HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL
Women’s Studies in Religion Program
45 Francis Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
(Ph) 617 495 5705
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/wsrp/
Women’s Studies in Religion Program (WSRP)
was founded to explore the fundamental role played by religious traditions
in defining roles for women and men. Research on religion and gender sheds
light on questions about the changing roles of women both inside religious
communities and in broader public spheres. It examines the sources of cultural
beliefs about leadership, authority, and values, and offers resources to
change them. Because religion is so often offered as a rationale for proposals
regarding women and the family, critical scholarship in this area is essential
to women’s welfare and to the formation of public policies. Feminist
criticism has affected every field of religious and theological studies,
calling for a rethinking of basic assumptions in view of women’s
presence and full humanity. The Program’s goal is the production
of new primary research addressing these issues and the dispersal of that
information through courses, publications, and public programs.
The Women’s Studies in Religion Program promotes critical
inquiry into the interaction between religion and gender. It sponsors research
and teaching in feminist theology, biblical studies, ethics and women’s
history, as well as interdisciplinary scholarship on women throughout the
world’s religions.
Founded in 1973, WSRP was the first program to focus on the
interdisciplinary study of women and religion. It is the only program of
its kind, focused on research that expands our base of knowledge about women
in religion. Well over 100 Research Associates have participated in the Program.
Together, they have produced a body of scholarship that has helped transform
the study of religion and the theological education of ministers and religious
leaders. Their publications challenge long-held assumptions about the meaning
of religious scriptures, the presence of women as religious leaders, and
the significance of religious teachings and practices. In many cases, their
work calls into question the universality of language and methods of past
scholarship.
In addition to increasing
attention to women and gender within the study of religion, the Program promotes
awareness of the importance of
religion for an understanding of women’s situation. Program scholars
come from literary studies, anthropology, law, political science, psychology
and history, as well as from theology, ethics, biblical criticism, and other
fields of religious studies. The program has developed a generation of faculty
expert in addressing questions of religion and gender, whose teaching spreads
knowledge of the field to students across the country, and to many parts
of the world. Together, this community of international scholars provides
a crucial resource for religious communities, policy makers, and educational
institutions.
WSRP Administration:
Ann Braude, Director
Tracy Wall, Assistant to the Director
2004-2005
Research Associates and Visiting Faculty:
Each year the Program brings five scholars to campus to pursue interdisciplinary
research projects on women and religion. To date, the Program has supported
more than 100 scholars. A search committee that is appointed by the Dean and
is advised by the Program’s national Academic Advisory Committee selects
the WSRP Research Associates and Visiting Lecturers.
M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D. (Boston College). Engendering African
American Critical Thought
Nicola Denzey, Ph.D. (Bowdoin College). Uncovering Women’s
Lives in Early Christianity: The Catacomb Evidence
Tonia Sharlach, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania). State
Religion and Women’s Religion in Early Babylonia: The Case of Queen Shulgi-simti
Elora Shehabuddin, Ph.D. (Rice University). Reshaping the
Holy: Muslim Women’s Activism in Bangladesh
Susan Zaeske, Ph.D., Colorado Scholar (University of Wisconsin/Madison).
Appropriating Esther: Biblical Narrative as Rhetorical Invention
Advisory Committee
Leila
Ahmed (Harvard Divinity School), Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity
Bernadette Joan Brooten (Brandeis University), Kraft-Hiatt
Professor of Christian Studies
Paula Hyman (Yale University), Lucy Moses Professor
of Modern Jewish History, Chair of the Program in Judaic Studies
Karen King (Harvard Divinity School), Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History
Anne Klein (Rice University), Professor and Chair Department of Religious Studies
Emilie Townes (Union Theological Seminary), Carolyn
Williams Beaird Professor of
Christian Ethics
Ulrike Strasser (University of California/Irvine), Associate
Professor Department of
History
Joan Williams (American University), Professor of Law
Courses of Primary Interest to the
Study of Gender
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/registrar/applications/Courses/cat_year.cfm
Area One: Scripture and Interpretation
1503 Gospel Stories of Women (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza)
Area Two: Christianity and Culture
2262 The Spirit’s Voices: Holy Women in Medieval Christianity (Beverly
M. Kienzle)
2325 The Religious History of American Women: Seminar (Heather Curtis)
2332 Early Christian Women’s Lives: Reading the Visual and Textual Evidence:
Seminar (Nicola Denzey)
2333 Black Women and Religious Narrative: Seminar (Wallace D. Best)
2439 Themes in Christian “Spirituality”: Theories of Prayer, Self,
and Gender (Sarah Coakley)
2448 Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross - ‘Mystical Theology,’ Epistemology
and Gender: Seminar (Sarah Coakley)
2557 Gospel Stories of Women (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza)
2687 Women, Religion, and Theory: Seminar (Leila Ahmed)
2688 Feminist Theologies - Contexts and Methods (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza)
2690 Doctoral Colloquium in Religion, Gender, and Culture (Elisabeth Schüssler
Fiorenza)
2748 Feminist Ethics and the Notion of Autonomy, Care, and Justice in Different
Contexts: Seminar (Hille Haker)
2821 What is the Family? Religious and Ethical Perspectives (M. Christian Green)
Area Three: Religions of the World
3559 Buddhist Women and Representations of the Female (Janet Gyatso)
3604 Issues in Feminism and Islam: A Historical Overview (Leila Ahmed)
3844 Engendering African American Critical Thought: Seminar (M. Shawn Copeland)
3845 Goddesses, Priestesses, and Dreams - Gender in the Ancient Near East:
Seminar (Tonia Sharlach)
3886 Women, Religion and Theory: Seminar (Leila Ahmed)
3904 Gender, Islam, and Party Politics in Comparative Perspective: Seminar
(Elora Shehabuddin)
Courses
of Related Interest to the Study of Gender
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/registrar/applications/Courses/cat_year.cfm
Area One: Scripture and Interpretation
1813 Esther for Activists: Seminar (Susan Zaeske)
Area Two: Christianity and Culture
2309 The Catholic Sixties (Robert Orsi)
2317 Liberalism and Orthodoxy, 1600-1870 (Heather Curtis)
2334 African American Religious History (Wallace D. Best)
2517 Media, Religion, and Social Meaning (Marla F. Frederick)
2521 Faith, Politics, and Society (Jim Wallis)
2644 Rationality, Relativism, and Theology: Seminar (Francis Schüssler
Fiorenza)
2681 Caribbean Identity, Race, and Ethnicity: Seminar (Dora Maria Téllez)
2744 Theories of Social Ethics (Hille Haker).
2746 Concepts and Critique of the Self in Modern Ethics (Hille Haker)
2750 Frontiers of Bioethics - Embodiment, Personhood, and Social Justice: Seminar
(M. Christian Green)
2800 Religion and Human Rights: Seminar (David Little)
2820 Work, Consumption, and Globalization - Religious and Ethical Perspectives:
Seminar (M. Christian Green)
2823 Religion, Liberalism, and Virtue (M. Christian Green)
2876 The Ethics of Relationships - Friendship: Seminar (Ralph B. Potter)
2929 Pastoral Care for Persons Affected by HIV/AIDS (Jon Fuller)
Area III: Religions of the World
3160 Religious Dimensions in Human Experience (David Carrasco)
3254a & 3254b Sacrifice, Ritual, Reflexivity, and Paradox (Kimberley
Patton)
3606 Themes in Islam in America (Leila Ahmed)
3692 Afro-Atlantic Religions (J. Lorand Matory)
3853 Buddhism and Social Change: Seminar (Christopher S. Queen)
3913 Writing Lives - Readings in Post-Colonial Memoirs: Seminar (Leila
Ahmed)
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