In the autumn semester of 2020, the Faculty of Theology at the University of Latvia will give those interested who have not begun studies in the field of theology and religious studies the opportunity to join online the “Feminist Theology” course led by Dr theol. and writer Ilze Jansone. The course will take place every Thursday from 16:30 to 18:00.
The aim of the “Feminist Theology” course is to introduce feminist theology and its development, focusing primarily on the process of critiquing, correcting and transforming traditional theology that arises from the experience of women’s subordination in the practical and intellectual life of the Christian Church. Drawing on the work of the best-known feminist theologians of Europe and North America, it offers an insight into the contribution of feminism to the traditional branches of theology, and also provides an overview of the role of feminist theology in other world religions.
As the course’s lecturer Ilze Jansone stresses:
For the most part we know religion as a rather patriarchal system in which a secondary place is allotted to women — after all, she was supposedly created from man’s rib, and for that reason she has for centuries been pushed aside and marginalized. Feminist theology is not, in essence, a separate discipline. It ought to run through all the other branches of theology, and in some countries of the world it does, but in others we go on living in the old days. How do we read women back into the Christian tradition, and is that even necessary? Do women read the Bible differently? What exactly prevents a woman in Latvia from becoming a pastor — her very nature, or a tendentious interpretation of Scripture? Within the course, together with the students and listeners, we will try to arrive at answers to these questions.
If you would like to take part in the “Feminist Theology” study course online, please register by filling out the form: https://forms.gle/qVUvnPZZL5jpp9tTA
Registration for the course is possible until 16 September.
About the lecturer
Ilze Jansone (1982) holds a doctorate in theology and is a Latvian writer and publicist. From 2010 to 2018 she worked at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Latvia, where in 2013 she also earned her doctoral degree in theology and religious studies. At the faculty she taught the courses “Feminist Theology,” “Gender and Religion,” “Introduction to the Psychology of Religion” and others. She has repeatedly given lectures and public talks on a variety of theological topics. Her research interests include the interplay of religion and literature, nocturnal and death theology, and feminist theology. Together with D. Hanovs and K. Vērdiņš she has compiled the academic essay collections “Gender and Religion” (I–III), and she is the author of several international scholarly publications.
