1
CURRICULUM VITAE
OF
GWENDOLYN ZOHARAH SIMMONS
857 SW 50th Way
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA32607
(352) 367-0529 (H)
(352) 392-1625 (W)
(352) 392-7395 (F)
<ZOHARAH @RELIGION.UFL.EDU>
CURRICULUM VITAE
for
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Home:
Affiliated Faculty in Women Studies 857 SW 50th Way
(352)- 392-1625 –ext 228 Gainesville, Fl. 32607
University of FloridaTelephone: (352) 367-0529
107-A Anderson Hall
PO Box 117410
Gainesville, Fl 32611-7410
Telephone: (352) 392-1625 ext - 228
Fax: (352) 392-7395
e-mail:
EDUCATION:
Ph.D., TEMPLEUNIVERSITY, May, 2002 Religion/Islamic Studies
Graduate Certificate /Women’s Studies, TempleUniversity, May 2002
M.A., TempleUniversity, June 1996 Religious Studies
B.A. AntiochUniversity, June 1989 Human Services
Language Studies:
Certificate of completion of MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) 200, ALIF (Arabic Language Institute, Fez, Morocco), July 2004
Certificate of completion of MSA 100, MiddleburyCollege, August 1993
Areas of Specialization and Competence:
Islamic Religion
Shari’ah (Islamic) Family Law
Sufism (Islamic Mysticism)
Feminist Theory
Women and Religion
African American Religion (Christianity and Islam)
U.S. Civil Rights Movement
FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS:
Summer 2003Cooleridge Fellowship from CrossCurrents & the Association for Religion & Intellectual Life
Summer 2003 University of Florida’s Center for African Studies for WARA (West African Research Association) symposium on “Islam in Africa, focus on Senegal
Summer 2002AFSC (American Friends Service Committee) grant for month long travel in the Middle East countries of Israel, Jordan, Palestine, & Syria as a member of an International Quaker Working Party (IQWP) on Peace in the Middle East
Summer 2000 ARIL (Association for Religion & Intellectual Life) Time Out: Scholar in Residence
Spring 1999 Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
Fall 1998Senior TA Award for Exemplary Teaching
Spring 1998Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
1996Fulbright Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
Academic 9 month Award for Dissertation Research in Amman, Jordan
(Research topic: “Women’s Status In The Middle East and Legal reforms:
The Connection”)
1996USIA/ACOR Fellowship (AmericanCenter for Oriental Research)
Four month Scholarship for Dissertation Research in AmmanJordan
(Research topic: “Women’s Status In The Middle East and Legal Reforms:
The Connection”)
Fall 1995Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
Fall 1994 Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity “
1993-94Fund For Theological Education (An Educational Fund for Black Scholars in Religion)
Spring 1993Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
1992-93Davis Potter Scholarship Fund (An Educational Fund for Civil Rights & Social Justice Activists)
Fall 1992Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
Spring 1992Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
Fall 1991 Teaching Assistantship/ TempleUniversity
PUBLICATIONS:
Spring 2007, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Mama Told Me Not To Go in the Struggle for Social Justice section of Time It Was: American Stories From the Sixties, ed, by Karen Manners Smith and Tim Koster, Pearson- Prentice Hall.
Spring 2006 Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, African American Islam As An Expression of Converts’ Religious Faith and Nationalist Dreams and Ambitions in Karin Neukirk, ed., Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion to Islam in the West, Texas University Press, Summer
Spring 2004, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, “A Prayer for Healing” in Lori Robinson and Julia A. Boyd’s I will survive: The African American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse, Seal Press.
Fall 2003, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, Book Review of Islam, Christianity and the West: ATroubled History, by Rollin Armour, Sr., Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002, The Review appeared in Dialogue and Alliance-A Journal of the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, Vol. 16, No 2 Fall/Winter 2002/2003.
Summer 2003, G. Zoharah Simmons, Memphis girl comes of age in the Freedom Struggle” in Martha Norman Newman et al, editors, Hand on the Freedom Plow: SNCC Women’s Anthology, Indiana University Press, forthcoming.
May 2003, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, “Are We Up To The Challenge? – The Need for a Radical Re-Ordering of the Islamic Discourse on Women” in Omid Safi, ed., Progressive Muslims,London: One World Press.
Fall 2002, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, “Racism in Higher Education”,University of Florida Journal Of Law And Public Policy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl. Vol. 14, Issue 1.
May 2002, Gwendolyn Simmons, The Impact of Islamic Law on Women in Jordan, Ph.D. Dissertation, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa.
March 2000, Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, “Muslim Women’s Human Rights In Beijing & Beyond:” in Gisela Webb, ed., Windows of Faith: Muslim Women’s Scholarship/Activism in the U.S.,Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
July 1999, Interview by Dr. Johnnetta Cole (former President of Spelman College) and Beverly Guy Sheftall (Director of Spelman’s Women’s Center) for their Random House volume, Gender in the African-American Community, co-authored by them. The Volume was published in February 2003.
G. Zoharah Simmon’s, Syllabus & Study Questions for her course on Introduction to African-American Religion in IDENTIFYINGWOMANIST REPOSITORIES OF KNOWLEDGE published by The Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group of the AmericanAcademy of Religion, 1998.
______, Syllabus for her course on Women In Religion and Society in IDENTIFYINGWOMANIST REPOSITORIES OF KNOWLEDGE published by The Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society Group of the AmericanAcademy of Religion, 1998.
Spring 1989, G. Zoharah Simmons, The Impact of the Regan Era on the African-American Community, unpublished B.A Thesis, AntiochUniversity.
VIDEOS & DVDS:
2004, SACRED CHOICES, The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions documentary. I discuss Islam’s position on abortion and contraception in the film.
2003, PHILADELPHIA SHAIKH, This film, which aired on a local Philadelphia PBS affiliate, is a portrait of a community of American converts to Islam – the people, their values, their way of life, and their charismatic leader, Bawa Muhaiyadeen. I articulate Bawa’s view of the universality of Islam as I understand it in the film.
2003, THIS FAR BY FAITH. I appear throughout Segment 4 of this PBS documentary on the role of religion in the African American Struggle for Justice. This segment focuses on the Civil Rights Movement.
PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS:
May 2005, Woodrow Wilson International Center, Washington, DC, Panel Topic, “Muslim Women’s Experience as a Basis for Theological Interpretation in Islam.”
March 2005, FurmanUniversity, Plyer Hall: Townes Auditorium, University Lecture Topic: “Women’s Rights Debate in Islamic Discourse.”
February 2005, University of Florida, CAS & The Harn Museum of Art Symposium on Islam In Africa, Paper Topic: “Sufism, the Mystical Stream in Islam.”
January 2005, Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Gainesville, Florida, Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Commemoration. Topic: “Reflections upon the thought and work of Dr. Martin Luther King and its meaning for today.”
November 2004, AAR Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, Islamic Section Panel Respondent. Topic: Beyond Books, the use of the media in the Islamic classroom.”
November 2004, PrincetonUniversity Chapel, Princeton, N.J. 25th Anniversary Interfaith Service for Peace. Address topic: “God calls all Believers to Strive for Justice.”
October 2005, ACLU Forum on Voting Rights, Gainesville, Florida, Panel Presentation: “Black Americans and the long struggle for the vote.”
May 2004, WesternCollege, Miami, Ohio, 40th Anniversary Celebration of the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer, Panel Presentation on “Role of Women in the Civil Rights Movement.”
November 2003, PrincetonUniversity, WoodrowWilsonSchool, Princeton, NJ, A Panel in Honor of the 40th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. Panel Presentation on the topic: “After King’s Dream.”
February 2003, HighlineCommunity College, Paper Topic: “African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement.”
February 2003, University of Florida, School of Journalism and the Center for African Studies Media Workshop: Paper Topic: “Covering Islam – Focus on Africa.”
February 2003, University of Florida, Colors of Resistance Student Conference, Paper Topic: “What I learned in the Sixties.”
November 2002, AmericanAcademy of Religion Annual Meeting, Special Topics Forum, Paper Topic: “Patriarchy and the Twin Evils of Violence Against Women and Militarism.”
October 2002, MetaNexus Institute Conference on Spiritual Transformation, Philadelphia, Pa. Paper topic: “Spiritual Transformation in the Islamic Mystical Tradition.”
September 2002, EarlhamCollege’s DAY OF REFLECTION (on September 11th). Paper topic: “From the Margins: A Perspective on September 11th, Its Causes and Its Impact.”
April 2002, Free Speech Forum, Gainesville, Fl. Monthly Public Meeting. Paper Topic: “Islam: The Myth AndThe Realities.”
March 2002, HarvardUniversity, CambridgeMass., Islam In America Conference. Paper Topic: “Women InIslam: A Perspective.”
March 2002 , America Association of University Women, Gainesville, Fl. Chapter, Annual Meeting. Paper Topic: “Women, Tradition and Law in Islam.”
February 2002, PrincetonUniversity, Princeton, NJ, VOICES Of HOPE Conference. Paper Topic: “Finding Strength for the Struggle.”
March 2000, PBS Documentary: “This Far By Faith,” Input as scholar/participant on the role of religion in the history of African Americans’ struggle for justice, 2 segments to be aired during Black History Month, 2001.
January 2000, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Program in African-American Culture – Panelist on topic, “Fighting For My Rights” in Commemoration of birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
November 1999 AAR (AmericanAcademy of Religion) Panelist on Special AAR Panel on Jerusalem from the Perspective of the three Abrahamic Faiths. My lecture was on “Jerusalem from an Islamic Point of View.”
November 1999, University of Florida –Public lecture on “Women, Religion, & The Civil Right Movement.”
October 1999, Blackside Productions Inc. – Served as a consultant at their Production School on “The Role of Religion in The Civil Rights Movement” for the upcoming six part PBS Series titled WADE INTHE WATER: African American Religious Experience to air in Fall, 2000 on PBS affiliates.
.
September 1999, TempleUniversity - Presentation to Honors Class on “Personal History in the Civil Rights Movement and the Continuing Role for College Students in the Struggle for Justice in the U.S.”
September 1999, LaSalleUniversity - Presentation to Honors Class on “Personal History in the Civil Rights Movement and the Continuing Role for College Students in the Struggle for Justice in the U.S.”
April 1999, DukeUniversity - 3-day residency as guest of the African-American Studies & History Departments. Delivered a major lecture: “Black Women, Black Power & The Civil Rights Movement” and served as a resource person in six small sessions over meals (breakfast lunches, and dinners) with students from a number of classes all of which were focused on the civil rights movement and its immediate aftermath..
March 1999, SpelmanCollege - Women’s History Month Paper presented: “The role of women in the Civil Rights Movement.”
February 1999, University of Florida - Talk co-sponsored by the Religion & Women’s Studies Departments. Topic of paper presented was “Muslim Women and Human Rights.”
January 1999,EarlhamCollege - Delivered the annual Dr. Martin Luther King address as a part of the College’s Distinguished Lectures Series. Address topic: “A Personal Reflection on the Civil Rights Movement, The Role of Student Activists and Where Do We Go From Here in the Struggle for Social Justice.”
May 1998, ACSIS (American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies) Paper presented: “Women’s Status in the Middle East & Legal Reforms: The Connection.”
May 1998, University of Tennessee, Knoxville - Lecture: I was a 2-day guest lecturer at the University as a guest of the History, Religion and American Studies Departments. My public lecture was on “The On-Going Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.”
March 1999, Temple University Women’s History Month Lecture: I spoke as a guest of the TempleWomen’s Studies Program. My lecture was on, “The Role of Religion in the Status of Women in The Muslim World.”
March 1998, University of Pennsylvania Presentation at the Conference: “Unleashing Our Legacies: Exploring Third World Feminisms” sponsored by the Greenfield InterculturalCenter. My topic: Jordan Feminist Struggle AgainstShari’ah Law.”
November 1995, AmericanAcademy of Religion Annual Meeting Panelist on Women Scholar/Activist Panel in the Islamic Section. Title of Paper: “Issues of Concern To Muslim Women at the Beijing Conference Before and Beyond.”
Spring 1996, American Academy of Religion Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting - Expanded version of above paper given at the afternoon panel of the Islamic Section.
Fall 1995, Philadelphia Chapter of UN Association Report on the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women and other UN activities, which foster “Human Rights as Women’s Rights.”
November 1995, DelMarva Chapter of WILPF’s (Women’s International League For Peace & Freedom Annual Meeting “The Beijing Agendaand Beyond.”
January 1996, Philadelphia Delegation to FWCW’s Report to the City of Philadelphia Meeting at TempleUniversity “The FightForWomen’s Human Rights.”
CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, MEETINGS:
June 1994 Fact-finding Mission to the Middle East
I joined with 19 other persons (Christians, Jews & Muslims) on a fact-finding/peace and reconciliation tour to the Middle East sponsored by The Interreligious Committee for Peace In The Middle East. We traveled to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Syria over 14 days meeting with government officials, business leaders, reporters, scholars and others to learn about the situation on the ground and their recommendations for a solution to the crisis. We also visited the holy sites of the three faiths and did what we could to promote Interreligious harmony just by our presence. The group hammered out a consensus statement with suggestions for resolving the conflict, which was submitted to the U.S. President, all the members of Congress, UN officials and the news media.
July 1992, 93, 94African-American Interreligious Spirit & Justice Retreats
For three consecutive summers, I was a presenter and a participant in an Interreligious weeklong retreat involving Christians, Buddhist, & Muslims convened by Dr. Vincent Harding and the Iliff School of Theology.
Religious leaders and laypersons gathered for three consecutive summers to assess the current role of religion within the African-American Community as a vehicle for health and healing and for carrying forward the struggle for justice.
January 1990, 91, 92 Silent Retreat Weekends
For three consecutive New Years Weekends, I co-lead Spiritual Retreats at Pendle Hill. I introduced the participants to Sufi (Mystical Islam) prayers and meditations and led the group in Zikr each morning and evening of the Retreats.
November 1980 The National Black Independent Party Founding Convention (NBIPP)
I was one of the principal planners and organizers of the Founding Convention of NBIPP which brought 4,000 African-Americans to Philadelphia to form a political party which it was hoped would represent the interest of African American people at the national and local level. I was elected as National Treasurer for NBIPP and served in that capacity for three years.
TRAVEL:
North & West Africa:
June 2003, Travel to Senegal, West Africa on a UF CAS and Religion Dept sponsored symposium on “Islam in Africa, focus on Senegal.” In route to Senegal, I spent one week in Morocco, visiting Islamic Holy Sites and other historical places.
June 2004, Enrolled in a six weeks Arabic intensive study program at the ALIF (Arabic Language Institute) in Fez, Morocco. Traveled rather extensively and interviewed Moroccan feminist scholars about the new Shari’ah (Islamic) Family Law of Morocco.
The Middle East:
June - July 2002,Traveled to Jordan, Syria, Israel and Palestine as a part of a Religious Society of Friends International Study Group focused on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.
June 1996-November 1997, while on my ACOR & Fulbright Fellowships based in Amman, Jordan, I traveled several times to Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Syria. I traveled extensively within Jordan visiting each of the major population centers on one or more occasions. I interviewed women and men in each country about the status of women and changes in Shari’ah (Islamic law) in their countries and how it has affected women. I also visited the holy sites of the three major religions as well as the incredible archeological sites and ancient monuments like the Pyramids and the Sphinx in Egypt and Petra in Jordan among others.
June1994, I traveled to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and Syria on Interreligious Fact-Finding Mission. (See above).
Saudi Arabia:
December 1995-January 1996,I traveled with 80 members of my religious community to make UMRA (what is called the small Pilgrimage or the lesser Hajj). We visited the holy places in Mecca and Medina and traveled to many of the other holy sights in other areas of this country.
Beijing, China:
August and September1995, I traveled to Beijing and visited in the immediate area for 4 weeks as the leader of the AFSC’s delegation to the Fourth World Conference on Women (see details above). I walked the Great Wall, visited the Forbidden City and saw many of the other wonderful historic monuments of this ancient culture. Quite by accident, I visited a 1000 year old Mosque and Islamic Community in Beijing where I was warmly welcomed by the Imam and other Mosque officials.
CaribbeanIslands:
1982 until 1995, Vacation Travel to many of the Caribbean Islands including; Antigua, The Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Martin. I have also traveled to Cancun and the YucatanPeninsula.
Mexico:
1980, I spent three weeks in Mexico beginning in Mexico City and traveling to several AFSC project sites in other areas of the country to familiarize myself with the country and the issues confronting its people and to learn first hand about the AFSC’s work in response to the needs of the Mexican people.
Special Sessions:
July 1998, Participation in The Ghandi, Hammer, KingCenter for Religion and Social Change’s documentation project of participants in late 20th Century Social Justice Movements. I was interviewed for 4 to 5 hours on each of 2 days on video before a live audience at both the Iliff School of Theology and in the Denver Community. My 2nd day of interviewing took place at the Denver headquarters of the AFSC. Drs. Vincent Harding (founder of the Center) and Sardashan Kapur.(Executive Director of the Center) interviewed me about my role in the
Civil Rights Movement and the role my religious upbringing played in motivating my involvement. I also addressed questions from the audience about my movement history and what I saw as the future of race relations and overall social change in the U.S.
The Center is in conversation with both PBS The History and the A&E Cable Channels about the possibility of a series being developed for television from the material after the completion of the interview project. Persons interviewed so far include; Dr. Bernice Reagan, Prof. Sonia Sanchez, Dr. Prathia Hall Wynn, Bob Moses, Rev. James Lawson, Dr. Grace Lee Boggs, Rev. Wyatt T. Walker, Stokley Carmichael and others.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE (Partial Listing):
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Spring 2005 Islam in America (new Course)
Spring 2003 Introduction to the Qur’an (New Course)
Spring 2003 Introduction to African American Religious Tradition & Women and Islam
Fall 2002 Introduction to Islam & Women, Religion and Society