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
2005-2006
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. The following scholars
with serves as the Research Associates and Visiting Lecturers for the 2005-
2006 academic year:
Gannit Ankori (Hebrew University), A Faith of Their Own: Women Artists Re-vision
Religion
Rosemary P. Carbine (College of the Holy Cross), Ecclesial Work: Toward a Feminist
Theology of Creating Community in Personal, Religious, and Public Life
Constance Furey (Indiana University), Religious Relationships in Devotional
Poetry:
Gender and Genre in Renaissance Christianity
Shahla Haeri Colorado Scholar (Boston University), Religion, Politics, and
Women in
Iran: Edging Toward Democracy?
Jia Jinhua (City University of Hong Kong), The Roles and Images of Taoist Priestesses
in Medieval China
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
1504. Feminist Biblical Interpretation (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza)
1507. Fully Human/Fully Divine - Early Christian Constructions of the Self
(Karen L.
King)
Area Two: Christianity and Culture
2149 Advanced Greek: Montanism (Annewies van den Hoek)
2227. Women’s Voices in Medieval Latin: Seminar (Henry Bayerle)
2264. The Gendered Subject: Devotional Poetry in the English Renaissance: Seminar
(Constance Furey)
2328. Women and Religion in Contemporary America (Ann D. Braude)
2558. Feminist Biblical Interpretation (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza)
2627 Bodily Practice, Practical Reason: Seminar (Amy Hollywood)
2628. Mourning, Melancholia, and Mysticism: Seminar (Amy Hollywood)
2684. Feminist, Womanist, Mujerista Theological Anthropologies: Seminar (Rosemary
Carbine)
2690. Doctoral Colloquium in Religion, Gender, and Culture (Elisabeth Schüssler
Fiorenza)
2692. Sex, Gender, Sexuality, and the Study of Religion I (Amy Hollywood)
2693. Sex, Gender, Sexuality, and the Study of Religion II (Amy Hollywood)
2826. Love, Gender, Altruism, and Family: Seminar (M. Christian Green)
2985. Exploring the Spirituality of Queer Youth: Seminar (Cheryl Giles)
Area Three: Religions of the World
3416. Hindu Goddesses and the Virgin Mary: An Experiment in Comparative Theology
(Francis X. Clooney, SJ)
3908. Women Political Leaders and Religious Law in the Muslim World: Seminar
(Shala
Haeri)
3940. Gender, Religion and the Female Body in Twentieth Century Art: Seminar
(Gannit
Ankori)
3954. Goddesses, Priestesses, and Poets: Women in Taoist Tradition: Seminar
(Jia
Jinhua)
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
1808 E. The Binding of Isaac (“Aqedah”): Seminar (Jon D.
Levenson)
Area Two: Christianity and Culture
2265. Religion and Popular Culture in Nineteenth-Century Europe: Conference
Course
(David Blackbourn)
2303. Religion in America from the Coming of the Europeans to the 1870s (David
D.
Hall)
2433. Modern Theology and the Ends of Modernity (David Lamberth)
2490. Back Roads to Far Places: Literature of Journey and Quest (William A.
Graham, Jr.
and Stephanie Paulsell)
2521. Faith, Politics, and Society (Jim Wallis)
2524. Religion and American Public Life (Ronald F. Thiemann)
2538. Religion and Democratic Theory: Seminar (Ronald F. Thiemann)
2654. Trinitarianism and Anti-trinitarianism - the Christian God in Dispute:
Conference
Course (Sarah Coakley)
2655. The Metaphysics of the Incarnation - Ancient, Modern, and Contemporary
Christology: Seminar (Francis Coakley)
2824. Law, Religion and Social Change (M. Christian Green)
2828. Religion and Biomedical Ethics - Suffering, Compassion, and Care: Seminar
(M.
Christian Green)
2904. Introduction to Preaching (Claudia Highbaugh and Dan Smith)
2931. Counseling Adolescents in Crisis: Seminar (Cheryl Giles)
Area III: Religions of the World
3932. The Protocol of the Gaze: Seminar (Baber Johansen)
4511. Introduction to the Histories, Theologies, and Practices of Christianity
(Kevin
Madigan and Laura S. Nasrallah)
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