Dear Kim,
It was wonderful to see you at the EEWC-Christian Feminism Today Gathering in Indianapolis a few weeks ago and to continue these intergenerational conversations before a live audience!
I know that we were both disappointed that Erin Lane Beam, the advertised third member of our panel, was unable to be with us (due to her [...]
Continue reading about Relationships: Complementing and Complimenting
Dear Letha,
Thanks so much for engaging my thoughts and struggles regarding the process of learning. Your articulations about what it means to be a lifelong learner, which you raised so well in your last letter, beautifully describe what I have always admired about you. You keep learning every day—every hour, really—of your life journey, and [...]
Continue reading about Experiments with Pedagogy: More Thoughts on Approaches to Learning
Dear Kimberly,
I was moved by your March 30 post as you continued our discussion of empathy and othering. Our conversation seems especially timely in view of a number of events that have occurred since you wrote that letter: the death of civil rights leader Dorothy Height, the passing of the harsh immigration law in Arizona, [...]
Continue reading about Think Critically, Question Constantly, Learn Continuously, See Connections
Letha,
Your last post, in which you illustrated so well the harm of “othering,” named a topic that is more and more becoming a core theme in my studies at Yale. As you know, I’ve been studying U.S. history quite a bit (as I am considering going into American Studies for PhD work). It seems that [...]
Continue reading about More Thoughts on Othering and Empathy
Dear Kimberly,
I’ve been thinking a lot about empathy lately, and it ties in with something you referred to in your December 1 letter — the concept of “othering.” I guess I’ve been thinking about empathy (or the lack of it) for many reasons. On the one hand, I think of the tremendous outpouring of compassion [...]
Dear Letha,
I appreciated how in your last letter you nuanced the different patterns through which cultures control women. In this letter, I’d like to continue discussing the normative restrictions that come from internalized belief patterns specifically. And while we often discuss these kinds of limitations on women as being dictated by religious dogma, I [...]
Continue reading about Normative Restrictions: From 19th Century Victorian “Ideals” to Twilight
Dear Kimberly,
Last weekend, the film discussion group that I attend regularly viewed an advance screening of Amelia, the story of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who was the first woman (and first person after Charles Lindbergh) to fly solo across the Atlantic. Amelia Earhart helped form and was the first president of the Ninety-Nines, the international [...]
Dear Letha,
In your last letter, you discussed the sad reality that the oppression of women has been intimately interwoven with religious dogma. I would like to continue that discussion, because I have been recently trying to parse out what ought to be the role of religious feminists within this larger conversation of women’s/human rights.
Because religion and [...]
Continue reading about What is the Role of Religious Feminists?
Dear Kimberly,
As you pointed out so well in your last letter, girls and women have had access to education for a relatively short time in the span of history. And in some places, they’re still denied such access. So I can see why you’re thinking about this a lot as you begin your studies at [...]
Continue reading about Religion, Women’s Status, and Self-image
Hi Letha,
Thanks so much for your last letter about “great and not so great expectations” for women.” Right now, I am thinking about how much I expect of myself, wondering if I am trying to do too much!
The Value of Writing Retreats
As you know, I am now two weeks away from leaving Seattle and venturing [...]