With an eye to the “New Feminism” of John Paul II, this course examines the key elements of contemporary feminism in what has come to be its two main radical manifestations (“equality feminism” and “difference feminism”): its critique of patriarchy, its central concern about women and work, its appeal to “experience” as norm, and its understanding of gender as either a social construct or an essential (post-modern) difference. The course will, moreover, consider these elements at work in the feminist critique and re-formulation (if not rejection) of the main theological loci (Trinity, Christology, Ecclesiology, Mariology). Students will become familiar with the key figures in and the essential features of feminism (theological and otherwise).
Key texts representing feminist thought (e.g. Beauvoir, Irigaray, Butler), its theoretical background (e.g. Mill, Hegel, Foucault), its theological manifestation (e.g. Johnson, Hampson, Schüssler-Fiorenza, Coakley) as well as its critique (John Paul II, Ong, Stern, Hans Urs von Balthasar) will be read.
