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Women, Gender, and Religion

Kori Pacyniak

The Women Who Want to Be Priests

June 24, 2021
“I’m going to stay and fix my church somehow," says Kori Pacyniak, MDiv '11, who was eight when they told their grandmother they wanted to become a priest.
Lily Rose Valore as Alice. Photo credit: Carven Creative Media

Wonderland Reimagined

June 7, 2021
“When you’re growing up, it’s really easy to separate yourself from your own body, to be scared of your own body," says MTS candidate Nadia Issa, who dances the role of Absolem in Virtually Oberon's "Alice in Rainbowland." The message of “Rainbowland” is an antidote, said Issa. “When you turn into yourself, it feels good.”
Illustration of Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl A. Giles

Black, Buddhist, and Free

May 3, 2021
Cheryl Giles, Francis Greenwood Peabody Senior Lecturer on Pastoral Care and Counseling at HDS, discusses her coedited anthology of “freedom stories” exploring what it means to be Black and Buddhist in America.
Professor Catherine Brekus

Salem, 1692

March 18, 2021
HDS Professor Catherine Brekus discusses the Salem Witch Hunt and talks about what leads a close-knit community to turn against each other—and draws some uncomfortable parallels with our own moment, from conspiracy theories to the demonization of opponents, especially women.
Four nuns seated in pews in a church. Photo by wikicommons

Has Religion Shaped Our Understanding of Gender?

January 19, 2021
Ann Braude, director of the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School discusses the history of women and religion and how religion has defined gender roles.
Professor Mark Jordan

Recalling the ‘Brave Spaces’ for LGBTQ+ History Month

October 27, 2020

Believing that a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, gathered other educators and community leaders to discuss the issue in 1994. The group selected October as LGBTQ+ History Month because public schools are in session and traditions, including Coming Out Day, occur that month.... Read more about Recalling the ‘Brave Spaces’ for LGBTQ+ History Month

Constance Buchanan

Constance Buchanan Dies at 73; Gave Women Voice in Religion

October 15, 2020
Former WSRP director Constance Buchanan "was hired to be a bridge between the righteous anger of the young radical feminists in the divinity school classrooms, and the millennia of theological education that had been exclusively in the hands of men," said Ann Braude, current WSRP director.

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