Womanist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible - Final Project

I took a J-term course because I must really love reading and writing non-stop. Actually, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to take "Womanist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible" with Dr. Justin Reed.

Lucky for you, if you have found your way to this post, and you are also somewhat interested in this topic, my final project involves creating an interactive website, or in this case, series of blog posts, that will essentially summarize all the things I have been learning in this class.

Table of Contents:

• A visual aid comparing and contrasting 5 scholars articulation of what womanist biblical interpretation entails
• Individual summaries that each include my paraphrase of the thesis and three main points from 12 of the essays assigned for this class:

1. Dr. Renita Weems: “Re-Reading for Liberation: African American Women and the Bible”
2. Rev. Yolanda Norton: “Silenced Struggles for Survival: Finding Life in Death in the Book of Ruth”
3. Rev. Dr. Cheryl B. Anderson: “Reflections in an Interethnic/Racial Era on Interethnic/Racial Marriage in Ezra”
4. "Methods and the Making of Womanist Biblical Hermeneutics" by Gay L. Byron and Vanessa Lovelace
5. Rev. Dr. Mitzi J Smith: Introduction to Womanist Sass and Talk Back: Social (In)Justice, Intersectionality, and Biblical Interpretation
6. Rev. Dr. Vanessa Lovelace: "'We Don't Give Birth to Thugs': Family Values, Respectability Politics, and Jephthah's Mother"
7. Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney: "A Reflection on the Black Lives Matter Movement and Its Impact on My Scholarship"
8. Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney: “A Womanist Midrash of Delilah: Don’t Hate the Playa Hate the Game”
9. Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney: Introduction to Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne
10. Dr. Renita Weems: “The Hebrew Women are Not Like the Egyptian Women” 
11. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas: “Marginalized People, Liberating Perspectives: A Womanist Approach to Biblical Interpretation” 
12. Rev. Dr. Mitzi J Smith: “'This Little Light of Mine' The Womanist Biblical Scholar as Prophetess, Iconoclast, and Activist"

• Key terms in womanist interpretation: A glossary with the definitions of 10+ key terms frequently used in womanist biblical interpretation
• Key questions: A list of 20 key questions that womanists scholars are asking (and perhaps other people should be asking) when interpreting the Bible
• Causes for concern: Descriptions of 5 of the major causes of concern for Black women that we covered in this course
• Causes for celebration: Descriptions of 5 of the major causes of celebration for Black women that we covered in this course

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If you simply cannot wait until I start publishing these posts to learn more, you can listen to an interview Dr. Pete Enns did with Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney on his podcast, The Bible for Normal People.

I got to hear Dr. Enns and Dr. Gafney speak at the Evolving Faith conference in 2018. You can listen to Gafney's talk from that conference on the Evolving Faith podcast.

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