U.S. and Non-U.S. Scholars

Fulbright New Century Scholars Program
Overview • Previous NCS Programs • NCS Scholar List • NCS Brochure • 2004-2005

Monica Maher

Tutor, Ethics/Ecumenical Studies

Union Theological Seminary, United States

Research: Religion as a source of women's empowerment: gender violence and women's theological creativity in Latin America

Dr. Monica Maher is Tutor of Ecumenical Studies at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Her research interests intersect the fields of Ecumenical Studies and Christian Ethics in focusing on international and interfaith perspectives of women's religious and moral agency in response to sexual and gender-based violence. She has tutored courses on Buddhist-Christian dialogue as well as healing in the religious traditions of Asia. In addition, she acts as guide and translator for Seminary courses in Latin America.

Dr. Maher has worked extensively with women's groups in Latin America as a consultant and program coordinator, including for the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, Women's World Banking, Concern America, the Health and Development Policy Project, and Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir. Presently, she also works with Latina women's groups in the South Bronx.

Dr. Maher completed her Ph.D. in Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in 2003. She holds an M.Div. from Harvard University and an M.A. from the School of International Service, American University. Her numerous awards include a research grant from Harvard University's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies and an Elizabeth Monrad Scholarship from Harvard Divinity School. She is a member of the Society of Christian Ethics, the American Academy of Religion and the Grail.

Selected Publications:

"Ecos de amistad: perspectivas del placer desde Honduras." Con-spirando: Revista Latinoamericana de Ecofeminismo, Espiritualidad y Teología, no. 46 (marzo de 2004) (forthcoming).

Tejidas con Nuestra Propia Piel/Woven With Our Own Skin: A Catholic Feminist Ethics of Sexuality. Ph.D. dissertation, Union Theological Seminary, 2003.

"Women's Response to Natural Disaster in Honduras: An Opportunity for Empowerment." Paper presented at the 46th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, NGO Committee on Mental Health Panel, New York, 2002.

"Beginning With the Body and Daily Life: Catholic Feminist Theologizing in Mexico and Chile." M.Div. thesis, Harvard Divinity School, 1998.

"Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Community Health Care: A Case Study from Honduras." Paper presented at the American Medical Women's Association Annual Conference, Emerging Issues in Women's International Health Panel, Boston, 1996.

Religion as a Source of Women's Empowerment: Gender Violence and Women's Theological Creativity in Latin America

Within a contemporary context in which religiously justified violence is sweeping the globe, often taking women as its target, this project aims to explore women's ideas and experiences in reclaiming and reinterpreting religion in order to address gender violence and assert their rights. While providing the foundation for a comparison with the Islamic and Jewish traditions, the project focus will be Christianity in Latin America, specifically Catholicism in Honduras. In Honduras, the research will address women's ongoing response to the alarming wave of femicide in the industrial north where free trade zones employ predominately women. Through workshop facilitation, participant observation, and formal and informal interviews, the project will document and encourage women's theological creativity as expressed within programs run by Catholic women activists of the Mercy Weaver of Dreams Program and the Forum of Women for Life.

In particular, the research will explore: 1) How do grass-roots educators incorporate Christian theology as a source of empowerment in trainings on women's rights? 2) How do women re-read Genesis 2-3, often utilized in popular discourse to justify gender violence, as a narrative that supports their bodily integrity and well-being? 3) How do women draw upon Catholic teaching to facilitate their moral agency in the area of sexuality, specifically in addressing gender violence and enhancing sexual health?

Finally, as a point of comparison, the research will address: 4) In what ways does capitalist globalization serve as a competing system of meaning and value and a source of empowerment for women? The project will thus establish the ground for scholarly international collaboration on the interrelated issues of economics, religion and sexuality toward the realization of the Beijing Platform for Action, including women's right to sexuality "free of coercion, discrimination and violence."