Interfaith Feminisms at WFU March 4&5

The Sixth Annual Phyllis Trible Lecture Series at Wake Forest University will explore “Interfaith Feminisms” March 4 and 5 in Brendle Recital Hall. This year’s series assembles an interfaith group of female scholars of religion to debate and discuss issues ranging from Islamic and Christian feminism to race and gender theology. The theme of “Interfaith Feminisms” promises a fresh look at some provocative questions and new perspectives on the impact of religion in the 21st Century.

The lecture series is named in honor of Phyllis Trible, internationally-known biblical scholar and University Professor of Biblical Studies at the Wake Forest Divinity School. The annual event brings together a wide-ranging audience of Wake Forest students and faculty members, clergy and individuals from across the nation interested in feminist theology. True to the Trible tradition, this year’s scholars will explore feminist and womanist historical and religious perspectives. The two-day event wraps up with a panel discussion with the scholars, moderated by Trible herself.

This year’s speakers include Mary Boys, the Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary, New York. Her lecture, titled “Christian Feminist Theology: Learning in the Presence of the Other” draws on her study of Christian and Jewish dialogue. Hibba Abugideiri, assistant professor of history at Villanova University, will explore the role of the modern Islamic woman in “Speaking from Behind the Veil: Does Islamic Feminism Exist?” Abugideiri specializes in modern Middle East history, women in the Middle East and North Africa. Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies in the department of religion at Dartmouth College, will address “Strange Affinities: Biblical Scholarship and the Rise of Racism.” Yvonne Haddad, professor of the history of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, will build on the interfaith feminisms theme when she lectures on “Negotiating Gender through the Qur’an.”

Phyllis Trible, in whose honor the series is held, will open and close the series and be present throughout. She is the author of several books, including “God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality” and “Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives.” Previous lecture series themes focused on “Gender, Sexuality and Faith,” “Miriam, Mary and Mary Magdalene in Art, Literature and Music: Feminist Perspectives,” “The Children of Hagar and Sarah: Feminist Perspectives in Judaism, Christianity and Islam” and “Feminist and Womanist Religious Perspectives.”

Registration for the lecture series begins at noon March 4. Admission is $35 for each individual lecture or $100 for all four lectures. There is an additional charge for the closing luncheon on March 5. The series is free to Wake Forest students, faculty and staff; students from other schools may also attend free by showing their student identification. A complete schedule of events is available online at http://divinity.wfu.edu/trible-lectures.html. For additional information, call 336-758-3522.

Editors note: Dr. Trible is available for advance and in-person interviews. Interviews with other scholars may also be arranged. Call 336-758-4393 to schedule an interview.

Press Contacts:

Audrey Fannin
(336) 758-5237
fannin@wfu.edu

Kevin Cox
(336) 758-5237
coxkp@wfu.edu