Academic Courses
(honors and graduate)

Women in Islam

This course examines the sources (Quran and Hadith) and the practice of Islam with a special emphasis (a) upon how women have shaped and continue to shape Islam and (b) upon current issues wherein Muslim women are re-examining their traditions. This course takes non-Muslims into the heart of Islam and allows them to build bridges of solidarity with Muslim women. Muslims, meanwhile, will find a fresh ways of appreciating and evaluating their local Islamic traditions.

This course is built upon the insights of various Muslim scholars, notably, Prof. Asma Barlas from Pakistan, Prof. Leila Ahmed from Egypt, and Karen Armstrong from the UK.

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Role Perceptions of Women in Children’s Literature

All ages and cultures have used story as a means of telling new generations about the past and educating children about desired codes of behavior. Story telling seems to have been important to human beings even before writing became a means to preserve these tales.  Accordingly this course will begin by examining the oral and written narratives used by mothers to inculturate their daughters. 

You will learn to decipher the hidden wisdom and to discern the social conditioning implied in stories such as "Little Red Riding Hood."  Then, once learned, these skills will be applied to modern English literature designed for children.  Overall, this course will enable women to recover their past in order to better design the future for their mothers, sisters, and children. 

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Women’s leadership according to Christian tradition

The course outlines the main stages of women's involvement in Christian ministry from the second to the twentieth century. It sketches the background and details of the ordination of women deacons. It describes the various social and cultural prejudices that gradually caused the ban on women's leadership functions to be enshrined in Church law. The course also provides a professional approach to the rules of assessing what is, and what is not, genuine Christian Tradition. Course by Dr. John Wijngaards, London, UK.

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Women's ministries according to the Sacred Scriptures

What does the New Testament say about the leadership and collaborative roles of women in the early household churches? What functions were attributed to women in early Christian communities? Did Jesus' favourable attitude toward women break down the patriarchal bias of his disciples? How did Paul extend an open partnership with women in his own ministry? In what sense were women included and excluded from priestly ministry?

These controversial matters require a professional analysis of the inspired sources. Course by Dr. John Wijngaards, London, UK.

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A Prophetic Spirituality of Justice

This course focuses upon the integral role that "acting justly" plays in the self-understanding promoted by the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faith traditions. Guided by the feminist writing of Dr. Mary Grey, this course enables participants to rediscover the pivotal role that peace-making, doing justice, motherly compassion, respecting the earth, and sharing resources have with the prophetic spirituality of the Abrahamic faiths.

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Violence Against Women: Global Realities and Responses

Gender based theories of violence against women focus on a prevalent belief system across cultures and religious systems where males are understood to be superior to women and entitled to maintain their authority over women using a variety of controlling and coercing means, including violence. The gender-based analysis recognizes the ways in which women have been conditioned to accept this belief system and the importance of educating women and men to the dangers and limitations of gender role conditioning. This course connects many forms of male violence against women, such as domestic violence, trafficking, female foeticide and infanticide, dowry deaths, and more. The contributions of Dr. Angelika Riyandari of the Catholic University of Soegijapranata in Semarang and other Asian and African scholars will be used to develop this course.

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