'Is God Queer?'– UChicago Religious Studies course examines God as 'an ally in queer worldmaking'
The new Religious Studies course will feature 'foundational concepts in queer and trans studies by focusing on queer Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theologies.'
Recent PhD recipient Olivia Bustion is set to teach the class this fall, and previously authored a dissertation, 'Queering the City of God: W. H. Auden’s Later Poetry and the Ethics of Friendship.'
The University of Chicago is introducing “Queering God” to its Religious Studies course offerings for this fall. The class, RLST 26105, will incorporate “foundational concepts in queer and trans studies by focusing on queer Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theologies.”
According to the school’s course catalog, Queering God will seek to answer “Can God be an ally in queer worldmaking?,” and “Is God queer?”
[RELATED: ‘GOD IS NOT DEAD:’ Student-led Christian revival on campus is attracting thousands]
“We will analyze the ways that contemporary artists, activists, and scholars are using theology to reimagine gender and experiment with new relational forms,“ the course description states. “Our readings will include a variety of genres: memoir, letters, scriptural interpretation, and a novel.”
Students enrolled in the course are not required to have past experience in theology or “queer theory.”
Recent UChicago Theology PhD graduate Olivia Bustion will serve as the course instructor.
While a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Michigan in 2012, Bustion wrote a dissertation titled, “Queering the City of God: W. H. Auden’s Later Poetry and the Ethics of Friendship.”
In 2017, Bustion published a paper on autism and Christianity, writing: “I present an ethnography of autistc Christians in three web communities. These autistic Christians construct a distinctively Christian understanding of neurodiversity and a distinctively aspie understanding of God.”
In December 2021, Campus Reform reported that a UChicago Critical Race Theory course, “The Problem of Whiteness,” was delayed two months because of the backlash it faced.
[RELATED: God is a ‘drag queen,’ ‘trans man,’ ‘gender fluid’ according to Pride Worship Service]
At the time, UChicago told Campus Reform: “The University works to foster an inclusive climate on campus, so all may participate fully in the distinctive open and questioning environment that has always defined the University of Chicago.”
UChicago has not responded to a request for comment at this time. This article will be updated accordingly.
Follow Brandi Cunha on Twitter.
