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| Society for Historical Theology | |
|---|---|
| Name | Society for Historical Theology |
| Abbreviation | SHT |
| Formation | 2010 |
| Type | Learned society |
| Headquarters | New Haven, Connecticut |
| Region served | International |
| Leader title | President |
| Leader name | Dr. Miriam Langley |
Society for Historical Theology
The Society for Historical Theology is an international learned society dedicated to the study of doctrinal, liturgical, and institutional developments in Christian history. It brings together scholars from universities, seminaries, archives, and museums to promote research into patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern theological traditions. The Society fosters interdisciplinary exchange among historians, theologians, philologists, and archivists affiliated with institutions across North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Founded in 2010 by faculty from Yale University, University of Oxford, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the University of Münster, the Society emerged amid renewed interest in confessional archives revitalized after conferences at Harvard Divinity School and the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History. Early meetings featured papers on figures such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards, and drew participants from the Vatican Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Bodleian Library. The Society’s growth was supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and by partnerships with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the British Academy.
The Society’s mission emphasizes critical historical scholarship on doctrinal development and the reception history of theological texts as practiced at centers like Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Princeton University, University of Chicago, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and University of Notre Dame. Objectives include facilitating archival access at institutions such as the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, the Archivio Segreto Vaticano, and the State Archives of Florence; encouraging editions of primary sources in collaboration with publishers like Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Brill; and promoting methodological exchange among scholars associated with the Royal Historical Society, the American Historical Association, and the Society for Biblical Literature.
Membership comprises academics, librarians, and curators affiliated with universities including Duke University, Columbia University, King's College London, University of Toronto, and McGill University. The Society is governed by an elected council with officers drawn from institutions such as Emory University, The Catholic University of America, KU Leuven, University of St. Andrews, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Advisory board members have included scholars linked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Research Institute, and the Bibliothèque de Genève. Governance documents reference best practices from the American Council of Learned Societies and align with nonprofit statutes observed by the New Haven County Clerk.
The Society organizes biennial conferences hosted at venues like Trinity College, Cambridge, Yale University, University of Edinburgh, and the Sorbonne Nouvelle. Panels commonly treat topics involving Origen, Aquinas' Summa Theologica, Nicene Creed, Council of Trent, Second Vatican Council, and case studies linked to archives at the State Archives of Venice. Proceedings are published in collaboration with series editors at Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and Walter de Gruyter, and the Society issues a peer-reviewed journal produced with editorial boards drawn from Princeton Theological Seminary, King's College London, Universität Zürich, and Seoul National University.
Research initiatives include collaborative editions of the works of Gregory of Nazianzus, digital palaeography projects with the Bodleian Libraries, and manuscript-census projects in partnership with the Bavarian State Library and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. The Society sponsors postdoctoral fellowships hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study, the University of Toronto Libraries, and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; organizes workshops modeled on those at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Reformation Research; and curates public lecture series in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art and the Morgan Library & Museum.
The Society confers the biennial Prize for Historical Theology, awarded to scholars with ground-breaking work on figures such as Irenaeus, Bonaventure, Philipp Melanchthon, or Karl Barth. Other recognitions include travel grants named after notable benefactors at Harvard University and the Sorbonne, dissertation prizes modeled on awards by the British Academy and the American Philosophical Society, and short-term fellowships hosted in archives such as the Bodleian Library and the Vatican Secret Archives.
The Society maintains formal collaborations with the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople academic initiatives, the Center for Reformation Research, and the International Congress on Medieval Studies. It participates in joint programs with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Humboldt Foundation, and the European Research Council, and partners with digitization efforts led by Europeana, the Digital Public Library of America, and the World Digital Library.
Category:Learned societies Category:Historical societies Category:Theological societies