Language matters.

It shapes our sense of reality, and is therefore crucial for our understanding of God and others. Through language we forge and maintain our relationships with God and one another. 

The School of Theology Language Policy

Written and spoken language used by students and faculty when referring to humanity shall be gender inclusive. It shall avoid perpetuation of derogatory stereotypes such as those based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, ability, religion, sexual orientation, or birth or family status. Language about God is primarily analogical and metaphorical. Written and spoken language referring to God shall therefore avoid exclusive use of masculine language and imagery. When speaking and writing about God, students and faculty shall draw on the diverse and expanse images used in Scripture, tradition, and the arts. 

INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE

Our language often has built-in biases that exclude and harm some persons. When exclusive language is used, we fall short of our calling to respect all who are created in the image of God. By using inclusive language for humanity, we respect the dignity of every human being. 

EXPANSIVE LANGUAGE

Expansive Language seeks to tell as much truth about God as we can, utilizing the full range of language available to us. It does not displace traditional language for God, but uses additional metaphors. Of course, no human language can contain God. Even so, our theologies of creation, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection affirm that the material world, including language, is a means to understand God in a more faithful way.

Live Together In Unity

Commitment to Diversity

What does it mean to be the University of the South? The answer to that question changes from one generation to the next and from one individual to the next. Being “of the South” means that we are both the beneficiaries and the critics of a rich tradition. While we are deeply invested in this region, we also engage with other communities, locally and globally. Diversity and variety—of the South and of the world—inform and underpin our institution, and all our community’s citizens must confront this question on some level.

Read Our Commitment to Diversity
Inclusive Language Policy

Language matters. It shapes our sense of reality and is therefore crucial for our understanding of God and others. Through language we forge and maintain our relationships with God and one another.

Read Our Policy
The Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation

The Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation at the University of the South is a six-year initiative investigating the university’s historical entanglements with slavery and slavery’s legacies. Our Project’s name memorializes the late Professor of History, Houston Bryan Roberson, who was the first tenured African American faculty member at Sewanee and the first to make African American history and culture the focus of their teaching and scholarship.

About the Project