The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

graduate school in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. It is a member of the interfaith

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 ...

(GTU) and an affiliate of the University of California Berkeley. DSPT is sponsored by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of ...

. DSPT offers certificate and degree programs to women and men of all religions as well as training for the Dominicans of the Western Province. DSPT is the only graduate level theological institution in the United States to offer a concurrent degree, two master degrees with one thesis in philosophy and

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

History

In 1851, Dominican missionary Francis Sadoc Vilarrasa and six Dominican novices established a seminary to prepare young men for the priesthood in Monterey, California. In 1854, the seminary moved to

Benicia, California Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at th ...

. In 1932, seeking to be closer to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, the Dominicans moved the seminary to Oakland, California, renaming it the College of St. Albert the Great In 1964, St. Albert received accreditation from the

Western Association of Schools and Colleges The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) was an organization providing accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in California and Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Sam ...

(WASC) and in the fall of 1964 the college joined the nascent GTU, becoming the first Roman Catholic school to participate in that consortium. In 1978, St. Albert became the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology. From the time of its association with the GTU, DSPT had leased space for classes and faculty offices. In 2004, the school purchased a permanent campus site in Berkeley near other GTU member schools and began offering classes at the new site in September 2006.

Academics

DSPT offers the following degree and certificate programs: *

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

* Master of Theology *

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

* Concurrent Master of Theology / Master of Philosophy * Concurrent Master of Divinity / Master of Theology * Master of Theological Studies * Certificate of Theological Studies DSPT also accepts non-degree students in its Special Student program. DSPT offers a variety of academic concentrations, including Thomistic studies and religion and the arts.

Accreditation

DSPT is chartered by the State of California as a degree-granting institution of higher education. The school's programs are accredited by WASC and by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). DSPT is established by the

Master of the Order of Preachers The Master of the Order of Preachers is the Superior General of the Order of Preachers, commonly known as the Dominicans. The Master of the Order of Preachers is ''ex officio'' Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aqui ...

(Dominican Order) as a Center of Studies for the Order.

College of Fellows

Members of the DSPT College of Fellows are lay Catholics who gather every year on campus to discuss politics, government, law,

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

, business, the sciences, bio-medical research, technology, media, and the arts. Members also participate in student events on campus throughout the academic year. The College of Fellows was formed in 2006 under the leadership of the President, Michael Sweeney, OP. DSPT campus public domain

References

Official website
{{authority control Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland Catholic seminaries in the United States Seminaries and theological colleges in California Dominican universities and colleges in the United States Schools accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Educational institutions established in 1851 Catholic universities and colleges in California Universities and colleges in Alameda County, California Education in Berkeley, California 1851 establishments in California Graduate Theological Union