Dr. Ross S. Kraemer
rkraemer@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
407 Duhring Wing
898 5822 		Shira Lander
shlander@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Electronic course address:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/courses/rs005

Religious Studies 005/Women's Studies 005

Spring 1997

Women and Religion

This course investigates women's religious practices and beliefs in a number of established religions, focusing on patterns observable in a wide range of religious traditions, ancient and modern. Religions considered this semester include Buddhism, Caribbean zar, Christianity, Dionysian devotion (ancient Greece), Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. We are concerned both with the description of women's religions, and with the development of some theoretical models to help us understand the nature and functions of women's religious beliefs and practices. We pay special attention to the interaction of religion and culture, and the ways in which religion helps form women's roles in different societies. Issues raised will include the impact of the women's movement and feminist thought on the religious life of women in particular contemporary societies, and the development of contemporary woman-oriented spiritual movements and religious practices.

Course Requirements:

1. Attendance at all lectures. If you are sick, or away from school for an emergency, please try to let us know in advance if at all possible. You may send us an e-mail message, or call Professor Kraemer's office, or the department office (898 7453).

2. Attendance and participation in all weekly discussion sections. See above regarding absence from section. In addition, each student will be expected to take responsibility for opening discussion in section at least once during the semester, normally by preparing a short response to the week's readings and lecture(s) and making it available to other students sufficiently in advance of section. E-mail is an efficient way to do this.

2. Timely completion of the weekly reading assignments. Due to the nature of the material, the readings for some weeks will be heavier than others, so you should plan accordingly. On average, you should expect to devote 6-8 hours per week in class preparation and related work.

3. Weekly journal. All students are expected to keep a journal of your responses to class readings. You may also include responses to lectures, discussions and videos. Journals may be hand-written or word processed, and should be done at least once a week. Journals must be submitted three times during the semester. Normally, they should be handed in at section of the week they are due: Feb 5; Mar 5; Apr 23.

4. Two short papers/critical book reviews. Further information will be available later, but normally one of these will be a critical review of Margaret Atwood's novel, The Handmaid's Tale. Papers/projects are due by section the week of Feb 16 and March 20.

5. Final papers. The final paper for the course will be a research paper on a topic of your own choosing, subject to the approval of your section leader. Topics and bibliography must be submitted in advance. The due date of the paper will be announced later in the semester.

Grading Policies

To receive a passing grade, students are expected to satisfy all course requirements, as described above. Failure to meet any individual requirement may be grounds for receiving a failing grade for the course.

For purposes of determining your final grade, course work will be weighted as follows:

Weekly journals 30%; Short papers 20%; Final Paper 25%; Attendance and participation (particularly in section and electronically) 25%. Total: 100%.

Papers are due as noted or announced in class or electronically. Students who submit papers after the deadlines, without having made prior arrangements, should expect to be penalized in the grade they receive.

Required Readings

All required readings for the course should be on reserve in Rosengarten, with the exception of one or two readings available electronically. All readings are also available for purchase: books are at the Penn Bookstore; a bulkpak is available from Campus Copy, 3907 Walnut Street.

  1. Serenity Young, Anthology of Sacred Texts by and About Women, Crossroad, 1993.
  2. Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale.
  3. Lynn Davidman, Tradition in A Rootless World. University of California Press, 1991.
  4. Sally Kitch, Chaste Liberation, Illinois University Press, 1989.
  5. Ross S. Kraemer, Her Share of the Blessings: Women's Religions Among Pagans, Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman World. Oxford University Press, 1992.
  6. I.M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion, London: Routledge, 1989 (reprint of 1971 original).
  7. Judith Plaskow and Carol Christ, eds., Weaving the Visions. Harper and Row, 1989.
  8. Susan Sered, Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister: Religions Dominated by Women. Oxford University Press, 1994.
In addition, there is a bulkpak of readings available for purchase. An asterisk denotes a reading from the bulkpak. A number of readings from the bulkpak are taken from a book now out of print. This book itself is on reserve: Nancy Falk and Rita Gross, eds., Unspoken Worlds. Women's Religious Lives. Wadsworth, 1989.

Syllabus

Jan 13 and 15 Introduction

1. Defining and describing women's religious experiences;
2. Distinguishing between attitudes toward women in various religious traditions and women's actual religious experiences and beliefs
3. Religion and cultural constructions of gender
4. Feminism, feminist theory and the study of women's religions
5. Emic and etic perspectives
Readings:

Young, ix-xviii Sered, 3-10, 195-213 *June O'Connor, "The Epistemological Significance of Feminist Research in Religion," from Ursula King, ed., Religion and Gender, Routledge, 1995, 45-64.

Jan 20 and 22 Women's religions and women's lives: some interpretive frameworks:

1. Women's religion as expression of cultural constructions of gender and reinforcement of social roles and expectations;
2. Women's religion as social protest, critique and temporary release
3. Women's religion as permanent alternative
Readings:

*Michelle Rosaldo, "Woman, Culture and Society: A Theoretical Overview," from Woman, Culture and Society, eds. Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, Stanford University Press, 1974, 17-42.
*Michelle Rosaldo, "The Use and Abuse of Anthropology: Reflections on Feminism and Cross-Cultural Understanding," Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 5 (1980) 3:389-417.
*Sherry Ortner, "Is Female is to Male as Nature to Culture?" from Woman, Culture and Society, eds. Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, Stanford University Press, 1974, 67-88.
*Sherry Ortner, "So, Is Female is to Male as Nature to Culture?" from Making Gender: The Politics and Erotics of Culture, Beacon Press, 1996, 173-80.
Sered, 11-42.
Kitch, 23-32.

Jan 27 and 29; Feb 3 and 5 Women's religion as social protest, critique and temporary release: three case studies.

Readings (1/27 and 29)

Lewis, chapters 1-5, chapter 6, section V. Readings (2/3 and 5)

Young, 149-50, 216-217, 218-219.
Sered, "The Social Context of Women's Religions" 43-69; "Leaders and Experts" 215-41.
*Kraemer, "Ecstasy and Possession: Ancient Greek Women and the Cult of Dionysos," from Unspoken Worlds, 45-55.
*Youngsook Kim Harvey, "Possession Sickness and Women Shamans in Korea," from Unspoken Worlds, 37-44.

Journals due in section 2/3, etc.

Feb 10, 12, 17 Religion as replication and reinforcement of traditional roles and gender expectations: case studies from Hinduism and Buddhism.

Readings (Hinduism):

Young 266-70, 277-79, 286 bottom-290; 292 bottom-298.
*Doranne Jacobson, "Golden Handprints and Red-painted Feet: Hindu Childbirth Rituals in Central India," from Unspoken Worlds, 59-71.
*Susan Wadley, "Hindu Women's Family and Household Rites in a North Indian Village," from Unspoken Worlds, 72-81.
*James Freeman, "The Ladies of Lord Krishna: Rituals of Middle-Aged Women in Eastern India," from Unspoken Worlds, 82-92. *Newspaper Clippings on Women in India

Readings (Buddhism):

Young, 306-309; 313-333.
*Diana Paul, "Empress Wu and the Historians: A Tyrant and Saint of Classical China," from Unspoken Worlds, 145-54.
*Nancy Falk, "The Case of the Vanishing Nuns: The Fruits of Ambivalence in Ancient Indian Buddhism," from Unspoken Worlds, 155-65
*Reginald Ray, "Accomplished Women in Tantric Buddhism of Medieval India and Tibet," from Unspoken Worlds, 191-200.

First short paper/review due 2/16, etc.

Feb 19, 24 and 26 Women's religion in contemporary Islam

Guest speaker 2/19: Professor Barbara von Schlegell, Department of Religious Studies 2/24 In-class video: The Veiled Revolution Readings:

Young 95-108; 110-115.
Nikki R. Keddie, "Introduction: Deciphering Middle Eastern Women's History," from Keddie and Beth Baron, eds., Women in Middle Eastern History. Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender, Yale University Press, 1991, 1-22.
*Anne Betteridge, "The Controversial Vows of Urban Muslim Women in Iran," from Unspoken Worlds, 102-111.
*Fatima Mernisi, "Women, Saints and Sanctuaries in Morocco," from Unspoken Worlds, 112-124.
*Erika Friedl, "Islam and Tribal Women in a Village in Iran," from Unspoken Worlds, 125-133.
*Newspaper clippings: "In Egypt's Schools, Fashion is Politics" (New York Times 6/30/96); "New Tack for Egypt's Islamic Militants: Imposing Divorce," (New York Times 12/28/96).

Mar 3 and 5 Chastity as Autonomy 1: sexual renunciation, women's leadership and women's religions: three case studies.

Readings:

Kitch, 1-22.
Young, 20-22 (Philo of Alexandria on the Therapeutae) -
*1 Corinthians 7, 11, 14-15.
*1 and 2 Timothy.
The Acts of [Paul and] Thecla (electronically at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/courses/rs135/thecla.html)
Kraemer, 113-117; 128-56; 174-98.
*Sherry B. Ortner, "The Problem of 'Women' as an Analytic Category," from Ortner, Making Gender, 116-38.

Journals due in section 3/3, etc.

March 10 and 12: Spring Break

Mar 17 and 19 Chastity and Autonomy 2: Ann Lee, Rebecca Jackson and the American Shaker Movement

Young, 405-407.
*Susan Setta, "When Christ is a Woman: Theology and Practice in the Shaker Tradition," Unspoken Worlds, 221-231.
Kitch, 74-92, 125-76, 186-216.
*Introductory material and a sampling of visions of Rebecca Jackson, from Jean McMahon Humez, Gifts of Power: The Writings of Rebecca Jackson, Black Visionary, Shaker Eldress. University of Massachusetts Press, 1981.

Second short paper/review due 3/20 etc.

Mar 24 and 26 Goddess worship as women's religions

Guest Lecturer, Dr. Cynthia Eller, Center for the Study of American Religion, Princeton University. Readings:

*The Homeric Hymn to Demeter
Young, 298-305.
Kraemer, 22-29, 71-79.
*E. Ann Matter, "The Virgin Mary: A Goddess?" from Carl Olson, ed., The Book of the Goddess Past and Present., New York: Crossroad, 1985, 80-96.
*Cynthia Eller, "Relativizing the Patriarchy: The Sacred History of the Feminist Spirituality Movement," History of Religions 30 (1991) 279-95.
Sered, 161-79.
*Naomi Goldenberg, "The Return of the Goddess: Psychoanalytic Reflections on the Shift from Theology to Thealogy," from Religion and Gender, ed., Ursula King, Routledge, 1995, 145-63.

Mar 31, Apr 1, Apr 7 Christian women, women's Christianities and feminist critique of Christianity.

Readings (All from Plaskow and Christ, Weaving the Visions):

Introduction, 1-13;
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, "In Search of Women's Heritage," 29-38.
Rosemary Radford Ruether, "Sexism and God-language," 151-62.
Beverly Harrison, "The Power of Anger in the Work of Love," 214-225.
Susan Thistlethwaite, "Every Two Minutes: Battered Women and Feminist Interpretation," 302-13.
Dolores Williams, "Womanist Theology," 179-86.
Katie Cannon, "Moral Wisdom," 281-92.
E. Ann Matter, "My Sister, My Spouse," 51-62.
Carter Heyward, "Sexuality, Love and Justice," 293-301.
Mary Daly, "Be-friending," 199-207.
Starhawk, "Ritual as Bonding," 326-335.

Apr 9, 14 and 16: Jewish women, women's Judaisms and feminist critique of Judaism

4/9 In class video: Barbara Meyerhoff, In Her Own Time. Readings:

Davidman, all.
*Susannah Heschel, "Introduction" to On Being a Jewish Feminist, Schocken Books, 1983, xiii-xxxvi.
*Judith Plaskow, "Introduction: It's Feminist but is it Jewish?" from Standing Again at Sinai. Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, Harper and Row, 1990, vii-xix.
*Miriam Peskowitz, "Engendering Jewish Religious History," from Peskowitz and Laura Levitt, eds., Judaism Since Gender, Routledge, 1997, 17-40.
*Rebecca Alpert, "On Seams and Seamlessness" from Peskowitz and Levitt, eds., Judaism Since Gender, Routledge, 1997, 109-112.
*Newspaper clipping: "A fight for control of life in Israel," Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/7/96.

Apr 21 and 23 Gender construction and women's ordination in contemporary Judaism and Christianity

Readings:

*Final Report of the Commission for the Study of the Ordination of Women as Rabbis, from The Ordination of Women as Rabbis: Studies and Responsa. Hyman Greenberg, ed., Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1988, 5-30.
*"Women and Change in Jewish Law," in Conservative Judaism 29 (1974) 1:5-24.
*The Vatican Declaration on the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood, from Women Priests: A Catholic Commentary on the Vatican Declaration. Leonard and Arlene Swidler, eds., Paulist Press, 1977.
*The Pontifical Biblical Commission Report: CanWomen Be Priests?
*Deborah Belonick, "The Spirit of Female Priesthood," from Women and the Priesthood, Thomas Hopko, ed., St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1983, 135-68.
*Susan Kwilecki, "Contemporary Pentecostal Clergywomen: Female Christian Leadership, Old Style," Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 3 (1987) 57-76.