Indiana University Press Journals Weblog

Call for Papers: Women in the Responsa Literature

The theme of issue no. 21 of Nashim (Spring 2011), under the consulting editorship of David Golinkin of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, will be “Women in the Responsa Literature.”

The responsa literature -- compilations of legal opinions written by rabbis and rabbinic judges in response to specific queries or cases -- is one of the largest branches, if not the largest branch of Jewish literature. Indeed, a new bibliography (Shmuel Glick, Kuntress hateshuvot hehadash, I--III, Jerusalem, 2006–2009) lists over 4,400 books or series containing responsa. The responsa are a fount of information about Jewish women on a host of topics, such as marriage, divorce, agunot (women who remain “chained” to missing, disabled or separated husbands in the absence of a religious divorce), widows, child-rearing, and women in business, starting from about 500 CE and continuing right up to the present day. This vast literature was utilized for research on women’s lives in studies by Israel Abrahams (Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, London, 1896) and, more recently, by Avraham Grossman (Rebellious and Pious: Jewish Women in Medieval Europe, Lebanon, NH, 2004) and Ruth Lamdan (A Separate People: Jewish Women in Palestine, Syria and Egypt in the Sixteenth Century, Leiden, 2000), but it is still only beginning to be tapped.

For this issue of Nashim, we invite submissions about women in the responsa literature, focusing on a broad topic, a specific geographical area or a specific set of responsa. How are women portrayed? What can we learn about their lives? How were they viewed by rabbis and by their societies? Can we hear their own voices in the testimony they gave before religious courts (batei din)? How did and do these rulings affect their lives? And how can we interpret all of this data using the tools of women’s and gender studies?

Proposals for submissions of up to 12,000 words, not previously published or under consideration for publication elsewhere, should be sent to Deborah Greniman, Managing Editor of Nashim, by February 1, 2010, by email (preferably) to nashim@schechter.ac.il; or by fax to +972-3-7256592. Final date for submission of articles: May 1, 2010.

All scholarly articles will be subject to peer review. Academic Editor of Nashim: Renée Levine Melammed.
Nashim is published jointly by the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, and Indiana University Press.

Engaging Christianities: Negotiating HIV/AIDS, Health, and Social Relations in East and Southern Africa

Special Issue: Christianity and HIV/AIDS in East and Southern Africa   
Africa Today VOLUME 56, ISSUE 1

From the introduction by Ruth Prince, Philippe Denis, Rijk van Dijk:

The purpose of this special issue is to explore and analyze the ways in which Christianity is becoming one of the most influential factors in the engagement of AIDS in some African countries. This special issue addresses the consequences of this rapidly expanding Christian engagement with AIDS and the questions it raises. These questions can be grouped into three main themes: first, those concerning the ways people are dealing with illness and death, treatment and care for the sick, and questions of morality, kinship, gender relations, and sexuality; second, those concerning the place of religion in the public sphere, in relation to civil society and government, development, and public health; third, those concerning transformations within Christian practices and worldviews in Africa. This special issue explores not only some diverse responses of African churches to AIDS, but also the place of Christianity in (inter)national AIDS programs and initiatives, and the Christianization of public discourse and debate about AIDS and its effects on other institutions, practices, and debates in African societies experiencing the AIDS epidemic.

This special issue thus offers recent research and timely reflections on the interrelationships of Christianity, AIDS, and society in African countries. As the studies presented here encompass East and Southern Africa (specifically, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), this collection does not claim to present an overview of research in the whole continent, nor of the relations between Christianity and AIDS in Africa today; rather, it offers insights into the sometimes surprising relationships between AIDS and Christianity at particular moments and places over the last ten years.

Special Issue: Christianity and HIV/AIDS in East and Southern Africa   
Africa Today VOLUME 56, ISSUE 1

Introduction to Special Issue: Engaging Christianities: Negotiating HIV/AIDS, Health, and Social Relations in East and Southern Africa
Ruth Prince, Philippe Denis, Rijk van Dijk

Faith and the Intersubjectivity of Care in Botswana
Frederick Klaits

The “Failures of Culture”: Christianity, Kinship, and Moral Discourses about Orphans during Botswana's AIDS Crisis
Bianca Dahl

“Keep Holy Distance and Abstain till He Comes”: Interrogating a Pentecostal Church's Engagements with HIV/AIDS and the Youth in Kenya
Damaris Seleina Parsitau

HIV/AIDS, Pentecostal Churches, and the “Joseph Generation” in Uganda
Alessandro Gusman

Doing Better? Religion, the Virtue-Ethics of Development, and the Fragmentation of Health Politics in Tanzania
Hansjörg Dilger

BOOK REVIEWS

The Pitfalls of Liberal Democracy and Late Nationalism in South Africa. Mueni wa Muiu
E. Ike Udogu

Radicalism and Cultural Dislocation in Ethiopia, 1960–1974. Messay Kebede
Christopher R. Green

Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa. Dambisa Moyo
Ama Biney

To subscribe or order a special issue visit http://inscribe.iupress.org/loi/aft.

Schüssler Fiorenza: Leading feminist thinker and activist

Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

JFSR Volume 25 Issue 1

Special Issue: In Honor of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza

This special issue of JFSR highlights leading feminist scholar Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s contributions to feminist studies in religion through various constructive engagements with her work. The academic world too often divides itself into categories of expertise and discipline. As this volume shows, however, the work of a leading feminist thinker and activist like Schussler Fiorenza cuts across these lines and engages a wide range of topics and conversations. Many people are familiar with Schussler Fiorenza’s groundbreaking work in feminist biblical studies. Her path-breaking book In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins has been translated into more than 10 languages. However, even those familiar with her work in this area are often unaware of her contributions to feminist studies in religion more broadly. Speaking about topics ranging from "the religion of thinness" to metaphysics, from feminist hermeneutics to pedagogy, from Muslim feminist theology to the politics of nationalism, this volume engages the work of Schussler Fiorenza from areas of interest beyond Christian Testament studies. In the process, key theoretical models in feminist studies in religion and feminist theologies that Schussler Fiorenza has pioneered — critical rhetorical feminist analysis and critical liberationist feminist theology — are explored, applied and developed in new and creative ways, demonstrating the ongoing vibrancy of the field of feminist studies in religion.

Since Schussler Fiorenza is the co-founder of JFSR, it seems fitting that this volume celebrating her work also launches a bold new cover design for the journal. The complex interconnections of the symbols visually represent the broad range of religious traditions and their feminist intersections and conveys the journal’s commitment to fostering feminist conversation and activism that is multidiscipinary and multireligious.

Susan Weiss wins "Women in Law" award

Jerusalem lawyer, Susan Weiss is one of the contributors in the newly published issue of Nashim 17. We have just learned that Susan was awarded this year’s “Women in Law” citation by the Israel Bar Association, at a ceremonial dinner held on June 2 in Eilat.

Susan Weiss is the founder and executive director of the Center for Women’s Justice in Jerusalem, which is committed to advancing the rights of women to equality, dignity and justice under Jewish law.

You can check out their website at www.cwj.org.il.

Susan's contribution to Nashim 17 is Under Cover: Demystification of Women's Head Covering in Jewish Law and can be found in Nashim's newest special issue titled: Sexuality in Jewish Contexts.

Sexuality in Jewish Contexts

NASHIM 17: Special Issue

Sexuality in Jewish Contexts

From the introduction by Tova Hartman

"For many feminist women and men, religion continues to be a place they not only return to for comfort, but also continually and substantively revisit, with passion and rigor. Once it might have been possible to take for granted that religion is inherently oppressive in its patriarchal hierarchies; but if it were exclusively oppressive, more people, and certainly more feminists, would have made a clean break. Instead, we have Muslim academics like Fadwa El Guindi claiming the veil as tool of feminist liberation. In my own research, I have heard women express a wide range of feelings about the traditional Jewish woman’s menstrual rites, from enthusiasm, to indifference, to contempt—some times all voiced by the same woman! And I have watched gay men and women, who readily acknowledge that their sexuality is delegitimized within traditional Judaism, converting to much higher levels of observance, in some cases becoming Orthodox.

What binds these people – what binds all of us – to remain within this seemingly endless conversation?
One reason for the tenacity with which feminism and religion have held onto each other, is that, on the one hand, sexuality is an embodied experience that cannot ultimately be relegated to theoretical analysis. At the same time, religion itself, while always open to criticism, proves curiously (or naturally) resistant to ultimate dismissal. The analyses of sexual cultures undertaken by the writers in this issue demonstrate in different ways that, to borrow a phrase from Judith Butler, it is “bodies that matter” as much as the more abstract formulations of sexual ideology. Each author adds richly to our sense of what can be included within the protean field of sexuality and feminism, and expands the range of implications that jump, like sparks, out of the friction between theoretical models and the sense people make of their daily lives." 

Special Issue Price $19.95

To subscribe call us at 800.842.6796 or visit us online.

Jewish Women and Philanthropy

Jewish Women and Philanthropy

A Nashim Conference

On July 16, 2009 the first conference sponsored by the academic journal Nashim will be held at Tulane University in New Orleans.

This unique, one-day conference brings together academics, philanthropists and professionals to assess the past, present and future of Jewish women in philanthropy.

Jewish philanthropy has its roots in tikkun olam, a communal obligation to ensure social justice in our world. Jewish women have always played a critical role in tzedakah, but their contributions have often been neglected.

Proceedings will be featured in a special issue of the academic journal Nashim. Scholars will present their insights on the topic, and attendees will join in for a spirited roundtable discussion on just what it means to be a Jewish woman in today's economy.

Among the confirmed conference speakers are:

Sylvia Barack Fishman
Chair, Department of Near East and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University, Director of HBI

Susan M. Chambré
Professor of Sociology, Baruch College

Barbara Dobkin
Founder of Ma’yan, the Jewish Women’s Project and Jewish Women Professionals and the Jewish Community

Shifra Bronznick
Founder of Bronznick & Co., LLC, and founding President of Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community

Gail T. Reimer
Founding director of the Jewish Women’s Archive

Brenda Brasher
Visiting Professor, Tulane University, Sociology Department

The Past that Does Not Pass

January Read for Free Selections

Bookmark our READ for FREE site and visit often for free access each month to articles from our journals.

Dalia Ofer, The Past that Does Not Pass: Israelis and “Holocaust Memory”.
Israel Studies Apr 2009, Vol. 14, No. 1: 1–35.  For more information on Israel Studies, please click here.

Wendy Rogers, Angela Ballantyne, When is sex-specific research appropriate?
International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics Oct 2008, Vol. 1, No. 2: 36–57.  For more information on IJFAB, please click here.

Chad M. Bauman, Redeeming Indian “Christian” Womanhood? Missionaries, Dalits, and Agency in Colonial India.  For more information on JFSR, please click here.

Vivian Nixon, Patricia Ticento Clough, David Staples, Yolanda Johnson Peterkin, Patricia Zimmerman, Christina Voight, Sean Pica, Life Capacity Beyond Reentry: A Critical Examination of Racism and Prisoner Reentry Reform in the US.
Race/Ethnicity: Multidisciplinary Global Contexts Oct 2008, Vol. 2, No. 1: 21–43.  For more information on R/E, please click here.

New Scholar Award

Professor Bauman Wins New Scholar Award

Butler University Assistant Professor of Religion Chad Bauman submitted an article to The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion late last year, just hoping it would be published.

Not only does the article appear in the fall 2008 edition, but it earned him the journal’s Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza New Scholars Award, given to the young scholar who writes the best article in feminist studies of religion for that year.

The award, named for the feminist biblical scholar and theologian, earned Bauman $1,000, as well as publication of his article, “Redeeming Indian ‘Christian’ Womanhood?: Missionaries, Dalits, and Agency in Colonial India.”

“I was really surprised and grateful to receive the award,” said Bauman, who's in his fourth year teaching at Butler.“The editors at the journal contributed significantly to the quality of the article during the editing phase. It was the best and most productive publication experience I've ever had.”

Bauman’s article examines the interactions between Hindus and Christian missionaries from about 1870 through 1940 in a region of India called Chhattisgarh.

To subscribe to The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion http://inscribe.iupress.org/loi/fsr.
To learn more about the journal visit http://www.fsrinc.org/jfsr/.

Biggest meeting of Bible scholars will meet in Boston, November 2008

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Bible, and More

Atlanta, GA, October 2008—The Bible matters to millions. Yet most of us never learned about it in school. While the Bible continues to fascinate and inspire, accurate and nuanced information about its contents, formation, and interpretation remains a mystery to many.

The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), a membership organization of Bible scholars, will hold its annual meeting in Boston this year, from November 21-25. The world’s largest meeting for those who study the Biblical texts and the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds is an ideal setting for journalists and producers to interview experts in the field, all under one roof—the Hynes Convention Center.

Editors Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion will be attending and presenting and would like to invite you to join them at the following sessions.

 
JFSR 23-51
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion
11/23/2008
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Fairfax B - SH

Theme: Feminist Biblical Studies: Interrogating Empires in Diverse Contexts

Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, Drew University, Presiding (5 min)
Althea Spencer Miller, Drew University, Panelist (15 min)
Erin Runions, Pomona College, Panelist (15 min)
Wil Gafney, Lutheran School of Theology, Philadelphia, Panelist (15 min)
Break (5 min)
Joseph Marchal, Ball State University, Panelist (15 minutes)
Amy Kalmanofsky, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Panelist (15 min)
Surekha Nelavala, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Panelist (15 minutes)
Discussion (50 min)

JFSR 23-106
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion
11/23/2008
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Fairfax B - SH
Theme: Socio-Geographical and Hermeneutical Differences: Challenges and Opportunities in Contemporary Feminist Biblical Studies
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Harvard University, Presiding (5 min)
Susanne Scholz, Southern Methodist University, Panelist (10 min)
Dora R. Mbuwayesango, Hood Theological Seminary, Panelist (10 min)
Cheryl Anderson, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)
Gay Byron, Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Respondent (15 min)
Beth Tanner, New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)
Marie-Theres Wacker, Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster, Respondent (15 min)
Seung-Ai Yang, Chicago Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (50 min)