There seems to be an interesting immigration trend in British theological circles. My own alma mater, the University of Aberdeen, has recently announced that Bernd Wannenwetsch is leaving the University of Oxford to take up the chair of theological ethics, and Tom Greggs is leaving Chester to join Abedeen’s department of divinity. This, of course, follows a similar trend as John Webster, who left the Lady Margaret Chair of Divinity at Oxford to come to Aberdeen. This is, it should be noted, not an isolated event, as if Aberdeen itself had a theologian tractor beam. N.T. Wright left his tiny residence in Durham to go to St. Andrews, and several years before, Oliver O’Donovan fled Oxford for a chance to teach at Edinburgh.
Therefore, let me be the first to offer Lewis Ayres a position at Aberdeen. It seems clear that everything is falling apart down in England, so flee for the border!!!
The question is, does/will academic recruitment reflect this trend? I completely agree that Scotland is THE place to be for systematic/dogmatic theology right now (which is why I have recently accepted an offer to begin doctoral work at the Univeristy of Aberdeen in the fall… yay!), but are schools (both in the UK and the States) increasingly hiring graduates from Scottish programs or does a well-honored alma mater (read: Oxbridge) still trump a superb department?
From what I’ve heard, most coffee shops are ambivalent about where your PhD is from, so don’t worry!
Phew! That’s good to know!
Well said Kyle! Here Here!
Nice.
Congrats on your acceptance at Aberdeen. My time there was superb.
Seems to me that it all depends upon what type of job one is interested in being competitive for. While there are certainly some north Americans in the English schools (Oxbridge), my impression is that a larger percentage of students in the Scottish theology faculties come from elsewhere, which would have an effect on recruitment, I’d think. That said, Wannenwetsch is a major coup for Aberdeen.
Well, England got Mark McIntosh and Lewis Ayers, so at least England is Better than USA. :)
I guess I should have offered Mark a position as well, but with his half university half cathedral gig, he would be a bit harder to snag.
i fully agree Kyle – Scotland is WAY COOLER thank England (except for about 2 weeks a year)
I met Mark McIntosh. He’s a good guy, and certainly has enough humility in his spiritual life to be content with this part-time chaplaincy position that Aberdeen is now advertising for King’s College Chapel. ;)
I’m excited that our Systematics department will be expanding before I leave. Hopefully the new faculty will attract some research students and take a bit of the load off of Webster.