The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, the first female presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will deliver the keynote address at a two-day University of St. Thomas conference exploring the roles theology and religious law play in the construction and critique of just law throughout the world.
“Conversations in Feminism, Law and Religion” will be held March 20 and 21 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Eaton’s keynote address is at 7 p.m. March 20 at Woulfe North Auditorium in Anderson Student Center. The entire event is free and open to the public, with 9.75 hours of Continuing Legal Education credits available for legal professionals who attend.
The first of its kind, the conference has attracted presenting scholars from as far as Israel to right here in Minneapolis. The event continues a conversation begun by local feminist legal scholars Professor Marie A. Failinger (Hamline University School of Law), Professor Elizabeth R. Schiltz (University of St. Thomas School of Law) and Professor Susan Stabile (University of St. Thomas School of Law) with the July 2013 publication of their book “Feminism, Law, and Religion.”
The conference begins with an afternoon of workshops on emerging scholarship in feminism, law and religion, leading up to the keynote address. The second day includes panels on “Feminist Legal Theory – Religious and Secular Encounters;” “Domestic Violence, Religion and Law;” “Feminist Readings of Theological Texts on Women’s Concerns;” “Reinterpreting Women’s Roles and Women’s Human Rights;” and “Women’s Leadership within Religious Communities.”
The event is sponsored by the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences; School of Law; Jay Philips Center for Interfaith Learning; LuAnn Drummer Center for Women; Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center; Siena Symposium for Women, Family, and Culture; and the Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law, and Public Policy.
The full event schedule is available online on the Murphy Institute’s website.
