Undergraduate Course: Black Feminist/Womanist Theology and Ethics (DIVI10133)
Course Outline
| School | School of Divinity |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to the work of Black feminist/womanist theologians and ethicists who invite us to critically examine ¿traditional¿ and/or ¿orthodox¿ theologies and religious ethics, by submitting them to the testimonies, queries and ethical demands that emerge from Black women¿s lived experiences. The course will involve the crossing of disciplinary boundaries as womanists delve into history, critical theories of race, gender and sexuality, sociological studies of class, and themes of colonialism and environmental destruction among others. Each class will bring the doctrinal and ethical together, compelling students to reconsider the task and responsibilities of theology and religious ethics. |
| Course description |
Academic Description
The field of Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics emerges from the scholarship, lived faith, activism and ministry of Black women in various contexts, but predominantly those in the US. In this nation, founded upon both genocidal violence against indigenous people and the enslavement of Africans, Black women critique the intersecting injustices of race and racisms; gender and sexual discriminations; class, poverty and advanced capitalism; colonialism and imperialism; ableism and environmental destruction etc. Womanism/Black feminist theology and ethics have developed in the wider African diaspora and in Africa itself as Black women think and work to address these legacies.
The theology, in Black feminist/womanist theology, attests to the reality that Christianity and Black women have a long-standing and complex relationship. Christianity - its scriptures and theologies, and the spiritual practices, ecclesial structures and ethical demands which emerge from them - has been used as a weapon to oppress Black women and also as a tool to liberate them. This course sits with this tension by engaging Black feminist/womanist scholarship which rejects and/or seeks to reclaim and remake Christianity in both doctrinal and ethical terms, as well as by engaging voices from beyond the Christian tradition altogether.
In addition to bringing urgent theological and ethical questions to the forefront, this course will invite students to rethink methods in theology and the binary between doctrine and ethics particularly within Christian traditions. Through teaching and discussion, students will learn to critique western epistemological assumptions regarding how we know God and thus what counts as theological knowledge or ¿good¿ theology. Engagement with Black feminist/womanist texts and their range of methods and cross disciplinary approaches, will enable students to reimagine the resources they may use in the task of theology. Students will be equipped to think critically beyond Christianity, with the help of sources which centre African indigenous religions, Islam and other spiritual and religious traditions. Finally, teaching and discussion will undermine elitist (and often sexist and racist) assumptions regarding who might be a theologian or ethicist, and whose theological/ethical work is treated as core and essential for all, versus marginal and optional.
Content Outline
The course will begin by introducing various Black feminist/womanist frameworks, key concepts and the methodological and epistemological commitments which shape those who identify as Black feminists/womanists. After these initial introductory lectures and tutorials which will orient students, the remaining sessions will bring the theological and ethical together by exploring the work of some of the key figures and core texts within Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics. This will include giving attention to those texts considered foundational to Black feminism/womanism as well as more contemporary contributions which have pushed Black feminism/womanism into new spheres. The texts will reflect the predominance of Black feminist/womanist ethics in the US but also draw in voices from the UK, and the African diaspora more broadly. Themes covered will likely include:
- Black feminist/womanist readings of the Bible
- Christology, Bodies and Incarnation
- Spirit and Liberation
- Sin, Suffering and Evil
- Human Dignity, Labour and Economics
- Power, Politics and Protest
- Joy, Desire and Sexuality
- Creation care
Student Learning Experience
The course is structured around one lecture that will introduce the theme for that week. Students will also attend one tutorial dedicated to the preparatory content of that week. This will include set texts that demonstrate the range of voices and contributions that have and continue to comprise the field of Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics. It will also include sources beyond key Black feminist/womanist scholarly texts, which are essential for understanding Black feminist/womanist methodologies and theo-ethical sources. This may include for example, music videos, sermons, speeches, poems, film clips, TV show episodes, extracts from novels, news stories, social media posts podcast episodes, advertisements and marketing campaigns etc.
Students will be invited to sign up to kickstart tutorials by presenting their critical reflections on the preparatory tasks for that week. This will provide a key opportunity for formative assessment to check student learning throughout the course. Students will be assessed through one midterm comprising two components, and a final essay:
- Oral presentation (20%): students will have the opportunity to present their own womanist-inspired analysis of material from beyond academic literature, that lends itself to theological and ethical reflection. This may include critical reflection inspired by personal story and experience, and may utilize family artefacts, photography, social media content, film, poetry, TV shows, podcasts etc. Clear guidelines will be provided for students.
- Reflection (20%): the oral presentation will be accompanied by a 1000-word reflection on womanist methodology and the methods and sources engaged for the oral presentation.
- The essay (coursework 60%) will provide students with the opportunity to conduct independent research, to engage deeply with Black feminist/womanist scholarly tradition, and to develop skills in academic writing and presentation.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 Divinity/Religious Studies courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 11,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 11,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
80 %,
Practical Exam
20 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Oral Presentation - 8 mins (20%)
Reflection on Methodology - 1000 words (20%)
Essay in lieu of exam - 2500 words (60%)
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| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their oral presentation and final essay. They may also receive oral or written feedback on their essay plan, and on their Kickstarter contributions during tutorials or by email. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the history of the field of Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics.
- Produce theological and ethical reflection, drawing on cross-disciplinary knowledge and public resources.
- Compare and contrast key thinkers and theories in Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics.
- Analyse and assess the significance of Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics for the academy and wider public.
- Undertake and present independent research in the field of Black feminist/womanist theology and ethics.
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Reading List
Baker-Fletcher, Karen. Dancing with God: The Trinity from a Womanist Perspective. St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 2007.
Cannon, Katie. Black Womanist Ethics. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.
Coleman, Monica A. ed. Ain't I a Womanist, Too? Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2013.
Copeland, M. Shawn. Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race and Being. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2010.
Day, Keri. Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism: Womanist and Black Feminist Perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Douglas, Kelly Brown. Sexuality and the Black Church: A Womanist Perspective. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999.
Dube, Musa. Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible. Saint Louis: Chalice Press, 2000.
Floyd-Thomas., Stacey. Mining the Motherlode: Methods in Womanist Ethics. Cleveland: Pilgrim, 2006.
Foster, Elaine. ¿Women and the Inverted Pyramid of the Black Churches.¿ In Refusing Holy Orders: Women and Fundamentalism in Britain. Edited by Gita Sahgal and Nira Yuval-Davis. 45-68. London: Virago, 1992.
Gilkes, Cheryl Townsend. "If It Wasn't for the Women...": Black Women's Experience and Womanist Culture in Church and Community. New York: Orbis Books, 2001.
Grant, Jacquelyn. White Women¿s Christ and Black Women¿s Jesus: Feminist Christology and Womanist response. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989.
Harris, Melanie, ed. Ecowomanism, Religion and Ecology. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2017.
Hayes, Diana L. Hagar¿s Daughters: Womanist Ways of Being in the World. New York: Paulist, 1995.
Hudson-Weems, Clenora. Africana Womanism: Reclaiming Ourselves. Troy, MI: Bedford, 1993.
Kirk-Duggan, Cheryl. Misbegotten Anguish: A Theology and Ethics of Violence. St. Louis, MO: Chalice, 2001.
Mubashshir Majeed, Debra. ¿Womanism Encounters Islam: A Muslim Scholar Considers the Efficacy of a Method Rooted in the Academy and the Church.¿ In Deeper Shades of Purple, ed. Stacey Floyd-Thomas, 38¿53. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2022.
Obamakin, Olabisi. ¿Don¿t touch my hair: a feminist Nigerian/British reading of the woman who washed Jesus¿ feet with her hair in Luke 7.¿ Practical Theology (2023): 36¿50.
Oduyoye, Mercy. Introducing African Women's Theology. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2001.
Ogunyemi, Chikwenye Okonjo. ¿Womanism: The Dynamics of the Contemporary Black Female Novel in English.¿ Signs 11, no. 1 (1985): 63¿80.
Okyere-Manu, B. & Lushombo, L. (eds.) African Women¿s Liberating Philosophies, Theologies, and Ethics. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2024.
Phillips, Layli, ed. The Womanist Reader. London: Routledge, 2006.
Smith, Mitzi J. I found God in me: aBlack feminist/womanist biblical hermeneutics reader. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2015.
Stewart, Dianne M. "Womanist theology in the Caribbean context: critiquing culture, rethinking doctrine, and expanding boundaries." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 20, no. 1 (2004): 61-82.
Stone, Selina. The Spirit and the Body: Towards a Womanist Pentecostal Social Justice Ethic. Leiden: Brill, 2023.
Thomas, Linda E. "Womanist Theology, Epistemology, and a New Anthropological Paradigm." Cross Currents 48, no. 4 (1999): 488-499.
Townes, Emilie M.. Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Townes, Emilie M., Floyd-Thomas, Stacey, Gise-Johnson, Alison P., and Sims, Angela D., eds. Walking Through the Valley: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022.
Turman, Eboni Marshall. Toward a Womanist Ethic of Incarnation: Black Bodies, the Black Church, and the Council of Chalcedon. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2013.
Williams, Delores. Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk. New York: Orbis Books, 1993.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Explain here how your course will contribute to the Graduate Attributes students will develop during their degree programme. Refer to https://www.ed.ac.uk/employability/graduate-attributes for university wide attributes.
Mindsets:
This course will engage students in academic learning that makes a positive difference to themselves and the world, by teaching them to recognise and address inequalities, discrimination and forms of oppression. The course will allow students to develop understandings of minoritized groups, and the lived experiences of those often disempowered in religious and non-religious worlds. It will contribute to their personal development by requiring them to be curious about those who may have different experiences of the world, in order to expand their understanding of the world we live in, its histories and contemporary realities. This will equip them to engage well across difference, to learn to reflect on their own actions, behaviors and attitudes and to respect those they disagree with.
Skills:
The course will also equip students with skills in research and enquiry, as they prepare for classes, take part in discussions and complete assessment tasks. Their personal and intellectual autonomy will be developed through their freedom to choose themes, topics and sources that they want to explore more deeply through research and presentations. Their communication skills will be developed as they take part in discussions and debates in tutorials, present their work orally and receive feedback from myself and responses from their peers. |
| Keywords | Feminist,Race,Sex,Theology,Ethics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Selina Stone
Tel:
Email: Selina.Stone@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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