CLGS

Until her untimely death in February, 2009, Marcella Althaus-Reid was a leading Latin American
feminist liberation theologian, probably best known for her pioneering work in using “queer
theory” for Christian theology.

Marcella Althaus-Reid was born in Rosario, Argentina and received her first
degree through a world-renowned center in Buenos Aires for the study of liberation
theology in Latin America. She earned her PhD in 1994 from the University of St.
Andrews in Scotland and eventually became professor of contextual theology at the
Divinity School of the University of Edinburgh.

Prior to that academic position, Professor Althaus-Reid trained for the ministry of the
Methodist Church of Argentina, where she also developed expertise in the method of
“conscientization,” pioneered by the Brazilian educator and activist Paulo Freire. She put
that training to use in social and community projects supported by the church in
particularly poverty-stricken areas of Buenos Aires. She later established similar projects
in Dundee and Perth (Scotland).

Her first book, Indecent Theology (2000), quickly raised her profile throughout
the theological world, and with the publication of The Queer God (2004), she was on the
forefront of a brand new, exciting, as well as controversial field in the academic study of
theology.

To honor Professor Althaus-Reid’s pioneering spirit and to encourage even more work at the
intersection of scholarship and advocacy, CLGS inaugurated an annual award in her name for the
best student essay in queering religion and theology. This award is open to any student enrolled
at one of the member schools of the Graduate Theological Union and is awarded at the
commencement exercises of Pacific School of Religion. Nominations are made by both regular
and adjunct faculty members throughout the GTU. For more information on the award, contact
Jay Johnson (jjohnson[at]clgs[dot]org).

Inaugural Marcella Althaus-Reid Award: 2009

Among the fine nominations made for the award, CLGS was finally unable to choose between two of them. In the spirit of Althaus-Reid's queering of the expected, the Center decided to make a joint award to two students for their excellent essays.

1. "A Proposal for a Catholic Lesbian Feminist Theology in Hong Kong," by Lai Shan Yip (a candidate for the Master of Arts degree in ethics and social theory, and the recipient of the Certificate in Sexuality and Religion).This essay placed both sexuality and religion firmly in the cultural context of Hong Kong, especially among Roman Catholics, and foregrounding issues of gender in a feminist and liberation perspective. Both the attention to particular social contexts and the feminist commitments resonanted well with the theological vision of Professor Althaus-Reid's work.

2. "The Living End: Science Fiction Queers Resurrection Theology," by Victor H. Floyd (a candidate for ordination in the Metropolitan Community Churches and recipient of the Master of Divinity Degree from PSR, 2009).This essay focused on the intersection of themes in Christian theology (eschatology generally and notions of resurrection in particular) and American popular culture, especially science fiction. Pop culture images destablize traditional theological claims while also helping to retrieve a richer appropriation of Christian faith for contemporary society. Professor Althaus-Reid would have appreciated the emphasis on pop culture (including its campy elements) and the queer retrieval of Christian traditions.