Expansion and contraction

[theatokos]

Last month the executive director asked me to think about expanding into a teaching position here. I have a master's degree in religious studies, which qualifies me for teaching at an adult Jewish studies school. The director suggested I think up some topics, perhaps develop one as a free 1 1/2 hour lecture to start with and grow from there. How great is that? This job is wonderful for so many reasons (the pay is not one of them, however I am grateful to be able to live in the Bay Area and pay my bills at all. God bless the non-profit).

What's difficult about this, not counting my perfectionism, is that I'm not Jewish and my areas of expertise are the Virgin Mary, Christian systematic theology, and feminism/feminist theology. I've studied a little bit of Jewish feminist thought, but as a unit in a larger class. How do I go about making my areas of knowledge relevant to an educated, Jewish audience? I've got to figure out how and why Mary might be relevant to Jews. I could do Divine Feminine in general, but the executive director has a PhD in Biblical Archeology from Cal and already teaches a course called "Did God have a Wife?", centered around Asherah. He would be the obvious choice for Jewish Divine Feminine information.

I'm more than a little stumped. I want to teach. Throw me in a Catholic school and watch me go. Protestants, Orthodox, I'm also good to go. But Jews? I feel more than a little lost.

Comments

[epymetheus.livejournal.com]

(I'd make a comment but we've already talked about this, so it seems redundant).

Maybe you should just try and convert them. After all, there's only a few thousand years difference between Othodoxy and Judiaism.

A.

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Convert them to what? First Church of the Holy Magan? I have it on pretty good authority that I'm the one who needs to be converted to something. And quick!