What does this say about HDS?

We received a mass email from the Dean of Harvard Divinity School, William A. Graham, today telling us that a total of 5 faculty will be leaving at the end of the year.

Most of the student body as aware that Sarah Coakley was leaving for Cambridge...she really missed England, and who could blame her. But, the other four were a real surprise. They are:

Sarah Coakley, who has been on the HDS faculty since 1993 and our Mallinckrodt Professor of Divinity since 1995, will become the Norris-Hulse Professor at Cambridge University next fall, although she will remain at Harvard for 2007-08 on a visiting appointment to complete her Templeton research project.

Robert Orsi, who has been at Harvard since 2001 as our Charles Warren Professor of the History of Religion in America, and served as the chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion the last two years, is going to Northwestern University as the inaugural Grace Craddock Nagel Professor in Catholic Studies.

Thomas (Tal) Lewis, who has been at Harvard for four years as Assistant Professor of Christian Studies, will become Assistant Professor in Brown University’s Department of Religious Studies.

M. Christian Green, who has been at HDS for three years as Visiting Lecturer on Ethics, will become the Alonzo L. McDonald Family Senior Lecturer at Emory University and Senior Research Fellow in Emory’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion.

Christine Helmer first taught at HDS as a visiting assistant professor in the fall of 2003. She returned to HDS in 2005 from her associate position at her home institution Claremont School of Theology and the School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, and has taught as Senior Scholar in Theology during the last two years. She will become Professor of Religion at Northwestern University.

What does this turnover in faculty say about life and academia at HDS?