Liturgy and the Female Body

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

From antiquity to today, Christian women have shaped and been shaped by liturgy. This course examines the relationship between ritual and the female body across history and Christian traditions, from the biblical period, through late antiquity and the middle ages, to the present. Topics covered include the female body in sacred space (veils, gender separation, etc.), the issue of bodily (im)purities (menstrual and postpartum blood), medieval rites for childbirth and child loss, representations of the female body in liturgical texts and iconography, and women's ritual agency and authority in monastic communities and beyond. Our methods will be interdisciplinary and draw from liturgiology, theology, history, and anthropology. Class field trips will include a visit to a female monastic community.