WOMEN AND RELIGION
nikkibf@iastate.edu Phone: 294-0054
Office Hours: M 2-4, W
Course
Objectives
This course is a comparative cross-cultural exploration of
the complex relationships that exist between women and religious institutions,
practices, and communities. Beginning
with the feminist challenge to religious institutions, we will explore the
roles and status of women within a number of the world’s religious
traditions. Using historical materials
and contemporary case studies, we will discover how religion both limits and
empowers women and shapes the ways we think about gender, the body, and the
divine.
Texts
(FR) Rita
Gross, Feminism and Religion
(WR) Carol
Christ and Judith Plaskow (eds.), Womanspirit
Rising
(UW) Nancy Falk and Rita Gross (eds.), Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious Lives
(WWR) Ursula King (ed.), Women in the World’s Religions
Grades will be based on ten weekly comment papers, three take home essays, a group project, a research
paper, and class participation. Class
participation includes attendance and performance in leading and participating
in class discussion. Students are
expected to attend every class and to have completed the required readings prior to class. Lectures are intended
to supplement and extend the readings rather than to summarize them. Students
with disabilities should request that Disability Resources staff send a
Comment Papers 10% (10 points)
Three Take Home
Essay Exams 45% (15 points each)
Group Project 10% (10 points)
Individual
Research Paper 20% (20 points)
Abstract and
Annotated Bibliography 10% (5 points each)
Class
Participation 5% (5
points)
Total 100% (100 points)
Grading
Scale
The overall course grade is based on the 100 point system. The scale is as follows:
100-94 A 76-74 C
93-90 A- 73-70 C-
89-87 B+ 69-67 D+
86-84 B 66-64 D
83-80 B- 63-60 D-
79-77 C+ 59-0 F
These are weekly reflections on class readings that are due
each Monday, starting with Week 2.
Comments must be typed, double-spaced, 2-3 pages long, and engage the
materials in a way that demonstrates
that you have read, understood, and
thought coherently about them. You
are required to bring two copies of
your comments to class each week: one to
hand in and one to share with others in class during discussion. Comment papers
are not graded, nor will they be returned to you. Ten weekly comment papers (out of a possible
12) are required. No late comments will
be accepted without written medical excuse or prior approval.
The exams require critical reading and analysis of assigned
materials. They require you to refer to
information presented in lectures and class discussions. Each exam is no more than 4-5 pages in length
and must be typed double-spaced, using normal margins and a 12 point font.
Exams are graded for both content and clarity of argument. In other words, you are graded on how
accurately and completely you answer the question as well as on how you present
your answer. Points are deducted for
poor organization, lack of coherent argument, and poor grammar and
punctuation. Proofread and spell check your work.
Late essays will be penalized one point per business day, unless you
have a written medical excuse or
documented family emergency.
Group Project
By the third week, the class will be divided into
groups. Each group will be given a
general topic: for example, a specific
religious tradition and/or geographical area (e.g.,
The paper will be graded on the basis of both content and
clarity of argument. It will be assessed
on the quality and organization of materials gathered, including the statement
of your problem and thesis; on the consistency of your argument and your use of
materials to document your claims and statements; on the clarity of your
presentation, and on your general level of effort. It must be 8-10 pages in length, typed
double-spaced, spell checked, and proofed for grammar and punctuation. You may
footnote either in accordance with the
In the seventh week of the course, you must turn in an
abstract of your individual research paper.
This is worth 5% of your grade.
The abstract should be a concise summary of your research plans, clearly
identifying the problem you will be investigating long before the paper is due
at the end of the semester. The abstract
must be 1-2 pages in length, double-spaced, spell checked, and proofed for
grammar and punctuation. An annotated
bibliography, worth 5%, is due in the eleventh week. You
must include books and journal articles in your bibliography. I will not accept a paper based exclusively
on websites. Go to the library. Early.
Week 1: 8/23-27 Defining Our Terms, Establishing a Context for Study
Feminism’s
Impact on Religion and Religious Studies, A Brief
History
Film: Women Serving Religion
Week
2: 8/30-9/3 Encountering
Extraordinary Women
UW,
Ross, Rosetta. “Religious Responsibility
and Community Service in the
UW,
Setta, Susan. “When Christ is a
Woman: Theology and Practice in the
Shaker
Tradition,”
pp. 264-278
Comment Paper 1 (always due on Mondays)
Week
3: 9/6-10 The
Problem With Women: Androcentrism
9/6
Where
Have all the Women Been? The Challenge of Feminist Study of Religion
Comment Paper 2
Week
4: 9/13-17 Answering the Call to
Power
UW,
Binford, Martha B. “Julia: An East
African Diviner,” pp. 3-14.
UW,
Baum, Robert. “Alinesitoue: A Diola Woman Prophet in
Comment Paper 3
•First
essay exam due, 9/17
Comment Paper 4
UW, Betteridge, Anne. “The Controversial
Vows of Urban Muslim Women in
UW,
Mernissi, Fatima. “Women, Saints, and
Sanctuaries in
Comment Paper 5
Week
WR,
Trible, Phyllis. “Eve and Adam: Genesis
2-3 Reread,” pp. 74-83.
Film:
Veiled Revolution
Comment
Paper 6
•Abstract
Due 10/8
Week
8: 10/11-15 Looking to the Past for
Clues
WWR,
Arthur, Rose. “The Wisdom Goddess and the Masculinization of Western Religion,”
pp. 24-37.
WWR, Via, E. Jane. “Women in the Gospel of Luke,” pp. 38-55.
Comment
Paper 7
Week
9: 10/18-22 Innovation
and Tradition
WR,
Plaskow, Judith. “The Coming of
Lillith: Toward a Feminist Theology,”
pp. 198-209.
UW,
Neudel, Marian. “Innovation and
Tradition in a Contemporary Midwestern Jewish Congregation,” pp. 221-232.
WWR,
Quebedeaux, Richard. “We’re on our Way,
Lord!: The Rise of ‘Evangelical Feminism’ in Modern
American Christianity,” pp. 129-144.
Film:
Half the Kingdom
Comment Paper 8
Handout,
Hackett, JoAnn. “Can a Sexist Model
Liberate Us? Ancient Near Eastern ‘Fertility’ Goddesses. JFSR Spring, 1989, Vol. 5.1:65-76.
Comment Paper 9
•Second
essay exam due, 10/29
Handout,
Weaver, Mary Jo. “Who is the Goddess and Where Does She Get Us?”
JFSR
Spring, 1989, Vol. 5.1:49-64.
Handout, Erndl,
Kathleen. 1997. “The Goddess and Women’s Power: A Hindu Case Study,” pp. 17-38 in Women and Goddess Traditions in Antiquity
and Today, ed. by Karen L. King.
WWR,
Bancroft, Anne. “Women in Buddhism,” pp.
81-106.
Comment Paper 10
•Annotated
Bibliography due 11/5
Week 12: 11/8-12 Stirring the Cauldron: Women’s Spirituality and Wicca
Handout, Bado-Fralick, Nikki. “Stirring the
Cauldron: The Impact of the Women’s
Movement on the Old Religion.”
Handout, Goldenberg, Naomi. 1979.
“Why Witches Scare Scholars,” pp. 109-114 of Changing of the Gods: Feminism
and the End of Traditional Religions.
Beacon. (152 pp.)
Handout, Bado-Fralick, Nikki. “Why Witches Still Scare
Scholars.”
Comment Paper 11
Week
UW,
Brown, Karen McCarthy. “Mama Lola and
the Ezilis: Themes of Mothering and
Loving in
Haitian Vodou,” pp. 279-289.
WWR, King, Ursula. “Goddesses, Witches, Androgyny and Beyond? Feminism and the
Transformation of Religious Consciousness,” pp. 201-219.
Film:
Goddess Remembered
Comment Paper 12
Week
14: 11/22-26 Break Week, No Classes
•Third
Essay Exam, due 11/29
•Individual
Papers, due 12/6
12/13 I will be in my office from 11-12 for discussion or for you to pick
up any essays, exams, or other assignments that you may not have already retrieved.
Essay
Exam #1 Due
September 17
Statement of the Problem:
According to Rita Gross, there are two barriers to the study
of women and religion: the belief that
there is little or no information about women and religion, and the belief that
what women do is unimportant.
Compounding our problem is the fact that the historical study of
religion is beset by four levels of androcentrism.
In your essay, tell me what are the levels
of androcentrism that make the study of religions difficult. How can we as scholars employ an androgynous
methodology to overcome these barriers and problems and arrive at accurate and
usable scholarship in the study of religions?
Use one of the examples from the book, or one we talked about in class,
to illustrate how a religious tradition or practice might be better understood
with more accurate scholarship that includes integrated information about
women.
In 1977 Carol Christ coined the terms “revolutionary” and
“reformist” to describe what she saw as two essentially different approaches to
the feminist study of women and religions.
First, what do the two terms mean in regards to the study of
religions? How do the revolutionaries
and the reformists seem to differ from one another? Give examples of each “camp” from your
readings.
Second, let’s problematize this distinction, which seems far too
facile. Aside from an agreement over the
negativity of patriarchal institutions and a desire for them to end, do
revolutionaries and reformists have anything in common with one another? In what ways are their methodologies similar? In what ways do they face similar
problems? Give examples from your
readings.
We have read several articles dealing with the myth of the
Great Goddess and why modern women “need” the Goddess. Some of these articles on ancient Goddesses
contain numerous problems, both in terms of historical accuracy and underlying
premises. Using examples from our
readings and class discussions, what are some of these underlying problems?
What’s wrong with the premises of some of our authors? How can fieldwork and
research into the religious practices of women get us a little closer to a more
realistic understanding of what living Goddess cultures may add to women’s
religious roles?
Finally, reflect for a moment on Rita Gross’ statement about
scholarship needing to be both accurate and usable. Is “inaccurate scholarship” scholarship? Is it usable?
By whom? How so? How would questions of accuracy affect our
practices of religions?