Year in Review
The year-long women's jubilee has afforded the opportunity both to look back at 50 years of the pioneer efforts of HDS women in transforming the study of religion, the practice of ministry, and the School itself and to look forward to the possibilities of new directions in scholarship and service. The year was inaugurated with Professor Ann Braude's Convocation Address, which outlined the history of women at HDS. Distinguished alumnae returned throughout the year to deliver the Tillich, Ingersoll, Dudley, and James Lectures and to participate in discussions considering the contributions of women in ministry and the study of religion. The Women's Study in Religion Program (WSRP) celebrated its 25th anniversary with the conference "Border Crossings," which featured the work of past scholars of the WSRP and hosted discussions on the categories of gender and nation within the context of globalization. Also, the newly formed Committee for the Study of Women and Gender in Religion hosted events to encourage an open forum for students and faculty to discuss the use of gender as an analytic tool in the study of religion and to suggest new paths for the discipline. The year ended with an Alumni/ae Day that celebrated pioneering women graduates who have broken new ground in issues of politics, race, social justice, and global welfare.
The year's events listed below are available online; click the appropriate title to view or listen. (Viewing and listening to these events requires the latest version of RealPlayer. The preferred browser is Internet Explorer; presentations may not play in other browsers.)
- Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 20th Anniversary Celebration (June 2005; video)
- The 2005-06 Convocation Address: "A Short Half Century—Fifty Years of Women Harvard Divinity School," by Ann Braude (September 2005; video)
- The Ingersoll Lecture on Immortality: "Is Immortality Important?" by Karen Armstrong (November 2005; video)
- WSRP Research Associate Lecture: "Ecclesial Work: Toward a Feminist Public Theology," by Rosemary Carbine (December 2005; audio)
- Women and Gender in Religion Forum: "On Desire and Gender," by Sarah Coakley (December 2005; video)
- Forum on Women in Ministry (February 2006; video)
- Border Crossings: Women's Studies in Religion Program 25th Anniversary Conference
(February 2006; audio)
- WSRP Research Associate Lecture: "Religious Relationships in Devotional Poetry: Gender and Genre in Renaissance Christianity," by Constance Furey (February 2006; audio)
- Women and Gender in Religion Forum: Panel Discussion (February 2006; video)
- Lecture to Inaugurate the Elizabeth H. Monrad Chair: "Acute Melancholia," by Amy Hollywood (February 2006; video)
- WSRP Research Associate Lecture: "A Faith of Their Own: Women Artists Re-vision Religion," by Gannit Ankori (March 2006; audio)
- WSRP Research Associate Lecture: "Taoist Priestesses in Medieval China: Roles, Images, and Identity," by Jia Jinhua (March 2006; audio)
- Women and Gender in Religion Forum: "Feminism, Inc.—North American Feminist Theologies and Globalization," by Thandeka (March 2006; video)
- The 2006 William James Lecture: "Dancing with God in a World of Crucifixion," by Karen Baker-Fletcher (April 2006; video)
- The 2006 Dudleian Lecture: "Jesus and Shylock: Feminist Views of Christianity's Jews," by Susannah Heschel (April 2006; video)
- Women and Gender in Religion Forum: "Thinking About Women and Heresy," by Karen King (May 2006; video)
- The 2006 Paul Tillich Lecture: "Encountering the 'Other' in a World of Difference and Danger," by Letty M. Russell (May 2006; audio)
- Alumni/ae Day 2006: Each of the following Alumni/ae Day pages
includes photographs, details about the session, and a link to the video
presentation.
- A Question of Courage: Who Will Be My Sister's Keeper? Gloria White-Hammond, MDiv '97 and Melinda Weekes, MDiv '05
- To Dare Mighty Things Tori Murden-McClure, MDiv '89
- First Women Students at HDS Constance Parvey, BD '63; Judith Hoehler, BD '58; Joyce Mann Mazur, HDS '58; Marianka Fousek, ThD '60; Rena Karefa-Smart, ThD '76
- Living Lovingly in a Culture of Fear Keynote Address by Margaret Miles
