MARA ELIZABETH DONALDSON
Professor, Department of Religion
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA 17013
Email:
Home: (717) 240-0257
Office:(717) 245-1228
Major Area:Religion and Culture, Religion and Literature
Education:B.A.Wilson College, Religion and English, 1971
M.A.Vanderbilt University, Theology, 1974
Thesis: “The Parable as a Genre in Contemporary Literature”
Ph.D. Emory University, Theology and Literature, 1984
Dissertation: “Narratives of Transformation:
C. S.Lewis’s Till We Have Facesand Paul Ricoeur’s Theory of Metaphor”
Areas of Specialization:
Primary:Contemporary Religious Thought (especially feminist and liberation theologies); Religion and Art (especially contemporary literature, film, and popular culture); Religious Studies (especially methodology and the introductory course)
Secondary:Philosophy of Religion (especially epistemology, religious language, faith, and identity); Comparative Religion (especially Hinduism, Buddhism); Literary Approaches to the Bible
Employment:
2003-2004Professor, Department of Religion
2002-2003Sabbatical
2000-2002Professor and Chair, Department of Religion
1999-2000Acting Chair, Education Department
1992-2001Associate Professor, Chair, Religion Department
1990-1992 Assistant Professor, Religion Department, Dickinson College
1988-1989Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, The University of the South, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theology, The School of Theology
1984-1988Assistant Professor of Religion, Lafayette College
1980-1983Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, University of Virginia
1979-1980Teaching Assistant, Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts, Emory University
1972-1977Master Teacher, Department of Religion, Northfield Mount Hermon School
Courses Taught:
Sex, Self and God
Interpreting Religion
Religious Autobiography
The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition
The Emergence of the Protestant Tradition
Women and Religion
Contemporary Religious Thought
Critics of Religion
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Mara Donaldson
Feminist Theologies of the Self
Introduction to the Study of Religion
Modern Interpretations of Religion
Paul Ricoeur’s Hermeneutics
Philosophy of Religion
The Dynamics of Oppression and Liberation
Western Religion and Modern Culture
Literary Approaches to the New Testament
Perspectives on Human Existence in the Ancient World
Religion and Fantasy
Religion and the Literary Imagination
Religious Themes in Modern Fiction
Encounters with Death
Faith and Identity
Myth, Imagination, and Society
Religion and Psychology
Introduction to World Religions
Mysticism
Religions of India
Policy and Management Studies (Ethics)
What is Religion?
Revolutionary Religion (new, Spring 2000)
Care of the Soul (new, Fall 1998)
Y2K and the End of the World (new, Fall 1999)
Storytelling in American Culture (new, Fall 1999)
Women=s Ways of Believing (new, Spring 1999)
Religion and Film (new, Fall 2001)
Reel to Real: Sacred in Film (new, Fall 2004)
Representations of Women in Religion (new, Spring 2005)
Virgin, Witch and Whore (new, Spring 2005)
Gender, Family and Faith: Agents for Change in Cameroon (Summer 2005)
African Religions (new, Fall 2006)
Religion and Non-Violence (taught as a Service Learning course, Spring 2007)
Publications:
Holy Places Are Dark Places: C. S. Lewis and Paul Ricoeur on Narrative Transformation. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1988.
“Theory and the Introductory Text in the Study of Religion: Continuing the Conversation” in Critical Review of Books in Religion. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999
“Teaching Field of Dreams as Cosmogonic Myth”The Journal of Religion and Film. University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1998, vol. 2, No. 3 (
“Bordercrossing; Fall and Fantasy in Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise,”The Monstrous and the Unspeakable. Eds. George Aichele and Tina Pippin, Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997
“Baptizing the Imagination: The Fantastic as the Subversion of Fundamentalism,”Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, Vol. 8/2 (1997): 185-197.
“Christian Poetics and the Ethos of Encounter: Theological Criticism, Theologies of Culture and the Work of Nathan A. Scott, Jr.”Religious Studies Review, 20/2 (April 1994): 117-119.
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Mara Donaldson
“Prophetic and Apocalyptic eschatology in Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Farthest Shore and Tehanu.” Semeia 60 (1992): 111-122.
“Love and Duty in Casablanca,” In Image and Likeness: Religious Visions in American FilmClassics. Ed. John R. May, Mahwah, NJ, Paulist Press, 1992.
“Orual’s Story and the Art of Retelling: A Study of Till We Have Faces.” In Word and Story in C. S. Lewis. Eds. Peter Schakel and Charles Huttar. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1991.
“The Hero in Contemporary Women’s Fantasy,”Listening, 25/2 (Spring 1990): 140-152.
“From Womanspirit to Weaving: Women and Theology, 1979-1989.” In Anglican Theological Review, 72/2 (Spring 1990): 240-246.
“The Theological Significance of The Color Purple: A Liberation Theology?” (with Mary Beckman). In St. Luke’s Journal of Theology, 33/2 (March 1990): 119-128.
“Woman as Hero in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing and Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior.” In Heroines of Popular Culture. Ed. Pat Browne, Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1987.
“No Job For A Lady: Women and Ministry,”FOCUS (May 1984): 1-2.
"Kinship Theory in the Patriarchal Narratives: The Case of the Barren Wife,”Journal of the American Academy of Religion, XLIX/I (Fall 1981): 77-87.
Book Reviews in Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Religious Studies Review, Critical Review of Books in Religion.
Interview for “Religious Studies News” on chairing the Department of Religion
“Consumed by Consumerism,”Theme Issues, The Dickinson Magazine, Future Shock: Five Essays on the Greatest Challenges Facing Our World, vol. 79, no. 4, pp14-16, Spring 2002.
Works In Progress:
Field Work:Bordercrossing, Cameroon, Summer 2005
Quirimbas National Park, August 2004
Practical Ethics in Women’s NGO’s, Cameroon, Africa: Field Work, Fall 2002
Environmental Ethics in Selected South African Animal Parks, Spring 2003
Papers: “Using The Tribe in an Introductory Religion Course” for Posen Seminar papers on teaching The Tribe (Summer 2007)
“Secularizing the Sacred: Complementary and Alternative Methods of Healing” for Health Studies textbook (Summer 2007, in progress)
Professional Papers/Presentations:
“Internationalizing Women’s Studies: The Case of Mozambique” with Priscilla Laws,
Women’s CPC Conference, April 2005
“Public and Private Relationships between Religion and Politics in Cameroon,”
Yaounde, Cameroon, January 2005
“She Saved the World. A Lot,” Buggy the Vampire Slayer as Apocalyptic Hero,” Southwest
Region, Popular Culture Association, Fall 2004
“The Role of Women in Creating a Sustainable World, Two Case Studies: Ruth Mkhwanazi
Bechtel, head of Oxfam in Mozambique and Martha Ayuk, head of Fako Women’s
Development Association (FAWODA) Yaounde, Cameroon, Women’s CPC Conference, “Gender and Sustainability,” April 2004, Lancaster, PA
“Esse Quam Videri: To Be and Not to Seem;” Passionate Skepticism over cultured cynicism in
the liberal arts tradition at Dickinson College – Convocation 2001
“Recovering Women=s Voices in Scripture,” Temple Ohev Shalom, Harrisburg, PA, February 13, 2001
ATeaching Apocalyptic - Teaching Apocalyptically: A Metaphorical-Pedagogy for the End of the World,” American Academy of Religion, Nov. 1999
AResacralizing Space: Field of Dreams, Wizard of Oz, Star Trek Voyages,” American Academy of Religion, November 1997
ABorder Crossings: Fall and Redemption in Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise,” American Academy of Religion, November 1996
“Thelma and Louise as Heroic Myth,” American Academy of Religion, November 1992.
“Apocalyptic Eschatology in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Farthest Shore and Tehanu.” Twelfth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, March 1991
“Baptizing the Imagination: Fantasy as A Spiritual Resource,” Southeast Regional American
Academy of Religion, March 1991
“The Hero in Contemporary Women’s Fantasies,” American Academy of Religion, November 1989
“Women, Sin and Evil: A Feminist Critique,” University of Alabama-Birmingham, October 1989
“Incarnation in Context: Feminism and the Scandal of Particularity,” Conference of Anglican Theologians, September 1989
“Love and Duty in Casablanca: A Feminist Re-Interpretation,” Southeast Regional American Academy of Religion, March 1989
“The Canonical Imperative: Feminist Narratives as Piéce de Résistance,” American Academy of Religion, November 1988
“Theology Beyond Narcissism and Altruism: Women’s Fiction and the Problem of Self Affirmation,” Third International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, Dublin, Ireland, July 1987
“Daring One to Believe: God According to Salieri, Agnes and Celie,” American Academy of Religion, December 1986
“The Illusion of the Neck: Critical Thinking and Commitment in Religious Studies,” National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Institute, Chicago, July 1986
“The Reappearance of God in Recent Fiction and Drama,” American Academy of Religion, Mid-Atlantic Region, March 1986
“Feminist Responses to the Great Commandment," American Academy of Religion, Southeast Regional Meeting, March 1986
“Self-ish Stories: Feminist Theology and the Psychology of Love,” Women's Studies Seminar, Rutgers University, March 1986
“Salieri’s Confessions,” College Theological Society, May 1985
“The Happy Ending Cannot Come in the Middle of the Story: Ursula Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea,” American Academy of Religion, December 1984
“Holy Places Are Dark Places: Metaphor and the Art of Narrative in C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces,” American Academy of Religion, December 1983
“The Theological Implications of Carol Gilligan’s In a Different Voice,” American Academy of
Religion, Southeast Regional Meeting, March 1983
“The Beast Within/The Beast Without: Notes Toward a Feminist Experience of Transcendence,” American Academy of Religion, Southeast Regional Meeting, March 1982
“Woman as Hero: Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing and Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior,” American Academy of Religion, December 1981
“Paul and Apocalyptic: A Literary-Critical Investigation,” American Academy of Religion, November 1980
“The Hero’s Quest Revisited: Paradigms of Heroism in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Good Country People’ and Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior,” American Academy of Religion, Southeast Regional Meeting, April 1980
“Kinship Theory in the Patriarchal Narratives: The Case of the Barren Wife,” American Academy of Religion, November 1979
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Mara Donaldson
“Paul Ricoeur’s The Rule of Metaphor: A Metaphorical Concept of Truth,” American Academy of Religion, Southeast Regional Meeting, April 1979
“The Parable as Language Event,” American Academy of Religion, Northeast Regional Meeting, April 1976
Honors and Awards:
Coolidge Fellow, Coolidge Research Colloquium, Summer, 1992.
The Blanche, Edith, and Irving Laurie Seminar in Women’s Studies, “On the Psychology of Love,” led by Carol Gilligan, Spring, 1986, Invited Participant.
Emory Graduate Fellowship, 1977-79.
Vanderbilt Graduate Fellowship, 1971-72.
Religion and English Departmental Prizes, Wilson College, 1971.
Phi Beta Kappa, Wilson College, 1970.
Teaching Awards:
Outstanding Teacher of the Year, 1998-99
Omicron Delta Kappa Excellence in Teaching, 1994-95; 1992-93.
Ganoe Winner for Inspirational Teaching, 2000; Convocation Address Fall 2001
Professional Organizations:
Phi Beta Kappa (President, Alpha Chapter 1997-2000; 2003-2005)
American Academy of Religion (Steering Committee, Arts, Literature and Religion, 1993-95)
Society for Values in Higher Education
American Religion and Literature Association (Steering Committe, 1998-2001)
Religious Studies Review (Area Editor, Arts, Religion and Culture, 1996-1999)
Critical Review of Books and Religion (Area Editor 1995-1998)
Nominating Committee (1998-1999)
Commission on the Status of Women (Chair 1990, Co-Chair 1991-1993, 1998-1999)
Committees/Advising/Study Groups:
Posen Grant Participant (2005- )
Service Learning Study Group (2006)
Health Studies Textbook, editing (2007)
Judicial Board (2004)
Ethics Project (Innovation Project Grant 2000)
Academic Program Committee (Chair, 1993-1994)
Subcommittee on Writing Across the Curriculum
Student Services and Affairs (Chair, 1999-2001)
President=s Task Force for the Future of the College
Strategic Planning Group (1999-2000)
Public Affairs Faculty Advisor (1998)
Steering Committee for Clarke Center
Advisor Women’s Center (2003-2005
Advisor: Equestrian Club (2000-present)
Advisor: Cheerleaders (2005)
Other:
Since 2003, I have been the on-campus coordinator for the Spring semester fund drive, “Seeds for Mozambique” for sustainable agriculture.
September 2007