Susannah Cornwall: US Lecture Tour on Intersex Project

In September 2012, Susannah Cornwall of the Lincoln Theological Institute will visit the USA to give a series of lectures and presentations on intersex and theology, and to talk about the Intersex, Identity and Disability project to academics, clergy and seminarians. 

The itinerary for this visit is as follows:

5th September: Class on intersex and queer liturgies at Harvard Divinity School.

6th September, 7pm: Event at Harvard Divinity School: "Considering Intersex and Identity in Community Life: Opportunities and Challenges for Faith Communities". This will be followed by a discussion moderated by Sharon Fennema and Cameron Partridge.

7th September, 3-5pm: Panel on intersex and transgender theologies at Episcopal Divinity School, organized in association with Boston Theological Institute and the Lincoln Theological Institute. Co-panellists: Megan DeFranza, Cameron Partridge and Iain Stanford. Chair: Patrick S. Cheng.

10th September: Class on interpreting the body at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

11th September, 6.30pm: Third annual Georgia Harkness Lecture at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, at the Pacific School of Religion: "Asking About What is Better: Intersex, Disability and Inaugurated Eschatology".

12th September: Lunchtime discussion with Women's Studies in Religion group at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

13th September, 5pm: Thursday Forum at Church Divinity School of the Pacific: "Considering Intersex and Identity in Church Life: Opportunities and Challenges for Congregations and Clergy".

Update on September 25, 2012 by Editor

Update: Kwok Pui-lan, William F. Cole Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality at Episcopal Divinity School, has written an account of the Intersex and Transgender Theologies panel which took place there on 7th September. This can be found at her own blog and also at 99brattle, the Episcopal Divinity School blog. The panel was also recorded, and the recording will be made available via the EDS website in due course.

Divinity After Empire: Publication of First Book in Major New Series

The first book in Palgrave Macmillan's new Postcolonialism and Religions series, edited by Joseph Duggan (formerly a doctoral student at the Lincoln Theological Institute) and Jayarikan Sebastian, has just been published. This volume, edited by David Joy and Joseph Duggan, is entitled Decolonizing the Body of Christ: Theology and Theory After Empire? It contains papers presented at the second meeting of  Divinity After Empire project, supported by LTI, at United Theological Seminary, Bangalore, in January 2010. 

Volume contents:

Acknowledgments
Introduction to Postcolonialism and Religions Series; J.F.Duggan
Introduction; C.I.D.Joy
Preface; D.Forrester
PART I: DECOLONIZING THE SOURCES
Decolonizing the Bible, Church, and Jesus: a Search for an Alternate Reading Space for the Postcolonial Context; C.I.D.Joy
Decolonizing Marital Gender Norms in Eph. 5:21-33; J.Lalitha
'Pierced by the curved end of a rainbow': Decolonizing the Body of the Martyr; J.J.Sebastian
Decolonizing the Formulation of Scripture: A Postcolonial Reading of Genesis 12, 20, and 26; N.Rao
PART II: DECOLONIZING RELATES BETWEEN THEOLOGY AND THEORY
Postmodernity, Postcoloniality, and Religious Cultures; S.Malhotra
Theologies of, for, and by Asians: Reformulating Dialogue; S.A.Bong
Allama Muhammad Iqbal: Poet Philosopher and the Dangers of Appropriation; M.A.Raja
PART III: DECOLONIZING CONTEXTS
Diaspora and Kenosis as Postcolonial Themes; M.G.Brett
Discourses of Learning and Love: Sufi Paths in Pakistan; M.Shoaib
PART IV: RESPONDENT CHAPTERS
Postcolonial Theory and Theology: On Educating Ourselves to be Planetary Subjects; M.Sebastian
Decolonizing the Body of Christ: An Initial Response; A.Reddie
Notes on the Contributors

A further fourteen manuscripts for books in the Postcolonialism and Religions series are currently in preparation. The series editors aim to prioritize indigenous, multi-religious and transnational scholarship in the area of postcolonial studies.

Briefing Paper: Intersex Conditions (DSDs) and Pastoral Care

The first of the Briefing Papers on intersex and Christian theology from the Intersex, Identity and Disability project is now available to download. This paper is entitled "Intersex Conditions (DSDs) and Pastoral Care: A Guide for Healthcare Chaplains, Ministers and Pastoral Carers".

It forms part of a series of resources on intersex conditions and Christian theology produced by Dr Susannah Cornwall at the Lincoln Theological Institute. It is designed particularly for people concerned with the pastoral and spiritual care of people with intersex conditions/DSDs and the families of intersex children - for example, Christian ministers, and those who work in healthcare chaplaincy.

Two leaflets intended for chaplains to use with the parents of children born with intersex conditions/DSDs form appendices to the paper, and are also available to download separately from the project's Resources page. One of these, "You Knit Me Together In My Mother's Womb", is for use with Christian families. The other, "A Precious Creation", is for use with families of other faiths.

These resources are freely available to download as PDF files. You may also download, print and distribute the leaflets, but if you do so you are asked to e-mail susannah.cornwall@manchester.ac.uk to help us keep track of where the leaflets are being used. You are also asked to check for updates to the leaflets during the active life of the project (2011-14) and to ensure you are using the most recent versions available.



Intersex, Identity, Disability: New YouTube video

In March 2012, Dr Susannah Cornwall visited Cambridge to interview Revd Dr John Hare about the implications of intersex conditions for Christian theology. This formed part of the Lincoln Theological Institute's project, Intersex, Identity, Disability: Issues for Public Policy, Healthcare and the Church. A recording of their conversation is now available on the Lincoln Theological Institute's YouTube channel. 

Intersex and Ontology: A Response to The Church, Women Bishops and Provision

Susannah Cornwall's paper, "Intersex and Ontology: A Response to The Church, Women Bishops and Provision" , is published online today by the Lincoln Theological Institute. Its publication coincides with the Church of England General Synod's latest discussions concerning the consecration of women as bishops.

The paper is written in response to a document recently published by the Latimer Trust, by a group of writers concerned that a legal framework should be provided to protect those within the Church of England who do not accept the ministry of women bishops. Susannah Cornwall argues that the authors of that document assume a model of theological anthropology which does not take adequate account of the existence of physical intersex conditions.

She says,

"The fact that maleness and femaleness in The Church, Women Bishops and Provision are considered so self-evident that they do not require definition suggests that the authors do not consider human sex something which can be doubted. However, the existence of intersex, and the uncertainty it raises in some respects about polarized, either-or accounts of human maleness and femaleness, means that anthropologies grounded in fixed, polar models of human sex are anthropologies only of some humans. In order to be comprehensive, theological anthropologies should take account of all the evidence available. Not taking account of intersex, then, might lead to problems for arguments grounded in anthropologies of clear, fixed, polarized maleness and femaleness."

This research took place as part of the Intersex, Identity and Disability project at the Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester. "Intersex and Ontology: A Response to The Church, Women Bishops and Provision"  may be downloaded as a PDF file, free of charge, from the project's resources page.

For more information about the project, please e-mail susannah.cornwall@manchester.ac.uk

Intersex, Identity and Disability project: Intersex conditions and healthcare chaplaincy

As part of the Intersex, Identity and Disability project at the Lincoln Theological Institute, Dr Susannah Cornwall is currently undertaking a survey of healthcare chaplains and chaplaincy assistants in Britain in order to learn more about the existing training and resourcing provided for those involved in pastoral and spiritual care for people with intersex conditions and, in particular, for parents whose children are born with intersex conditions/DSDs. She hopes to learn what kinds of additional training resources healthcare chaplains would most highly value in this area. 

To find out more about this aspect of the project, or to be added to the mailing list to receive updates, please e-mail susannah.cornwall@manchester.ac.uk

Other areas of the project continue. Dr Cornwall has now begun to conduct one-to-one interviews with people in Britain who identify as intersex and Christian in order to find out more about the interactions between their intersex condition and their faith identity. If you or anyone else you know might be interested in taking part in this area of research, either with a face-to-face interview or by filling in a questionnaire, please see the advertisement for research participants for more details - or simply contact Susannah Cornwall in confidence at the e-mail address above.