Religion Department Annual Lecture

Join us for our Annual Religion Department Lecture. This year will feature Dr. Natalie Carnes: “Why Feminist Theology needs Art.”

Art and aesthetics have been part of feminist theology from its very beginning, even when most of the theological world saw them as unimportant. In this talk, Natalie explores why it’s not an accident that an aesthetic impulse is deep in feminist theology. That impulse has a history even deeper than feminist theology, in the centuries of women negotiating their authority and voice when others tried to deny it. It also points forward to possible futures for feminist theology, in which women and others marginalized by gender don’t just survive in the theological landscape. By attending to and expanding this aesthetic impulse, they might find ways to transform it, and flourish.

Natalie is a constructive theologian who writes on images, feminism, and creativity. She’s published several books, most recently Attunement: The Art and Politics of Feminist Theology. Along with Elise Edwards, she directs the Baylor Initiative in Christianity and the Arts.