1/29/18
Dear APT Members:
Plans are rapidly falling into place for our 2018 Biennial Conference, “Making Justice: Practical Theology, the Arts, and Transformation,” April 13-15, 2018 at Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT.
As you know from our previous communication, our APT website redesign and the timing for registrations/detailed information about the conference have collided in the “perfect storm,” creating an unfortunate delay in our ability to start conference registrations. Yale Conference Services is about to complete a web page that will allow you to register for the conference and make your lodging plans. I expect that to be available in about 1 week, and apologize again for the delay in your access to this page. We will send out a notice when the site is up and running for you!
Meanwhile, here is some basic information that might help you in making advance travel plans and in preparing to register:
Times:
The conference begins with a welcome and opening plenary at 4:30 pm on Friday 4/13. Registration/check-in for the conference will be available beginning at 3 pm.
There is a limited-space, pre-conference pedagogy workshop (see web page for details) available to those who pre-register for it which begins Thursday evening 4/12 at 6:30 and runs during the day Friday 4/13 until the conference begins.
The last event of the conference will conclude at 1 pm on Sunday 4/15, and box lunches will be available for departing travelers.
Conference Housing Information:
The APT has reserved a block of rooms at a discounted rate at two hotels in downtown New Haven. When you register for the conference online, you will be able make your housing reservations at the hotel of your choice at the same time. There are a limited number of reserved rooms which will be available at the conference rates listed below on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible after the web site is live.
Conference hotels are around 1 mile away from the Divinity School. We will provide a shuttle to get conference participants between hotels and YDS before the first session and after the last session of the day, for those who are not counting steps on their Fitbits.
The New Haven Hotel in downtown New Haven (1.4 miles from the YDS campus) offers rooms with queen or king-sized beds for $169+taxes. Parking is $20/night.
The New Haven Courtyard Marriott in downtown New Haven (1.3 miles from the YDS campus) offers rooms with a single king-sized bed or with two queen beds, for $169+taxes or $179 + taxes, respectively. Parking is available for $20/night.
Graduate Students: In addition, several lower cost options will be offered to graduate students (and we encourage room sharing when possible), who will be able to reserve these rooms directly on the conference registration web page when they register for the conference identifying themselves as grad students. Also, for graduate students: The Overseas Ministries Study Center, (walking distance to YDS, at 490 Prospect St., New Haven) may be an option. 203-624-6672. The APT cannot reserve rooms in advance at the OMSC and therefore we cannot book these through our conference web page, but sometimes rooms are available, and rates are extremely reasonable. Call for pricing information and availability asap.
Getting to New Haven: It takes a little effort to get here but it’s worth it.
By Rail: The easiest way to get to New Haven is by rail, which puts you within minutes of the Yale Campus.
- Amtrak(800.872.7245) provides train service to New Haven from Vermont, Providence, Boston, and Washington DC.
- Metro-North Railways(800.638.7647) offers frequent train service between New Haven and New York City.
From New Haven’s Union Station, you can take a taxi, Uber, Lyfft, etc. for around $10-15. If time is not an issue, there also is a free Yale Shuttle into the downtown hotel area or to the Divinity School.
By Air: The three closest airport options are New Haven, Hartford, and New York.
- Tweed-New Haven (HVN) is a tiny airport into which American Airlines now offers jet service through Philadelphia, and it is the closest and most convenient in terms of ground transport (approx. $15-20 Uber or Taxi from airport to hotel). When comparing prices, you may find this is the cheaper option even if the airfare is slightly higher, due to ground transportation costs from other airports. So, you will want to compare costs with that in mind.
- Bradley (BDL–Hartford-Springfield Airport) has more major airlines including Southwest, and is roughly an hour away by airport shuttle which costs around $69 RT. Call 800-377-8745 (https://2theairport.hudsonltd.net/res). Always reserve shuttles in advance!! Unless you are ride-sharing with a group, we do not recommend taking a taxi from BDL as it will be quite costly. BDL is an easy airport to get in and out of, and is the shortest distance from Yale among the airports served by multiple major airlines.
- New York airports are about 2 hours away. From JFK or LGA you can
(a) take an airport shuttle (advance reservations advised) to New Haven 800-377-8745 (https://2theairport.hudsonltd.net/res);
(b) taxi or take public transportation to the train station in NYC and take Metro North train to New Haven;
(c) taxi to a NYC Megabus Stop, and take Megabus to New Haven for around $20. Stops in NY are located at: 34th St b/t 11th Ave and 12th Ave; 7th Ave and 27th St; Port Authority Bus Terminal (see agent at 2nd floor Shortline ticket window)]. The Megabus stops at the New Haven Union Station from which you can take a free Yale Shuttle into the downtown hotel area or to the Divinity School, or get a taxi or Uber from there as well.
By Bus
It is also possible to take a bus to New Haven Union Station, which also serves as a bus terminal.
By Car
There are multiple driving routes that you can take to arrive on campus:
Information for GPS:
409 Prospect Street
New Haven, Connecticut 06511(link is external)
From I-91 North or South:
- Take Exit 3 (Trumbull Street) off I-91
- At the end of the ramp go straight on Trumbull Street.
- Take a right on Whitney Ave and continue to Edwards St.
- Take a left onto Edwards and then a right onto Prospect St.
- The Divinity School is in the next block on the right.
- Pull into the drive between the two stone pillars and go up the drive a few more yards.
- The main entrance will be on your right.
- Parking is available in the Divinity School surface lot #11
I hope this is helpful to you as you contemplate your plans to participate in this year’s APT conference. On behalf of the APT Executive Committee and Yale Divinity School, I look forward to welcoming you to the campus and to New Haven in April.
Joyce Ann Mercer, APT President 2016-2018