Feminism and Religion

WordPress Alert – UPDATED

We have been getting messages from people who have been frustrated with WordPress because there are times when WordPress makes it difficult to post a comment. We value comments and are frustrated as well when this happens.

UPDATE: the best way to comment (even with no WordPress account) is that after typing in your comment, a window will come up to fill in my name, email, etc.: fill in the two pieces that are required: 1) your email and 2) your name – and then just that should be enough for you to be able to submit your comment.

Rosemary Radford Ruether, 1936-2022

Rosemary Radford Ruether, 1936-2022
Catholic Feminist Theologian

Pioneering Catholic feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether, accompanied by her daughters Mimi and Becky, died peacefully on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 3 PM PDT in Pomona, California after a long illness. Arrangements are pending with more information to follow.

Dr. Ruether was a scholar activist par excellence. She was respected and beloved by students, colleagues, and collaborators around the world for her work on ecofeminist and liberation theologies, anti-racism, Middle East complexities, women-church, and many other topics.

Symbols of Hope – Event in Support of Ukrainian Refugees

Womanspirit Ireland has organized an event for this coming Sunday, May 22nd, to exchange cultural themes with Ukrainian Refugees and to raise funds for the 30,000 refugees who have already arrived in Ireland, and the many more expected. All donations will go to the group: “IrelandforUkraine” to maximize the funding for Ukrainians in Ireland and those still in Ukraine.

FAR is happy to note that one our regular contributors, Laura Shannon, is part of the program. The event will include stories, songs, poetry, beautiful Ukrainian embroideries, rich with symbols, and an opportunity to reflect on the brokenness of the situation that brings folks at this time.

FAR Project Intern Applications Due Sept. 15, 2019

Enter Katie M. Deaver at the end of 2016. She is the superhero who so smoothly swooped in as Kate stepped back to attend grad school. Katie shared all the values and ethos of FAR – it was the most organic match we could have hoped for. Truly FAR couldn’t have survived without each of them.

FAR is an all-volunteer effort and now, again three years later, we are looking to bring on a next team member. From the very start, we have been of the mindset that the more voices and perspectives we can bring into constructive, community-building dialogue, the better. So…might you be up and ready to contribute to this collaborative feminist task? Continue reading “FAR Project Intern Applications Due Sept. 15, 2019”

FAR Project Intern – Application Window Extended to Sept. 15, 2019

It’s about every three years when we at Feminism and Religions put out a solicitation for a new intern to join our team. Back in 2013 we had the great privilege of having Kate Brunner join us. She came on as an intern and stayed to become one of our permanent co-weavers who help run the day-to-day behind-the-scenes of this collaborative project. She reorganized the structure and rhythm of how we run things and made it easier for us to bring in the next person. Enter Katie M. Deaver at the end of 2016. She is the superhero who so smoothly swooped in as Kate stepped back to attend grad school. Katie shared all the values and ethos of FAR – it was the most organic match we could have hoped for. Truly FAR couldn’t have survived without each of them.

FAR Project Intern – Join Us!

Feminism and Religion Project Intern – Job Description

Project Summary :
Feminism and Religion (FAR), feminismandreligion.com, is a project that brings together multiple feminist voices from around the world to dialogue about the “f-word” in religion and the intersection between scholarship, activism, and community. It was established in the hope that feminist scholars of religion — and all who are interested in these issues — would utilize this forum to share their ideas, insights, and experiences, so that the community of thinkers would be nurtured as diverse and new directions are explored. The project has been incredibly successful in offering such a space and continues to act as a medium for feminist community.

Position Overview:
Feminism and Religion is seeking a creative, industrious, responsible, and highly-organized intern interested in working for a community-oriented collaborative online feminist project. Strong knowledge of the field of feminism and religion, excellent writing and editing skills, and the ability to engage WordPress and other forms of social media is desired. Responsibilities may include website support, reviewing, editing and uploading posts, responding to comments and submission inquiries, recruiting new contributions, and sharing content.
This is an unpaid internship designed to be a learning opportunity for the intern. FAR co-founders will work closely with the intern to help provide a positive learning experience. This internship is a 6 month position, with the option to renew, and will require approximately 10 hours per week.

Values and Expectations:
We work to create and maintain a positive, encouraging, and collaborative environment for Feminism and Religion and its broader community. A FAR intern is expected to value:

diversity
dialogue
collaboration
community building
gender justice

To Apply:
 Please e-mail FAR co-directors at (feminismandreligionblog@gmail.com) with:

Your resume, including 2 references who can speak to your reliability, diligence, organizational style, and responsibility (these can be professional, academic, or scholastic).
A cover letter indicating the reasons you are interested in working with FAR. Please highlight your interest and background in feminism, religion, gender justice issues, and/or gender/race/sexuality issues in religion.
A writing sample between 1000-2500 words – a blog post is ideal.

Applications are due December 15th, 2016. Candidates will be contacted for more information and to schedule interviews in January.

For more information, contact Xochitl Alvizo or Gina Messina: feminismandreligionblog@gmail.com

Fuerzas Para La Lucha: Sources of Strength for the Struggle

Art work designed by Jaysen Waller - http://www.jaysenwaller.com/ — Art work designed by Jaysen Waller – http://www.jaysenwaller.com/

When Ada María Isasi-Díaz lived in Chile, she had a neighbor who lived in extreme poverty who she remembered as someone “who never lost her sense of dignity and purpose of life,” even while she struggled day after day for her survival. She explained, “I remember the steadiness of her struggle: day after day she dealt with the reality of the present and survived that day in order to be able to face the next.”

From that experience Ada María Isasi-Díaz began to develop la lucha as a category of social analysis and as a theo-ethical category. La Lucha is a way of recognizing the reality of the grand injustices very much in place impacting people in their every day lives and how embedded these are into our intersecting systems and structures. The need for fuerzas para la lucha (strength for the struggle) is therefore great. Continue reading “Fuerzas Para La Lucha: Sources of Strength for the Struggle”

“Seeking Harbor in Our Histories” – ASWM 2016 Conference

aswm The Association for the Study of Women & Mythology (ASWM) will be hosting this year’s Conference, “Seeking Harbor in Our Histories: Lights in the Darkness” at the Boston Marriot Burlington Hotel on 1-2 April 2016.

ASWM conferences strive to support the scholarship, artistry, & practice of those who explore and engage the sacred feminine through study and creativity. Offering keynote presentations at this year’s conference are Dr. Elinor Gadon, Dr. Margaret Bruchac, and Dr. Lucia Ciavola Birnbaum.

On Friday night, there will be a plenary session and book-signing moderated by Miriam Robbins Dexter and Vicki Noble and featuring Max Dashu, Starr Goode, Mama Donna Henes, Donna Read, Genevieve Vaughan, Cristina Biaggi, Lydia Ruyle, Miranda Shaw, Elinor Gadon, and Susun Weed. They will be sharing stories from the anthology, Foremothers of the Women’s Spirituality Movement: Elders and Visionaries. FAR contributor Carol P. Christ has a chapter in the book.

FAR is excited to share that three of our contributors are on this year’s conference schedule!

Nancy Vedder-Shults will be joining the “Artists, Activists, & Scientists and the Lineage of the Goddess” panel with her presentation, Science and Divination: The Blurring Lines between the Secular and the Sacred.

Jill Hammer will present The King and the Priestess: Mythic Motifs and Motives in the Tale of Judah and Tamar as part of the “Male-Female Relationships in the Hebrew Texts: Three Feminist Analyses” panel.

Kate Brunner will be participating in the “Women’s Spirituality, Transformative Scholarship and Personal Quest” panel with Rhiannon, Great Queen of the Mabinogi: Ancient Mythology in Modern Context. She will also be offering her meditative writing workshop, Becoming Branwen the Peaceweaver.

In addition to the main conference, there will be a Matriarchal Studies Day seminar and celebration, in the same location the day before (31 Mar). Hosted by Vicki Noble and Lydia Ruyle, the program looks to be a great addition to the weekend. Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth, founder of Modern Matriarchal Studies will present via Skype. Other presenters will include Max Dashu, Polly Wood, Beverly Little Thunder, and Genevieve Vaughan, exploring woman-centered arts, themes of motherhood, and the gift economy. There will be a keynote presentation by Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, and evening entertainment by folksinger, Julie Felix.

For registration information & more conference details, see the ASWM 2016 Conference blog.

Feminism & Religion Project contributors past, present, & future interested in connecting with FAR at the conference, are encouraged to get in touch with Kate Brunner at feminismandreligionblog@gmail.com. If there is enough interest, we may be able to organize meeting up for a meal together some time during the weekend.

#WATERTalk: Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century

WATERtalks: Feminist Conversations in Religion Series

Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century:
Technology, Dialogue, & Expanding Borders

with

Xochitl Alvizo, Gina Messina-Dysert, & Rosemary Radford Ruether

Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at 1 p.m. ET

The editors of Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century: Technology, Dialogue, and Expanding Borders (Routledge, 2015) will discuss new movements in feminism and religion, as well as the ways in which technology creates spaces for expanded dialogue and change. Their volume brings together more than 15 feminist theologians across generations to reflect on the state of the art. The hour will offer an insightful portrait into the history and modern direction of feminist religion.

Xochitl Alvizo recently completed her Ph.D. in Practical Theology at Boston University School of Theology. She will be Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the area of Women and Religion and the Philosophy of Gender (LGBT), Sex, and Sexuality at California State University, Northridge, in the fall. Xochitl is co-founder of Feminism and Religion, an online project that brings together multiple feminist voices from around the world to dialogue about feminism in religion at the intersection of scholarship, activism, and community. She is co-founder of the Pub Church, Boston.

Gina Messina-Dysert is Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Ursuline College and co-founder of feminismandreligion.com. She is the author of Rape Culture and Spiritual Violence (Routledge, 2014), and co-editor (with Rosemary Radford Ruether) of Feminism and Religion in the 21st Century (Routledge, 2014). She is active in movements to end violence against women and explores opportunities for spiritual healing for those who have encountered gender-based violence. See her TEDx Talk here. Gina can be followed on Twitter @FemTheologian and see her website, http://GinaMessinaDysert.com.

Rosemary Radford Ruether is a renowed feminist scholar and Catholic theologian. She is currently Senior Visiting Professor of Theology at Claremont School of Theology and Graduate University, where she earned a Ph.D. in classics and patristics in 1965. Rosemary is the author of more than 40 books and hundreds of articles on feminism, eco-feminism, and Christianity. She has also lectured all over the world. Rosemary has held numerous teaching positions including as the Georgia Harkness Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Northwestern University and the Carpenter Professor of Feminist Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is the recipient of more than ten honorary doctorates in humane letters.

Register Here

Email Cathy Jaskey at waterstaff@hers.com if you have any trouble registering or need more information. Thank you!