Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions: Faith and Culture across History [2 volumes]

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Description

This reference offers reliable knowledge about women's diverse faith practices throughout history and prehistory, and across cultures. Across the span of human history, women have participated in world-building and life-sustaining cultural creativity, making enormous contributions to religion and spirituality. In the contemporary period, women have achieved greater equality, with more educational opportunities, female role models in public life, and opportunities for religious expression than ever before. Contemporaneously with this increased visibility, women are actively and energetically engaging with religion for themselves and for their communities. Drawing on the expertise of a range of scholars, this reference chronicles the religious experiences of women across time and cultures. The book includes sections on major religions as well as on spirituality, African religions, prehistoric religions, and other broad topics. Each section begins with an introduction, followed by reference entries on specialized subjects along with excerpts from primary source documents. The entries provide numerous suggestions for further reading, and the book closes with a detailed bibliography.

Reviews

Essential for academic and religious institutions. * Library Journal *
Overall, the work should be commended as a worthy addition to religious studies reference material at the college level, with the caveat that many of the definitions emphasize boldness over nuance, and any research project should utilize additional scholarly articles and monographs for more a richer perspective. * ARBA *
Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions is a good starting point for students, and academic and large public libraries will want to add this to their collections. * Booklist *
The set will be useful for those seeking information about women in a particular faith * Choice *

Author Bio

Susan de-Gaia, PhD, is lecturer in religious studies at Central Michigan University, Global Campus. Her work focuses on gender and feminist studies, religion, and popular culture.