CHIATECH JOURNAL · Registered Version of Record

Designing the Seminary for Human Diversity: Universal Design, Reasonable Accommodation and Disability-Inclusive Theological Education — A Review

1. Peter Ukule
   ¹Department of Christian Studies and Religious Communication, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Theological education combines academic learning, residential life, worship and field formation, so disability access cannot be reduced to a ramp or a single admissions clause. Objective: This review synthesises scholarship on universal design, reasonable accommodation, accessible admissions, disability justice and theological education to propose an integrated “architecture of welcome” for seminaries.Approach: A critical narrative review was conducted using the literature corpus assembled in the parent doctoral study, including theological-education research, higher-education inclusion scholarship, disability-rights literature and ecumenical guidance. The review is conceptual and does not claim systematic-review completeness. Synthesis: Effective inclusion requires ten linked domains: governance, admissions, routes and entrances, teaching spaces, library/ICT, residence and sanitation, chapel/formation, transport/placement, safeguarding and participation. Universal design should minimise predictable barriers at the system level; reasonable accommodation should address individual needs that remain. Written policy must specify ownership, procedure, budget, monitoring and remedy. Conclusion: A seminary is not accessible because it can improvise help for a particular student. It is accessible when diverse bodies are anticipated in ordinary institutional design and when accommodation is a transparent right-bearing process. Annual accessibility audits, user co-design and phased capital planning provide a practical route from goodwill to measurable institutional capability.

Keywords: universal design; reasonable accommodation; theological education; seminary accessibility; disability justice; inclusive pedagogy; Anglican formation

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Published by CHIA TECH SOLUTIONS AND RESOURCES LIMITED. ISSN assignment remains pending.