The Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry (GSTM) can be earned within the M.Div. (residential and hybrid), M.T.S., Th.D., and M.A. in Christian Practice degrees and enables students to make the study of gender, sexuality, theology, and ministry a core component of their theological education. It fosters a collaborative environment for teaching, research, service learning, and dialogue.

Jerusha Neal stands in the archways next to Duke Chapel in a read dress with long beaded necklace

"This certificate allows students to bring theological and vocational questions into focus through the lens of gender and sexuality. The certificate encourages academic engagement with the broader university; it provides a communal reflection on praxis-based ministry projects; and it publicly celebrates each GSTM graduate through a Senior Spring Colloquium."

Jerusha Matsen Neal, Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Program Details

The GSTM program creates a network, community of discourse, and intellectual space—at Duke Divinity School and beyond—where we privilege questions of gender and sexuality in the academic study and practices of theology, ministry, and lived religion. We examine intersections of gender with race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality, and ask what these questions mean for the church and for our common work.

Students in the certificate program take elective courses in the Divinity School or Department of Religious Studies and in Duke’s Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies that use gender and sexuality as primary lenses. They also design and execute an independent research or contextual learning project and present their work in a senior colloquium.  

The work of the GTSM program also extends beyond the certificate into developing new courses that use the study of gender and sexuality as a primary analytical lens, fostering scholarship and academic dialogue across fields and positions, bringing guest lecturers to Duke Divinity School, sponsoring training in pastoral responses to domestic violence, and encouraging the community to engage with students’ work at the senior colloquia.

Requirements

Find detailed information about requirements and courses for current students (NetID required) »

For more information, contact:
Brittany Wilson
Director, Program in Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry
Associate Professor of New Testament

  • Completion of three courses in gender studies: a graduate level course in the Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies or an approved alternative; and two courses within the Divinity School or religion department with a clear focus on gender studies (this could also be another Gender Studies course)
  • Students must complete a contextual learning or research project in the area of gender, sexuality, theology, and ministry. The project may be conducted in one of four ways:
    • within a course (either within one of the three required GSTM courses or within a different course)
    • within a directed study
    • as an independent community service project
    • within the context of a field education placement (Note: The field education office is not responsible for facilitating or evaluating this project in any way)
  • Participation in a colloquium by students to discuss their contextual learning projects and/or to share the results of their research. Affiliated faculty members will be responsible for directing the colloquy.

  • Completion of two courses in gender studies within the Divinity School or religion department (hybrid or residential), or an approved alternative, with a clear focus on gender studies
  • Completion of one assignment related to Gender, Sexuality, Theology, and Ministry for a non-GSTM course, with permission from instructor
  • If feasible, students will participate in a colloquium to discuss their contextual learning projects and/or to share the results of their research
  • Completion of 500-word summary of how coursework integrates with current vocation, with specific reference to GSTM certificate