De-Centering Religion as Queer Pedagogical Practice

Authors

  • Thelathia Young Emory University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v39i4.004

Keywords:

Ethics, queer, sexuality, race, Pedagogy, Youth

Abstract

Inasmuch as the value of teaching rests in its liberating consciousness-raising possibilities, teaching theological ethics ought to aim toward and build upon justice-oriented practice. My efforts at justice-making in the classroom, especially around the subjects of race, gender, and sexuality, assume the necessity of diverse individual’s and communities’ real experiences of moral agency, thereby de-centering religion as the norm for doing ethics. Thus, religion, and specifically Christianity, becomes a source within the scholarly endeavor. In this paper, I delineate my own experiences and practices of teaching race, gender and sexuality in two contexts, offering explanations of the ways those practices de-center religious perspectives and privilege experience as a source.

Author Biography

  • Thelathia Young, Emory University

    Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Division of Religion

References

Foucault, Michel. 1978 The History of Sexuality: An Introduction. New York: Random House.

Glaude, Jr., Eddie S. 2003 “Myth and African American Self-Identity.” In Craig R. Prentiss (ed.), Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity: An Introduction, 28-42. New York: New York University Press.

Jaramillo, Nathalia E. and Peter McLaren. 2009 “Borderlines: bell hooks and the Pedagogy of Revolutionary Change.” In Maria del Guadalupe Davidson and George Yancy, (eds.), Critical Perspectives on bell hooks, 17-33. New York: Routledge.

Mutnick, Deborah. 2006 “Critical Interventions: The Meaning of Praxis.” In Jan Cohen-Cruz and Mady Schutzman, (eds.), A Boal Companion: Dialogues on Theatre and Cultural Politics, 33-45. New York: Routledge.

Published

2010-11-23

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Young, T. (2010). De-Centering Religion as Queer Pedagogical Practice. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 39(4). https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v39i4.004