Tag: Women’s Living History Project

Legacy of Carol P. Christ: What Was Your Childhood Religious Tradition And Do You Still Follow It?

This post was originally published on Nov. 26th, 2012

Recently, in an interview with the Women’s Living History Project of Claremont Graduate University, I was asked: What religious tradition did you identify with as a child and how did it impact your childhood? and: Is your tradition the same today that you had when growing up?

I was surprised that the interview questions didn’t ask anything about feminism, experiencing exclusion in patriarchal religions, or belief.  My religious and political convictions, which are intertwined, have alienated me from family members.  Therefore, I was suspicious of questions that seemed to have been formulated by someone for whom religion and family go together, and for whom believing or not believing (!) did not seem to be an important issue.

After expressing criticism of the questions, I agreed to work with them.  My answer to the first question was that I did not have a single religious tradition as a child. I had four.  Continue reading “Legacy of Carol P. Christ: What Was Your Childhood Religious Tradition And Do You Still Follow It?”

Every Woman has a Story by Gina Messina-Dysert

Gina Messina-Dysert profileRecently, Carol Christ wrote about her experience of being interviewed for the Women’s Living History project at Claremont Graduate University.  It is a project I have co-founded and am continuing to develop; I am grateful that Carol and others have offered their “herstories” to be archived.  While I am not a historian, I do have a strong interest in women’s stories and with important reason…if we do not tell our stories, who will?

I first became interested in oral history during my doctoral program when I took a course with Claudia Bushman focused on women’s autobiography.  It was a difficult time; my mother had passed away unexpectedly and I was consumed with grief.  Because her death was premature – she was only 56 years old – I hadn’t prepared to lose her. I thought I had years to figure out all the things I would want to remember and pass on about my mom.  Yet, she was gone and I could no longer ask her the many things I wanted to know, needed to know about her.  Parts of her story would be lost forever and I did not know how to cope with that.  Continue reading “Every Woman has a Story by Gina Messina-Dysert”

What Was Your Childhood Religious Tradition And Do You Still Follow It? by Carol P. Christ

Recently, in an interview with the Women’s Living History Project of Claremont Graduate University, I was asked: What religious tradition did you identify with as a child and how did it impact your childhood? and: Is your tradition the same today that you had when growing up?

I was surprised that the interview questions didn’t ask anything about feminism, experiencing exclusion in patriarchal religions, or belief.  My religious and political convictions, which are intertwined, have alienated me from family members.  Therefore, I was suspicious of questions that seemed to have been formulated by someone for whom religion and family go together, and for whom believing or not believing (!) did not seem to be an important issue.

After expressing criticism of the questions, I agreed to work with them.  My answer to the first question was that I did not have a single religious tradition as a child. I had four.  Continue reading “What Was Your Childhood Religious Tradition And Do You Still Follow It? by Carol P. Christ”