Conference encourages dialogue on religion and gender

Attendees of the “Gender, Judaism and Islam” conference Monday learned that there is more to religion and gender than meets the eye.

In the spirit of a liberal arts discourse, academia from across disciplines gathered in Houston Hall to exchange emerging ideas on the two rapidly evolving fields.

Joan Wallach Scott of the Institute for Advanced Study, the keynote speaker of the conference, spoke on “Feminism’s Difference Problem.”

“Woman is not the same as women,” Scott said.

She said the universality of women must move from the traditional definition of a woman as a middle-class, white female to include women of all races, classes, religious and sexual preferences.

With regard to religion, Scott noted that the current discourse on secularism and gender equality is “a product and critique of modernity” and must be handled with care.

Her speech elicited a round of dialogue that touched on topics including the current ban of Burkas in France and the similarity between current French treatment of Muslim women and historical treatment of Jewish men.

Drawing from research conducted in the Jewish Studies Program, the History Department, the Law School and the School of Nursing, the rest of the conference featured extensive cross-disciplinary discourse.

College junior Amelia Van Iwaarden noted that a number of professors had flown in especially for the occasion.

Other discussions and speeches included “Crimes of Passion: Women, Religious Law and Human Rights,” “The Limits of Biology: Texts, Sex and Women’s Bodies” and “Enframing Jewish and Muslim Women: Film, Literature and the Politics of Representation.”

Susie Flood, Penn’s campus minister of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, was one of the attendees at the keynote address.

She said she wished more of the student body could have witnessed the incredible “academic rigour” present.

When asked if the University is likely to increase student awareness for the next event, Penn History professor and coordinator of the event Beth Wenger said more engagement of the undergraduate student body is definitely a goal for the next semester.

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