Boston University welcomes 'leading womanist ethicist' as new professor of theology, black studies
On May 28, Boston University announced the appointment of Emilie Townes as its new Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Religion and Black Studies in the School of Theology.
Townes’ scholarship has focused on 'womanist and Black theology,' also touching on issues like 'racial health disparities and environmental racism.'
A private university in Boston has tapped a “leading womanist ethicist” to teach courses on religion and black studies.
On May 28, Boston University announced the appointment of Emilie Townes as its new Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Religion and Black Studies in the School of Theology.
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BU’s announcement indicates that Townes’ scholarship has focused on “womanist and Black theology,” also touching on issues like “racial health disparities and environmental racism.”
Townes is the former dean of Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School. A previous essay by Townes defines “womanist theology” as “a form of reflection that places the religious and moral perspectives of Black women at the center of its method.”
Such a model also considers intersectionality, a theory that sees the ‘oppression’ of various groups classed as interconnected. “Issues of class, gender (including sex, sexism, sexuality, and sexual exploitation), and race are seen as theological problems,” Townes writes.
“The key for womanist theology is the use of an interstructured analysis employing class, gender, and race,” she also argues.
Townes’ role at the school will focus on pushing students to consider the “systems” in which they live.
“I’ll try to help students get a better sense of the structures we’re dealing with,” Townes says in the press release, “and not just personal opinion or sound bites or all those other things that are not quite what you should be using to build a society that is sustainable, but also where are each of us individually in that structure.”
One work that Townes has co-authored, called Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil, uses oppression as a way to analyze history.
“This groundbreaking book provides an analytical tool to understand how and why evil works in the world as it does,” the book’s description says. “Deconstructing memory, history, and myth as received wisdom, the volume critically examines racism, sexism, poverty, and stereotypes.”
According to the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, Townes’ “identity as a Black lesbian drove her forward in working towards social justice.” It is said that she developed an interest in teaching after taking a course called “The Black Church and Feminism.”
Townes will begin teaching classes at the School of Theology in the spring semester of 2025.
Campus Reform has contacted Townes, Boston University, and the BU School of Theology for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
