Gender, Justice, Empire: Contextual Readings of the OT (BA2040P)

Content

This course explores the relationship between issues of gender, justice and empire in Old Testament interpretation. Through a study of a number of Old Testament texts, particularly those which narrate the experience of women within the wider social and imperial contexts, we will consider how these themes are configured and related within biblical traditions. We will engage in a close reading of a range of primary Old Testament texts and contemporary feminist/womanist and other (culturally diverse) scholarship about these texts and will also examine how these hermeneutical perspectives engage and critique traditional exegetical approaches. The approach will be interdisciplinary and will provide students opportunity to study these texts alongside contemporary women’s experiences and portrayals of women in other media such as art, film, poetry, and law.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

15 points in Old Testament studies

Pedagogy

Lectures; Exercises; Seminars, Tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

• Davies, Eryl W. The Dissenting Reader: Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible, Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003. (Recommended for purchase)
• Dube, Musa W. Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible, St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 2000.
• Fewell, Danna N., and Gunn, David M. Gender, Power and Promise: The Subject of the Bible’s First Story. Nashville: Abingdon, 1993.
• Day, Linda and Pressler, Carolyn (eds.), Engaging the Bible in a Gendered World: An Introduction to Feminist Biblical Interpretation in honor of K. B. Sakenfeld. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Know, 2006. (Recommended for purchase)
• Havea, Jione, David J. Neville, & Elaine M. Cartwright, eds. Bible, Borders, Belonging(s): Engaging Readings from Oceania. Atlanta: SBL, 2014.
• Newsome, Carol A. and Sharon H. Ringe, (eds.), The Women’s Bible Commentary (Expanded), London/Louisville: SPCK/Westminster John Knox, 1998.
• Patte, Daniel. The Global Bible Commentary, Nashville: Abingdon, 2004.
• Roncace, Mark and Joseph Weaver (eds.), Global Perspectives on the Bible. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2012. (Recommended for purchase)
• Adam, A. K. M. (ed.), Handbook of Postmodern Biblical Interpretation. St. Louis: Chalice, 2000.
• West, Gerald, ed. Reading Otherwise: Socially Engaged Biblical Scholars Reading with their Local Communities. Atlanta: SBL. 2007

Assessment