Greening of Feminism

Questions like this and others related to feminism and the environment will be explored during the Phyllis Trible Lecture Series to be held March 1 and 2 on the Reynolda Campus. Over 250 students and representatives from faith communities are expected to attend presentations by four experts in ecological theology.

Wake Forest University professor Phyllis Trible will open the series with an examination of Biblical readings giving feminist insight into human care for creation.

Daisy Machado, professor of church history at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and Jeannette Rodriguez, professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University will offer Latina perspectives on how land and identity are interwoven and on how the borderlands are places where both women and the environment are threatened.

Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.J., Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University and well-known author of “She Who Is,” will address women’s voices in ecological theology.

“Within feminist studies there is a strong recognition that people of different cultural and religious identities bring their own wisdom to discussions of sustainability,” says Diane Lipsett, assistant professor of New Testament and Christian origins in the Wake Forest School of Divinity. “For example, the series’ two Latina speakers have distinctive perspectives to offer on sustainability, feminism and religion.”

In addition to showcasing recent scholarship, students, faculty and staff from the School of Divinity and the undergraduate College will come together for a luncheon and discussion where Director of Sustainability Dedee DeLongpré Johnston will present goals for sustainability at Wake Forest. The START gallery will also sponsor a student art show connected with the series.

The lecture series, in its ninth year, honors Phyllis Trible, an internationally known biblical scholar and member of the founding faculty of the Wake Forest School of Divinity. The event is also supported by the Wake Forest Women’s and Gender Studies program and is free for Wake Forest students, faculty and staff.

Trible has published groundbreaking feminist works, including “God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality” and “Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narrative.”  She has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad, and is a past president of the Society of Biblical Literature.

Schedule of Events
( All lectures are held in Brendle Recital Hall)

March 1
1:45 p.m. “The Dilemma of Dominion”
Phyllis Trible, University Professor at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature Emerita at Union Theological Seminary (NYC)

3 p.m. “La Tierra: Home, Identity, and Destiny”
Jeanette Rodriguez, Professor and Chair in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Seattle University

5 p.m. “Body Map: Ecocide and Femicide on the Border”
Daisy L. Machado, Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary (NYC).

March 2
9:30 a.m. “Ecological Theology in Women’s Voices”
Elizabeth A. Johnson, C.S.J., Distinguished Professor of Theology at Fordham University