Women's Theological Writing

Course Description

From the first days of Christ’s earthly ministry, women have been essential to the declaration, understanding, and articulation of the gospel, yet historically women have been marginalized when tracing theological movements within the church. By exploring the theological writings of women during the long period 1100–1950, this course restores women to a written theological tradition that has considered education and ordination necessary prerequisites for claiming the authority to write theology. By asking a series of interrelated questions—how did women historically justify their writing practices? who qualifies as a theologian? what are the forms in which theology is written? what counts as theology?—we will find that the very concept of theology is deepened profoundly when we consider women’s writing and spiritual practices over the centuries.

Winter 2024
This course is available onsite and online. Students must register for the online section to gain Zoom access to the course.

Course lectures will be recorded, and students may be captured in course recordings. Access to lecture recordings is normally only given to online students who cannot reasonably be expected to attend the course live due to time zone differences. These students should contact the course instructor for permission to access recordings.

Offered	2026 Winter
Dates	Jan 12 - Apr 17
Days	Thurs
Format	Onsite Only
Credit Hours	3
Room Number	Rm 002

Teaching Faculty

Cindy Aalders

Library Director; Associate Professor of the History of Christianity

Dr. Cindy Aalders is Director of the John Richard Allison Library and Associate Professor of the History of Christianity. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Oxford, where her research focused on the spiritual lives and manuscript cultures of eighteenth-century British women. In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters, she is the author of The Spiritual Lives and Manuscript Cultures of Eighteenth-Century English Women (Oxford University Press, 2024) and To Express the Ineffable: The Hymns and Spirituality of Anne Steele. Her current research explores the religious lives of eighteenth-century children.