of Modern Orthodox Judaic wisdom and also a top 100 school that often breaks into the top 50 in the rankings. The school is ranked above even Boston U and Pepperdine. The school offers majors in Judaic Studies but is also a full fledged university offering courses in everything from accounting to speech pathology. Most importantly, the school's sports teams call themselves the freaking "The Maccabees." There is no way around that awesomeness.

Yeshiva University's Official Site

Buddhist: Soka University of America & Naropa University
Surprisingly, there are just under a handful of accredited Buddhist Colleges in the U.S. I say surprising but I am not sure if I was surprised that there were any such institutions or that there were so many. Most notable are, Naropa University and Soka University of America. Though, these schools are so young and unique that is difficult to decide which is the best.
 
While not the first accredited Buddhist university in the U.S., that honor goes to Naropa University which was founded by Tibet's Chögyam Trungpa in 1974, the Nichiren Buddhist supported Soka University is likely the most developed. The school offers many religious and non-religious majors and has an honest to Gautama social scene. Their academics are no slouches and the school is a dual teaching-research college. Naropa on the other had has a strong literature department with a history of hosting a number of notable poets. Naropa is also far more open then Soka U, promoting analysis of many contemplative traditions. While Soka University doesn't require students to be members of  the Japanese Buddhist Sōka Gakkai sect, the school environment is more colored by the faith.

Soka University of America's Official Site
Naropa University's Official Site

Islamic: Zaytuna College

Currently under provisional accreditation and planning to host its first regular classes fall 2010, Zaytuna will likely be America's first accredited Islamic college. And, despite a rather horrid FoxNews propaganda segment, I am sure that the school will provide a high caliber curriculum as it is is associated with the rather amazing sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hanson and one of my old Berkeley professors Hatem Bazian. The first man is an American sheikh who is one of the people the Muslims I most respect personally often cite and Bazian was a great professor when I took Intro to Islamic Jurisprudence and Muslims in America with him. The school also offers open enrollment for a summer semester Intensive Arabic program which I plan to take because finding Arabic classes with open enrollment is surprisingly difficult, especially past the beginning level.

Zaytuna College's Official Site
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As for other faiths... I was disappointed to find that it seems there are no honestly accredited schools. Considering the large number of Hindus, Wiccans, and other people of faith in the U.S. this was kinda disappointing. I can only hope more accredited, non-Christian universities and college are established soon to give both believers and non-believers a chance to learn about our nation's diverse faiths.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Translations of the Assassin's Creed: "Nothing is real, Everything is permitted."

(NOTE: LINK CONTAINS SPOILERS)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ajJAfu3P8E

English Translation
"Nothing is true (real), everything is permitted (possible)."

AC2's Renaissance Italian
"Nulla é reale, tutto é lecito."

AC1's Modern Italian Dub
"Niente è reale, tutto è lecito."

AC1's Spanish Dub
"Nada ès verdad, todo èsta permitido."

AC1's French Dub
"Rien n'est vrai, tout est permis."

AC1's German Dub
„Nichts ist wahr. Alles ist erlaubt.“

Portuguese Translation
"Nada é verdade, tudo é permitido."

Hebrew Translation
"שום דבר לא אמיתי, הכל מותר"

Urdu Translation
"Kuch nahin sahih,
Sub mumkin hai."
کچھ نہیں صحیح"
" سب ممکن ہے

Swedish Translation
"Ingenting är sant, allting är tillåtet."

Estonian Translation (Could use a double confirmation)
"Miski pole tõene. Kõik on lubatud."

Greek Translation (Also needs to be double confirmed)
"Típota den eínai alēthinó,óla epitrépontai."
"Τίποτα δεν είναι αληθινό,όλα επιτρέπονται."

Welsh Translation (Yet again, needs to be double confirmed)
"Nid yw unrhywbeth yn wir, caniateir popeth."

Dutch Translation (The need for double confirmations is piling up)
"Niets is waar, alles is geoorloofd."