June 12 Teleconference with Monica A. Coleman

“Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought” Wednesday, June 12, 2013 1 PM – 2 PM (EDT)

 Monica Coleman’s writings focus on the role of faith in addressing critical social issues. She writes about church responses to sexual violence in The Dinah Project: A Handbook for Congregational Response to Sexual Violence. In Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology, Dr. Coleman discusses inter-religious responses to the joys and pains of black women’s lives. She is the co-editor of Creating Women’s Theologies: A Movement Engaging Process Thought. In her most recent edited work, Ain’t I a Womanist Too?: Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought (Fortress Press, May 2013), Monica traces this new movement within religious studies with deep roots in the tradition of womanist religious thought while also departing from it in key ways.

A scholar and activist, Monica A. Coleman is committed to connecting faith and social justice. An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. Coleman has earned degrees at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, and Claremont Graduate University. Monica is currently Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions as well as co-director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology in Southern California. She is also Associate Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University.

As a survivor of rape, Monica became committed to speaking out against sexual violence in 1996. She founded and coordinated “The Dinah Project,” an organized church response to sexual violence, at Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in Nashville, TN.

Because of her work with religion and justice, the interdenominational preaching magazine The African American Pulpit named Dr. Coleman one of the “Top 20 to Watch” – The New Generation of Leading Clergy: Preachers under 40. Coleman’s articles have been featured in a variety of publications including ESSENCE, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Philosophia and Aspire: Women of Color Study Bible.

She blogs on the intersection of faith and depression at www.BeautifulMindBlog.com and writes a biweekly column, “Women, In Flesh and Spirit” at www.Patheos.com, the website named by Newsweek as “the place to get smarter about religion.” She has been featured as an interviewed guest on NPR, blogtalk radio shows, and www.PsychCentral.com. She teaches weekly Bible study in her local church, and speaks widely on religion and sexuality, religious pluralism, churches and social media, mental health, and sexual and domestic violence.

Recommended reading and video related to this teleconference include:

 "Must I Be a Womanist?" Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

 "Ain't I a Womanist Too?" Inaugural Lecture at Claremont School of Theology (Video)

Email "Register Me Teleconference" to waterstaff@waterwomensalliance.org by Tuesday, June 11, 2013 in order to receive dial-in information.