Study feminist theology units

This unit will explore queer theology as it has emerged from queer theory, LGBTIQ justice struggles, and faith development and practice. It will acquaint students with the history and challenges of the term ‘queer’, and introduce the multiplicity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer Christian theologies that have emerged in recent decades. It will seek to analyse and critique theological loci and motifs of Christian theology, including the queering of scripture and hermeneutics and key theological doctrines. Exploring intersectional approaches, including postcolonial perspectives, queer art, action and contemporary reflection, participants will be enabled to assess critically the value and possibilities of queer theology for faith and society today.

This unit explores the meaning of Christian spirituality using the writings of women throughout history. Emphasis will be placed on the historical context of the primary sources used, the struggles of women in coming to find their own voices within their contexts, and their specific literary genres. This study aims to bring the reader to an appreciation of both the significance of these writings for their own times, as well as their continuing relevance to our life and mission in the Christian Church today.

This unit explores the relationship between issues of gender, justice and empire in Old Testament interpretation. Through a study of a number of Old Testament texts, particularly those which narrate the experience of women within the wider social and imperial contexts, we will consider how these themes are configured and related within biblical traditions. We will engage in a close reading of a range of primary Old Testament texts and contemporary feminist/womanist and other (culturally diverse) scholarship about these texts and will also examine how these hermeneutical perspectives engage and critique traditional exegetical approaches. The approach will be interdisciplinary and will provide students opportunity to study these texts alongside contemporary women’s experiences and portrayals of women in other media such as art, film, poetry and law.

The books of Esther, Ruth, the Song of Songs, Susannah, and Judith are exceptional and exciting. These books with women protagonists came to life within a strong patriarchal culture with strong gender stereotypes and multiple barriers to women. They are well known for their powerful narrative art and imagination. Are the woman protagonists in these books, feminist heroines or patriarchally idealised stooges? Or are they protest and subversive literature? These books will be introduced in this unit; the stories contained in these books are retold and analysed in their allusive complexity. We will attend to issues of identity, gender, sexuality, beauty, power, solidarity/partnership, widowhood, their representation in the visual arts, the function of these books and their contemporary relevance.

In this unit we ask three key questions: ‘How has Mary of Nazareth, the mother of Jesus, been understood in various Christian communities? What is the significance of devotion to Mary for feminist theologies? How do feminist perspectives refresh, inform and refract the figure of Mary?’ This unit proceeds in two steps: first, to introduce a range of marian doctrine and devotion from different contexts over time; second, to consider contemporary feminist theological engagement with marian theology and spirituality. Some writers are Roman Catholic; some are Protestant; others are post-Christian; most are so-called “first world” European or North American, others are Latinx (and more voices from other cultures are also represented in the readings). Some define their work as liberationist or queer, but all identify as feminist—though given their contexts and convictions, they mean somewhat different things by this, in terms of catholicity, protest, reform and other theological dynamics.

Conducted in seminar style, Readings in Feminist Theology is based around primary texts. While the unit contextualises readings in the corpus of work of their authors, it is focused on intensive engagement with representative texts that mark focal figures’ major contributions to feminist theology in different global contexts. To order the exploration of the theologians’ work, special attention will be given to two tropes in their work: Christology and leadership in Christian community.

This unit explores the contribution of feminist scholarship to Christian theology. It surveys the history of feminism as a term, charts the growth of significance within theological discourse since the 1980s and of resistance to it. It considers the significance of feminist methods, hermeneutics and approaches to reading and interpreting Scripture, and the consequent impact on feminist theologizing, analysis of Christian doctrine, and the understanding Christian tradition and liturgical life. It pays particular attention to the intersection of feminism with other theologies of liberation, against structures of oppression. Considering a range of contemporary social issues, this unit examines the actual and potential contribution of feminist insights to shaping nuanced and vibrant theological perspectives.

Paul’s injunction that women remain silent in the Church (1 Cor 14: 34-36) could be said to have led to the absence of Women’s Wisdom from the official teaching of the Church over its 2000 year history. Of the 36 Doctors of the Church, only 4 are women, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux and Hildegard of Bingen, all of whom have only been recognised in the last 50 years. This unit will concentration on the contribution of these women to our theological understanding of God and also explore other important female voices that have been overlooked through the centuries.