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Inventory of the Centers and Programs, Center for the Study of New Religious Movements Collections, 1977-1983
GTU 91-9-3
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Table of contents
Title: Centers and Programs. Center for the Study of New Religious Movements Collections,
Date (bulk): 1977-1983
Accession Code: GTU 91-9-3
Collector:
Center for the Study of New Religious Movements, Graduate Theological Union
Size:
23 boxes
10 ft.
Repository: The Graduate Theological Union.
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley, California 94709
Abstract: This collection documents the history of the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements from 1977-1983.
Shelf location: 3/H/1 - 3/H/4, Record Group 7, Subgroup A
Language:
English.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of The Graduate Theological Union as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or
imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Centers and Programs. Center for the Study of New Religious Movements Collections, The Graduate
Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA.
Transferred to the GTU Archives in 1989 and 1999.
In October 1975, the GTU Executive Committee authorized preliminary planning of an alternative religions resource center providing
materials on the growing variety of cults and sects in the United States. Jacob Needleman, a professor at San Francisco State University, was called in as a consultant and subsequently accepted appointment as program Director and Visiting Professor of Comparative
Religions at the Graduate Theological Union. The Program for the Study of New Religious Movements was inaugurated Fall 1977. Funding was received from NEH, the Rockefeller Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Luce Foundation, and Ford Foundation. Work fell into two distinct phases. First was the Program for the Study of New Religious Movements, 1977-80. After a period
of program and goal evaluation, the second phase was the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements, 1980-83.
In the first phase, the Program saw the emergence of new religious movements as a response to a shift in the basic values
and conceptions of Americans fueled by a resurgence of interest in religion, especially among the youth in the 1960's-70's.
The complex issues were perceived by the Program to be grouped in three areas: 1. The personal dimension (in families and
communities); 2. The effects on traditional religious institutions/churches; and 3. Related contemporary issues such as psychotherapy,
education, ecology, and financial resources. To work on these issues, the Program set up four components: 1. For education/outreach,
present series of colloquia to the scholarly community and general public; 2. Publish colloquia proceedings; 3. Establish
a resource collection in the Library; and 4. Sponsor research projects.
In 1977, the Program sponsored the National Conference on the Study of New Religious Movements. Forty scholars were invited
from a broad range of disciplines including sociology, theology, psychology, philosophy, history, and journalism. This was
the first national conference to take an inter-disciplinary approach to this subject. The major result was that because it
sought the inter-disciplinary approach, the Conference initiated "the creation of an entire academic field" (Report, pg. 24).
The proceedings were published as
Understanding the New Religions, Jacob Needleman and George Baker, eds. (NY: Seabury Press, 1978). (GTU Library call number BL2530 U6 U5, Rare Book.) Transcriptions of the Conference discussions
were published as
New Religious Movements in America, The Rockefeller Foundation, 1979. (GTU Library call number BL2530 U6 N48, Rare Book.)
Further education/outreach Program activities included University of California Extension courses offered by George Baker and Don Stone, occasional forums, and presentations to various interested Bay Area organizations. The staff increasingly gave interviews
for newspapers, radio, and television as the phenomenon of new religions became a hot topic for the general public.
The New Religious Movements Research Collection received most of the Program's energies in this first phase. GTU Librarian,
J. Stillson Judah, had had a long interest in this area and laid the groundwork for the collection. It was housed in the Graduate Theological Union Library under the direction of Betty Rozak. They collected unique and ephemeral material on groups and organizations, eventually totaling approximately 500. Published
materials were acquired in the general Library collection. Bibliographies on new religious movements and various aspects within
this area of study were produced by Rozak, and Program researchers. A directory of scholars working in the field of new religious
movements was produced. The Research Collection was used extensively by scholarly researchers and interested community patrons.
For the scholarly research component of the Program, Jacob Needleman and Charles Glock worked on larger projects. Needleman focused on the impact of new religious movements on traditional religious institutions
in western culture, and Glock on the impact on religion and the social consciousness of the general population. Researchers
could apply to the Program for smaller project grants from funds made available through NEH.
The growing public outcry and controversy surrounding new religious movements generally, particularly following the Jonestown
tragedy in late 1979, brought the Program to re-access its goals. The Program did not want "to become involved in polemics
about the alleged practices of specific groups", but did want to respond to underlying questions "in a serious scholarly fashion"
(Report, pg. 28). Discussions led to a new set of program objectives for a three-year visiting scholars program successfully
submitted to NEH and the Rockefeller Foundation.
In this second phase, 1980-83, the Program became the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements. Teams of scholars collaborated
in research and produced working papers on one of three major Center-identified dimensions of the context and significance
of new religious movements: 1. Coercion and authority (brainwashing and deprogramming); 2. New religious movements' impact
on social values and education; and 3. Legal issues: economic, political, and public policy implications. Each dimension
was the focus of an academic year. Bi-weekly interdisciplinary research seminars were held. Participants working in various
disciplines were visiting scholars who had applied to and been accepted by the Center for an academic year, invited local
scholars and graduate students. The seminars were audio-taped and transcripts typed for some of them. In 1981, the Center
sponsored a national conference on Conversion, Coercion and Commitment in New Religious Movements. Though a monograph of the
proceedings was planned, it was not produced. The papers presented at the Conference were kept in the Research Collection
(see Box 2, ff 4-11). The 1981-82 Research Seminars, Religion and the Law, resulted in a monograph:
Cults, Culture, and the Law: Perspectives on New Religious Movements, Thomas Robbins, William C. Shepherd, and James McBride, eds. (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985). (GTU Library call number BL2525 C85 1985, Rare Book.)
Having fulfilled the terms of the NEH and Rockefeller Foundation grants, the Center closed in 1983. Paul A. Schwartz, Project Director, and Jacob Needleman, Center Director edited the Final Performance Report to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Rockefeller Foundation, September 1983. This is an extensive report giving the history of the Program and Center, detailed reports on each of the
academic years' activities for 1980-83, and narrative reports on aspects of new religious movements from Jacob Needleman, Nevitt Sanford, and Thomas Robbins. The Report is the basis for this Agency History and can be found in Box 1, ff 57.
Since the Center closed in 1983, the working files and records had been boxed and stored in the GTU Building at 2465 LeConte.
The working research papers produced by the Center's research associates and visiting scholars, the unpublished papers collected
by Center staff, and the typed transcripts of Research Seminars had been transferred to the NRM Research Collection in the
GTU Library. The Library staff had foldered the papers and filed them in alphabetical order by author. The papers were never
cataloged by the Library, nor was any inventory or list produced. The Center's working files and records (Boxes 1-3), including
the audio-tapes of Research Seminars (Boxes 20-23) were transferred to the Archives in 1989. The written research papers and
transcripts (Boxes 4-20) were transferred to the Archives in 1999.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into 4 series: Office and Working files; NRM Center Papers; Seminar Transcripts; and Audiocassette
tapes.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection
in the library's online public access catalog.
Cults--United States--History--20th Century
Sects--United States--History--20th Century
United States--Religion--1960--Sources
United States--Religion--1960--Congresses
Religions--Research
Religions--Study and teaching
Needleman, Jacob
Anthony, Dick, 1939-
Baker, George, 1941-
McBride, James
Robbins, Thomas, 1943-
Schwartz, Paul Anthony