Beverly Wildung Harrison

Beverly Jean Wildung Harrison (1932–2012) was an American Presbyterian feminist theologian whose work was foundational for the field of feminist Christian ethics. She taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York City for 32 years.

Beverly Wildung Harrison
Born
Beverly Jean Wildung

(1932-08-04)August 4, 1932
Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
DiedDecember 15, 2012(2012-12-15) (aged 80)
North Carolina, US
Other namesBeverly Jean Wildung Harrison
Partner(s)Carter Heyward[1]
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisH. Richard Niebuhr: Towards a Christian Moral Philosophy (1974)
Influences
Academic work
DisciplineTheology
Sub-disciplineChristian ethics
School or tradition
InstitutionsUnion Theological Seminary
Doctoral studentsRebecca Todd Peters[7]
Notable studentsKatie Cannon
Influenced

Early life and education

Beverly Jean Wildung was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on August 4, 1932. Her parents, Harold Wildung and Adahlia Knodt Wildung, were both Presbyterians and they had four children; Beverly was the youngest. She attended Macalester College, where she studied with Robert McAfee Brown. After graduating in 1954, she continued her education at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she earned a Master of Religious Education degree and her Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1975.[10]

Career

After serving as an assistant campus chaplain at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1960s, she returned to Union Theological Seminary in 1966 to join the faculty as an instructor. She received tenure in 1980, and became the Caroline Williams Beaird Professor of Christian Ethics in 1986.[11]

While at Union, she authored or co-authored several influential works on feminist Christian ethics. Her lectures on "The Power of Anger in the Work of Love" and "The Role of Social Theory in Religious Ethics" were distributed widely among students and faculty, before being added to a published collection of essays, called Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics (1985), which has been called "one of the best books ever published in feminist religious thought."[12][13][14]

Her first published book Our Right to Choose: Toward a New Ethic of Abortion (1983),[15] was significant contribution to the discussion of moral issues surround the abortion debate. She was also a co-author and editor of God's Fierce Whimsy: Christian Feminism and Theological Education (1985), a collection of articles by Christian feminists of diverse backgrounds, published by the Mudflower Collective. By highlighting the perspectives of women of color and lesbians, God's Fierce Whimsy helped challenge the traditional canon and methodologies of Christian theological education.[11]

In the 1970s Harrison co-founded the Feminist Ethics Consultation of the Northeast, a mentoring organization for women in ethics. In 1982, she became the first woman to be elected president of the Society of Christian Ethics.[16] She retired in 1999.[10]

Harrison died on December 15, 2012, in North Carolina.

Awards

Harrison was given a lifetime achievement award from the Society of Christian Ethics posthumously, in 2013.[17]

Works
  • Our Right to Choose: Toward a New Ethic of Abortion (1983)
  • Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics (1985)
  • God's Fierce Whimsy: Christian Feminism and Theological Education (co-author, editor) (1985)
  • The Public Vocation of Christian Ethics (co-editor) (1986)
  • Justice in the Making: Feminist Social Ethics (2004)

References
  1. Miller-McLemore, Bonnie (2004). "Sloppy Mutuality: Just Love for Children and Adults". In Anderson, Herbert; Foley, Edward; Miller-McLemore, Bonnie; Schreiter, Robert (eds.). Mutuality Matters: Family, Faith, and Just Love. Lanham, Maryland: Sheed & Ward. p. 132. hdl:1803/3240. ISBN 978-0-7425-3155-0.
  2. Harrison, Beverly Wildung (2004). "Working with Protestant Traditions: Feminist Transformations". Justice in the Making: Feminist Social Ethics. By Harrison, Beverly Wildung. Bounds, Elizabeth M.; Brubaker, Pamela K.; Hicks, Jane E.; Legge, Marilyn J.; Peters, Rebecca Todd; West, Traci C. (eds.). Interviewed by Legge, Marilyn J. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 147. ISBN 978-0-664-22774-6.
  3. "Beverly Wildung Harrison Receives the Lifetime Achievement Award". Society of Christian Ethics. March 18, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  4. Harrison, Beverly Wildung (2004). "Working with Protestant Traditions: Feminist Transformations". Justice in the Making: Feminist Social Ethics. By Harrison, Beverly Wildung. Bounds, Elizabeth M.; Brubaker, Pamela K.; Hicks, Jane E.; Legge, Marilyn J.; Peters, Rebecca Todd; West, Traci C. (eds.). Interviewed by Legge, Marilyn J. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-664-22774-6.
  5. Scharen, Christian A.; Vigen, Aana Marie (2013). "Beyond 'Use' of Social Science in Theology" (PDF). Practical Matters (6): 2. ISSN 2155-2355. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  6. Jarl, Ann-Cathrin (2003). In Justice: Women and Global Economics. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-8006-3568-8.
  7. Peters, Rebecca Todd (2019). "Curriculum Vitae". Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  8. Burrow, Rufus, Jr. (1999). "Toward Womanist Theology and Ethics". Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. 15 (1): 88–89. ISSN 1553-3913. JSTOR 25002353.
  9. Snarr, C. Melissa (2007). Social Selves and Political Reforms: Five Visions in Contemporary Christian Ethics. New York: T & T Clark. pp. 71, 85. ISBN 978-0-567-02603-3.
  10. "Beverly Jean Wildung Harrison". The Transylvania Times. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  11. Young, Tracy Riggle (2014). "Finding Aid: Beverly Wildung Harrison Papers, 1927-2013" (PDF). The Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship, The Burke Library, Columbia Libraries, at Union Theological Seminary. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  12. Hulsether, Mark (January 24, 2013). "The Mother of Christian Feminist Ethics, Beverly Wildung Harrison: 1932–2012". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  13. Peck, Jane Cary (October 1, 1986). "Book Review: Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics by Beverly Wildung Harrison". Theology Today. 43 (3): 454–458. doi:10.1177/004057368604300324. ISSN 0040-5736.
  14. Patrick, Anne E. (1987). "Book Review: Making the Connections: Essays in Feminist Social Ethics. By Beverly Wildung Harrison. Edited by Carol S. Robb. Boston: Beacon, 1985". Horizons. 14 (2): 409–410. doi:10.1017/S0360966900038275. ISSN 0360-9669.
  15. Peters, Rebecca Todd (Spring 2014). "Beverly Wiildung Harrison: Forefronting Women's Moral Agency". Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. 30 (1): 121–122. doi:10.2979/jfemistudreli.30.1.121 – via ATLA.
  16. "Timeline | The Society of Christian Ethics". scethics.org. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  17. "Lifetime Achievement Award | The Society of Christian Ethics". scethics.org. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
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