Academic Affiliation: University at Albany, SUNY Title: Clergywomen, Women’s Ordination, and “Women’s Issues”: Women’s Representation in American Religious Congregations Abstract: Using data from the 2018-2019 National Congregations Study, I explore the relationship between women’s descriptive and substantive representation in American religious congregations. In particular, I examine the relationship between the presence of clergywomen or egalitarian
Academic Affiliation: Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Title: Where Did Women Go? And Are They Coming Back? Post-Pandemic Exploration of Ministry Jobs Abstract: “In March 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic, and multiple related social pandemics, shut down or curtailed many aspects of life and work in the US. Globally more than 54
Academic Affiliation: Methodist Theological School in Ohio Title: “Forging Voice: Pioneering Scholars in Religion” Abstract: “Kate Common and co-creator Ashley Theuring created the film FORGiNG VOICE, which explores gender, race, and theology with pioneering feminist and womanist scholars in religion. For the film, they interviewed eleven pioneering theologians who discuss their stories as the first
Academic Affiliation: Groton School Title: “Muslim Feminist Thought Leadership and Feminist Theology” Abstract: Over the past forty years, Muslim Feminist theology has emerged as a transformative field of constructive theological inquiry. As scholarly investigations into the gendered dimensions of classical Islamic ethics and jurisprudence proliferate, Muslimah theologians engage the Qur’an and authoritative early Islamic sources
Academic Affiliation: Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Rutgers University Title: “Pastoral-Rabbi: How Orthodox Women Rabbis are Feminizing the Orthodox Rabbinate” Abstract: As the first Orthodox seminary to ordain women as rabbis, Yeshivat Maharat places significant emphasis on pastoral care in their educational curriculum, intertwining it with text-based studies. This differs from most other Orthodox
Academic Affiliation: Utah Tech University Title: “You might change your mind!”: Early Responses to Women’s Ordination in the 1980s RLDS Church Abstract: Scholars have documented reasons given by Christians and Jews for supporting women’s ordination, noting that very little changed in terms of formal rationales between the 19th and 21st century (Chaves, 1997; Naddell, 1999;
Academic Affiliation: The Jewish Theological Seminary Title: “Partner, Pioneer, Principal: Female Jewish Religious Leadership in North America” Abstract: How did Jewish women in North America exercise religious leadership before they could become rabbis – and then, when the doors to ordination first opened to them? In the present, how do these earlier generations of female
Academic Affiliation: Springfield College (MA) Title: “NFP is Pro-Women:” Catholic women & 21st century reproductive health Abstract: In 1968, Paul VI officially disagreed with a group of lay men and women who had advised him to reverse the Catholic ban on contraception. Most versions of Catholic women and reproduction focus on how many Catholic women
Academic Affiliation: Yale Divinity School Title: The Apostle Pauli and the Spirituality of Risk-taking Abstract: Pauli Murray was a path-breaking poet, activist, attorney, professor, and Episcopal priest whose legacy of human rights work continues to reverberate. This lecture will explore the foundations of Murray’s preaching ministry, drawing on acts of protest, poems, letters, and sermons.
City: Lowell, Massachusetts Title: “Reflections of a Vietnamese Buddhist Leader on Leadership Through the Four Positive States of Mind: An Autoethnographic Study” Abstract: This article is an autoethnographic investigation of my journey as a Buddhist youth leader. What has made me a dedicated leader over the past eighteen years? What distinguishes my leadership? To address