The Past, Present, and Future of the Women's Studies in Religion Program
The history of women at Harvard Divinity School is relatively brief, but the Women's Studies in Religion Program (WSRP)—founded in 1973—has ensured that the roles of women and gender will always have a prominent place within academia. While some women began receiving undergraduate instruction at the "Annex" at Harvard (later known as Radcliffe College) as early as 1879, women's education at the Divinity School wouldn't officially arrive until the mid-1900s.
"The question of women's participation does not go back to the founding of the School," says Ann Braude, director of the WSRP and Senior Lecturer on American Religious History. "It was not discussed before the Civil War. From what we know, none of our founding luminaries gave it a thought or a wink." Braude credits students and alumni for pushing Harvard to be more inclusive throughout history—pointing out that in 1893, it was alumni of the Divinity School who petitioned the Board of Overseers to admit women as students. "It's not surprising that Unitarians, who were most of our alumni at this time, and who had worked on this proposal, were also discussing ordination of women in their own ranks," Braude says. While the University of Chicago had opened that year as a fully coeducational university and Hartford Seminary had been admitting women students for almost a decade, Harvard President Charles William Eliot firmly opposed the presence of women in Harvard classrooms, where men of the College outnumbered Divinity School men. The petition was then rejected by the Board of Overseers.
Over 60 years later, in 1955, long after its peer institutions, HDS admitted its first women students—after the Corporation accepted a recommendation made by HDS faculty. In 1957, Emily Thornton Gage, BD '57, a transfer student from Union Theological Seminary, would be the first woman to receive an HDS degree. By 1969, a total of 23 women had graduated, never more than three in a single year.
In 1970, 35 women enrolled at the Divinity School—almost as many as had graduated during the past 15 years. "The women's liberation movement of the 1970s was heating up—and HDS was one of its cauldrons," Braude says. A group of women students, staff, and HDS community members began meeting weekly, forming the Women's Caucus. Modeling itself after the Black Caucus—which critiqued racism in every aspect of HDS education, including its curriculum, financial aid, faculty, and field placements—the Women's Caucus asked fundamental questions about why women were absent from the HDS curriculum, faculty, and student body.
In one of many examples of on-campus activism, students brought national attention to the gendered language of the divine. When Harvey Cox asked his students to write a paper on a major issue his course "Eschatology and Politics" failed to raise, two students from the Women's Caucus submitted a proposal to devote two weeks to women's liberation and to halt the use of masculine pronouns "to refer to all people or to God" in class discussions. Cox liked the idea and wanted input from the class, which voted overwhelmingly in favor of the experiment. Members of the class blew kazoos when they heard gender-exclusive language in discussions. "We chose kazoos because it made the class as a whole responsible," one student recalled. "Nobody wanted to be the language police, and everyone loved the phallic symbolism." E.J. Dionne, AB '73, a student in the class, wrote an article about the experiment for The Harvard Crimson, and from there the story was picked up by Newsweek, sparking a national conversation about the extent to which shifts in language can shift societal understanding and systems of power.
The cauldron was boiling over—and there was a dire need to transform theological education to reflect the many concerns that the unprecedented presence of women brought to the study of religion.
Waves of Progress
The Women's Caucus continued to shape the early years of women's studies at HDS—including forging spaces for women scholars. In 1972, Jean MacRae, MTS '73, was appointed the first coordinator of women's programs at HDS. In response to proposals from the Caucus, several feminist scholars visited HDS. Alice Hageman, together with students, published a volume titled Sexist Religion and Women in the Church: No More Silences, based on 14 guest lectures that took place that year. Rosemary Radford Ruether offered the first course in feminist theology.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the student proposal that emerged from those experiences—what has since evolved into the Women's Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. The proposal, which was authorized by a faculty vote on February 16, 1973, called for a program initially known as the Research-Resource Associates in Women's Studies that brought five scholars to the School each year to revolutionize the sources, methods, and conclusions of the fields of study that made up the curriculum. Inherent to its design was racial diversity, as the proposal also provided that "the group will be interracial in order to represent the experience of both black and white women." As the decade continued, the growing student body, faculty, and curriculum at HDS became more diverse. M. Brinton Lykes, MDiv '73, another Women's Caucus participant, coordinated the first iteration of the program from 1973 through 1977.
In 1977, Constance Buchanan was appointed the first director of the Women's Studies in Religion Program, where she guided scholars and championed women's studies for the next two decades, developing the WSRP into an internationally recognized center for research. During that time, she was a member of the faculty and associate dean of HDS, also serving six years as special assistant to Harvard President Derek Bok for his University-wide initiative on improving the quality of teaching and learning at Harvard.
Most notably, Buchanan helped ensure that women's studies would always have a home at HDS, embarking on a capital campaign and cultivating a network of philanthropists to establish a permanent endowment for the program. By 1980, Buchanan had secured initial funding from the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, building a financial foundation for the program and shaping the WSRP into what it is today. One of the endowment funds for the WSRP—established with the generosity of longtime friends and supporters in Colorado and New York—was later named in Buchanan's honor.
"From the founding of WSRP, students have been instrumental in shaping the program. They serve on our search committee, they take classes...and WSRP Research Associates consistently reference input from students in their classes as part of the formative experience that really advances their intellectual development while at HDS." Ann D. Braude, Director, WSRP
For the last 25 years, Ann Braude, a scholar of the religious history of American women, has been at the helm of the WSRP, continuing to support the scholarship of women around the world and thoughtfully researching and presenting the history of HDS. In 2005, she inaugurated the School's year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the admission of women to HDS with the Convocation Address titled "A Short Half Century: Fifty Years of Women at Harvard Divinity School." For the bicentennial in 2016-17, she curated a School-wide photo exhibition, "Faces of Divinity: Envisioning Inclusion for 200 Years."
"Endowing the WSRP's Research Associate positions has been crucial to the continued success of the program," says Braude. Five full-time WSRP Research Associates are appointed to the faculty each year to work on a book-length project using both religion and gender as central categories of analysis. Providing space for this scholarship has been vital to advancing knowledge of global religion with a more inclusive under standing of the field.
Pluralism in Theory and in Practice
Over the decades, WSRP scholars have advanced knowledge of global religion from a more intersectional approach, while also building deeply personal connections with one another. The Carriage House, WSRP's home, is one part intellectual hub for scholarly research and one part quaint, book-filled haven for authors seeking a retreat to delve into their writing. Along with Braude, Tracy Wall, the WSRP program coordinator, is instrumental in creating this welcoming space and organizing the many opportunities related to sharing new research.
The literature published by WSRP scholars alone has created an academic foundation that did not exist 50 years ago. The WSRP library, archived by Wall, is comprised of over 130 books on gender, sexuality, and religion from a stunning variety of perspectives. Topics cover numerous world religions (including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam), as well as faiths that have been previously subjugated within the field, including Indigenous traditions and African American and African diaspora religious studies. In the words of Braude: "We're talking about generations and generations of literature that's not just read at Harvard, but all over the country, all over the world."
Intellectual pursuits explore how religion and gender connect with everything from climate to queerness, ecstasy to ethics, and social justice to sacred texts. But for Braude, it's the interpersonal connections that stand out as some of the most meaningful exchanges. With tenderness, she recalls scholars from different backgrounds who have shared traditions, meals, and holidays with each other—the Chinese New Year, the Passover Seder, Eid al-Fitr. Braude was especially moved when several Research Associates who had never been able to visit a Jewish place of worship in their home countries came to her synagogue for the national "Show Up for Shabat" event after the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Temple in Pittsburgh. "These personal connections also have an impact on scholarship," observes Braude.
Creating Space for Diversity in Religious Studies
"In the academy, the study of religion has been revolutionized," Braude asserts. "There's no field of religious studies that has not had to reckon with the religious treatment of gender, with religion as a source and as a solution to problematic gender roles...a source of the oppression and empowerment of women. Scholars continue to delve into the study of religion as we imagine a world beyond gender limitations."
While the original 1973 proposal for the WSRP focused on the inclusion of women in the study of religion, the proposal also called for more attention to racial diversity within the field. The very first WSRP Research Associate, Sheila Walker, joined Harvard Divinity School to focus on African and African American religions. This space—and Walker's leadership—helped set the stage for the growing study of womanist theology.
Prior to the 1980s, feminist theology centered white women, while Black liberation theology was led primarily by men. Building on Alice Walker's definition of "womanism" in her 1983 book, In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose, scholars began using this lexicon when exploring perspectives of theology and ethics that center Black women.
Several of the scholars who were instrumental in developing the field of womanist theology joined the Harvard community as some of the first WSRP Research Associates. Dr. Jacquelyn Grant, Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, Dr. Delores Williams, the late Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, and the late Dr. Nellie McKay found space to develop their ideas through the WSRP in the 1970s and 1980s—amplifying research that would provide the foundation for this important area of study.
In addition to creating space for more diverse voices within academia, WSRP also brings scholars together in a community that transcends the bounds of time and physical distance. Part of the program's success is how the full range of higher education is represented by the Research Associates—both where they come from and where they continue their careers. From state and private universities across North America to institutions throughout Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, WSRP scholars deepen our understanding of the vast array of faith traditions while also building networks of academics around the globe who are dedicated to diversity within religious education.
"When you look at all the people who've been in the program," Braude reflects, "it's very moving. Some of them are a blessed memory now that they have passed, and we have started to see their students come into the program. We've started to see some academic granddaughters, the students of the students, who now join the program to build on the generations of academic knowledge that we did not have formalized before the program existed."
Looking Forward to the Next 50 Years
When asked about the progress and challenges from the past five decades, Braude offers a pithy reflection: "A lot has changed, and a lot has stayed the same."
Many denominations now welcome leadership by women and other marginalized genders in positions traditionally held by cisgender men though, as Braude explains, there was hope that the Catholic Church would expand their criteria for ordination when the program was first founded, and that seems unlikely these days.
Looking at politics, we have also seen more diverse leadership over the decades. Yet, religion's influence within the US government has grown more complicated. Braude notes that the need for serious scholarship on gender and religion is as important as ever. As a point of reference, the WSRP was coming to fruition around the same time the US government enacted Title IX (1972) and the Supreme Court protected federal abortion rights with the Roe v. Wade decision (1973). Fifty years later, discrimination toward students by way of gender (particularly transgender youth) and federal protections for abortion are still being grappled with—this time with the internet acting as both a blessing and a curse when it comes to public discourse.
Thinking about the future of the program, Braude shares: "While well established in the United States, Europe, and a number of other regions, there are still places where the study of gender and religion is appearing for the first time. Scholars who don't have generations of this work in their home countries need the support of Harvard's program to help build their academic community and explore their research interests freely."
She also sees the WSRP continuing to expand not just by region but also by areas of expertise, noting that religious diversity will remain the guiding force for this work. "When the program first started, it was a narrow spectrum of faith traditions that were included, with an emphasis on broadening perspectives beyond the traditional views of the men who led, taught, and wrote about religion. We have since committed to exploring new religious arenas and the many ways that gender studies intersect with a multitude of traditions."
With existential issues in the news seemingly every day (including, but certainly not limited to, armed conflict, state violence, the climate crisis, threats to reproductive justice, and food and housing instability), this commitment to the capaciousness of academic pursuits has the WSRP poised to lead the next wave of progress—equality across the full spectrum of humanity.
—by Suzannah Lutz, ALM '21, and Amie Montemurro
WSRP Timeline
1893: Alumni of Harvard Divinity School petition the Harvard Board of Overseers to admit women as students to HDS. The petition is soundly rejected.
1955: Women students are first admitted to HDS, including eight degree candidates.
1957: Bachelor of divinity student Emily Thornton Gage, BD '57, becomes the School's first woman graduate.
1968: Krister Stendahl, affectionately known as "Sister Krister" by female students, begins his deanship, which lasts until 1979.
1970: Thirty-five women enroll in Harvard Divinity School, almost as many as had graduated during the previous 15 years.
1971: The Women's Caucus, consisting of women students, staff, and wives of faculty and students, begins meeting weekly at HDS.
1972: Jean MacRae, MTS '73, is appointed the first coordinator of women's programs at HDS.
1973: The initial student proposal for what would become the WSRP is authorized by faculty vote on February 16, 1973, and M. Brinton Lykes, MDiv '73, takes over as coordinator of women's programs at HDS.
1977: Constance Buchanan joins the faculty at HDS, becoming associate dean at HDS and the first director of the WSRP.
1980: Buchanan secures initial funding for the WSRP from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations.
1985: The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion is founded by HDS professor Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and WSRP alumna Judith Plaskow. Many RAs have published WSRP work in the journal throughout the years.
1995: WSRP begins a capital campaign to raise an endowment to ensure that research related to gender and religion will have a permanent place at Harvard Divinity School.
1998: Ann Braude joins the faculty at HDS and becomes director of the WSRP.
2005: The School hosts a year-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the admission of women to HDS. The WSRP celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1980 funding milestone.
2013: Supported by the WSRP, the landmark book, Practicing Shariah: Seven Strategies for Achieving Justice by Hauwa Ibrahim, WSRP '11-13, is published by the American Bar Association. The WSRP sponsors distribution of 5,000 copies to local bar associations in Nigeria.
2014: The New Yorker publishes Anne Carson's poem "Pronoun Envy," which was inspired by HDS students.
2021: The Constance Buchanan Endowment reaches $1 million goal with the leadership of WSRP supporters in New York and Colorado.
Current Harvard Scholars Who Were WSRP Research Associates
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, WSRP '81, Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Afsaneh Najmabadi, AB '81, AM '70, WSRP '89, Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Emerita
Karen King, WSRP '95, Hollis Professor of Divinity, HDS
Amy Hollywood, WSRP '00, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies, HDS
Benjamin Dunning, PhD '05, WSRP '10, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, HDS
Editorial Note: The first WSRP Research Associate, Shelia Walker, was introduced to Harvard Divinity School by Professor Preston N. Williams, PhD '67. Williams initiated a conversation with renowned scholar, the late Professor Charles Long, which led to a recommendation. After completing her masters thesis at the University of Chicago, Walker joined the HDS community as a research assistant for Professor Williams. A full list of current and past WSRP Research Associates can be found on the WSRP site.