By Melissa Kvidahl Reilly
When Myles-Amir Riley ’25 M.Div. boarded a plane on May 28, it marked the beginning of his first trip outside North America. Like many people from the Detroit area, he had taken a jaunt or two over the Canadian border, but this was his first time flying outside the U.S. No, he wasn’t embarking on a European summer or a Caribbean getaway—he was headed to Hong Kong, to participate in a YDS summer course offered in partnership with the Divinity School of Chung Chi College.
“I wanted to experience a culture that’s vastly different from what I’m accustomed to in my daily life,” Riley says. “As a seminarian in the U.S., we are often taught that our expression of Christianity is westernized. I wanted to understand more deeply what is meant by that.”
The 12-day travel course, entitled Urban Spirituality and Theology, appealed to Riley because of its focus on the intersection of the sacred and the city—especially because he plans to minister in an urban community one day. Riley’s academic interests, which center around urban renewal through the lens of pastoral care, also aligned well with the course themes, which included exploring how urban spirituality shapes the civic spirit of a city. “Hong Kong is known for being a very multi-religious city and region, and has a reputation for cultivating interreligious and interfaith tolerance,” he says. “It seemed like a great place to learn about effective ministry.”
Abbreviated summer study abroad: New at YDS
YDS has longstanding and robust international exchange programs, which allow students to spend a semester (or more) studying at partner universities in Cambridge (UK), Germany, Oslo, Hong Kong, and Jerusalem. However, while this type of immersive experience offers significant academic and personal benefits, many students face obstacles to participating.
According to Jan Hagens, director of the Divinity School’s international student exchange programs, many students are so excited to settle into life in New Haven that they hesitate to spend an entire semester elsewhere, especially since they typically spend only two or three years at YDS. Additionally, degree program requirements can sometimes make it challenging for students to meet all their academic requirements on time if they spend an entire semester abroad. And while summer exchange opportunities meet this challenge by operating outside the academic year, many students rely on that break to earn extra income and can’t afford the months away.
In response to these hurdles, YDS launched the School’s first abbreviated summer travel course in 2024: the Urban Spirituality and Theology travel seminar that Riley attended in Hong Kong. These courses allow students to reap some of the most significant benefits of studying abroad but over a manageable, two-week period during the summer. Participants’ airfares, accommodations, and course costs are subsidized through the Divinity School’s Latourette Fund.
Following YDS faculty recommendations, Hagens plans to expand the summer seminar program to include additional destinations in Latin America and South America. A travel course to Kenya is planned for summer 2025 under the guidance of Assistant Professor of World Christianity Kyama Mugambi, who is from Kenya. “Africa and South America are places where Christianity is growing, so these are very exciting opportunities for our students,” Hagens says. “Christianity is a global religion, and it’s incredibly enriching for our students to see how Christianity and other faiths take shape around the world.”
Hagens credits YDS faculty members with connections in the various regions for helping organize the students’ experience abroad: Mugambi (Kenya); Chloe Starr, Professor of Asian Christianity and Theology (Hong Kong); and Erika Helgen, Associate Professor of Latin American and Latinx Christianity (South America).
The experience of a lifetime
Most students who study abroad describe it as a life-changing experience, and Riley is no different.
Throughout his time in Hong Kong, Riley explored the city alongside more than 20 seminarians. Seven were fellow YDS students, but the majority hailed from international programs based in Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, and other places. Together, the cohort attended lectures and discovered local sites, including Christian spaces, community gathering places, and Daoist and Buddhist temples. They also delved into the city’s political landscape, contemplating how government interfaces with spirituality and religion today and throughout history.
While Riley certainly learned about the region from an academic perspective, he also had the chance to immerse himself in daily life in Hong Kong. He sampled local foods, met with residents, learned from nonprofits and those they serve, and walked the vibrant streets. “My peers and I felt we received a gift from Hong Kong,” Riley says. “The gift of listening, studying, coming together, and being truly wowed by this experience. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
One of Riley’s most memorable experiences was a trip to an eco-community called Nam Chung, where locals gather in fellowship and community to share the vegetables they grow and the food they cook. Each member of the village brings an offering and, after the meal, everyone dances and sings together. “It was incredibly special to meet new people and learn more about those I was traveling with,” Riley adds. “It was a great opportunity to know our neighbor and break bread.”
The cohort also traveled to the Tsz Shan Monastery, a Buddhist temple known for its 76-meter-tall bronze cast statue of Guan Yin, a prominent Buddhist figure. The stunning artistic detail of the statue as well as the beautiful grounds surrounding it provided a serene backdrop for reflection and prayer. “It sounds cliche, but visiting this monastery reinforced the idea that God is everywhere,” Riley says. “While at this Buddhist sacred site, what immediately came to mind for me was ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ from Psalm 23. It was fascinating to experience a sense of call to personal devotion and experience an artistic depiction of spirituality in a different context.”
Ultimately, this first trip abroad cultivated in Riley a love for travel that will last a lifetime. “This experience shaped and molded me in ways I didn’t expect,” he says. “It was theologically and intellectually formative, and inspired my ministerial and scholarship pursuits to continue at the nexus of theology, arts, and anthropology. I would absolutely recommend studying abroad—there is so much to be discovered!”