The National Capital Semester for Seminarians (NCSS) is a semester-long, intensive program of study in ethics, theology and public policy. It brings together seminary students from accredited theological schools across the country for a combination of classroom experience, field visits, and internships. It offers seminar-style engagement with a changing array of questions in public life, exposure to those involved in policy formation, implementation, and critique, and the opportunity for hands-on experience in one of the wide range of organizations doing research, advocacy, and implementation. Its core is a four-credit-hour seminar dealing with the interface between faith and political life, a set of domestic and international policy issues, and the role of the church in public life. This theoretical foundation is supplemented with field visits to an array of government and private offices involved in various aspects of public life. Most students combine the seminar with an internship program involving disciplined written and oral reflection on their on-site experiences. There is also a three-credit-hour option in independent policy research.
The NCSS program takes place in the Spring semester and is open to any student who has completed at least one year of a degree program in a seminary accredited by the ATS, and is recommended by their home seminary.
Participating students from other seminaries agree to return to their own institutions at the conclusion of the semester. For further information, students should contact the National Capital Semester faculty liaison at their own seminary. Students from nonparticipating seminaries should write directly to NCSS at Wesley Seminary.
Students from Participating Institutions are charged for tuition at their home institution's regular tuition rate and pay these charges through their home seminary. Other NCSS students pay tuition directly to Wesley Seminary at Wesley's regular tuition rate.
Housing and meal costs are paid directly to Wesley Seminary at the regular rates (for a listing, see financial information in this catalog). Housing is available in Straughn Dormitory, and meals are taken in the Wesley dining hall. Students bear their own costs for books, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses.
In addition to institutions of the Washington Theological Consortium, the seminaries in the following listing have become Participating Institutions in NCSS with designated faculty representatives:
Asbury Theological Seminary • Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries • Bangor Theological Seminary • Boston University School of Theology • Candler School of Theology, Emory University • Catholic Theological Union (Chicago) • Christian Theological Seminary (Indianapolis) • Colgate Rochester Divinity School • Columbia Theological Seminary (Georgia) • Drew University Theological School • Duke University Divinity School • Earlham School of Religion • Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary • Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary • Harvard University Divinity School • Iliff School of Theology • Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta) • Lancaster Theological Seminary • Lexington Theological Seminary • Meadville/Lombard Theological School • Methodist Theological School in Ohio • Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary • New Brunswick Theological Seminary • Northern Baptist Theological Seminary • North Park Theological Seminary • Pacific School of Religion • Perkins School of Theology • Pittsburgh Theological Seminary • Princeton Theological Seminary • School of Theology at Claremont (California) • Southern Methodist University • Union Theological Seminary (New York) • United Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio) • United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities • University of Dubuque Theological Seminary • Vanderbilt University Divinity School
