Zoom
The public defence will also be held as a video conference over Zoom.
Trial Lecture – time and place
Trial lecture will take place on march 31 from 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM in auditorium U40
Adjudication committee
- Associate Professor Jerusha T. Rhodes, Union Theological Seminary (first opponent)
- Professor emeritus Jørgen Nielsen, University of Birmingham (second opponent)
- Associate Professor Nina Hoel, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo
Leader of the disputation
Dean of Studies and Education Sivert Angel, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo
Supervisor
- Dean of Research Anne Hege Grung
- Associate Professor Safet Bektovic
- Professor Zilka Spahić-Šiljak
Abstract
Women theologians have been educated at the Faculty of Islamic Sciences (FIN) in Sarajevo since 1977. The FIN is the main educational institution of the Islamic Community in Bosnia-Herzegovina (ICBH), which is the official Islamic institution in the country. However, none of women educated at the FIN have yet been employed in high-ranking, decision-making positions within the ICBH. Why is that? This question is one of several I wish to explore in this dissertation. As such, in this study, I address the absence of women theologians within the structure of the ICBH.
This dissertation builds on material from a multi-method research project in which I combine (a) in-depth interviews conducted with women theologians and men religious leaders, (b) observations in ritual settings, and (c) textual analysis of documents produced by the ICBH.
As I explore the perception, position, and role of women theologians within the ICBH, I indirectly ask, “Are women theologians part of the ulama (scholars of Islam) of the ICBH?”. I am also interested in knowing if women theologians perceive themselves as part of the religious establishment. To answer my questions, I have chosen to focus on three themes – the three-tined-fork of the “woman question” within contemporary Islamic discourse: women’s presence in the mosque, women as religious authorities, and women as ritual leaders.
With this research, I wish to contribute to two fields of research: Islamic feminist thought and Islamic university theology. In feminist scholarship, the focus has been on making visible the different structures that uphold and promote gender injustice/inequality. The main intent is to endorse change for greater justice. The term “Islamic university theology” has been applied by academics when speaking of the production of Islamic theological thought, though in different ways and with different content in the European context. They argue that university theology harvests both the insider and the outsider perspective by critically focusing on religious practices. In this dissertation, I show that Islamic feminist thought and Islamic university theology combined give insights to challenges pertaining to gender justice.
Among my findings is that the ICBH has not developed a strategy concerning the inclusion of women theologians and that the same are ineligible from any position that may include ritual leadership. Furthermore, most of the women theologians participating in this study do not look to the ICBH for religious leadership even though they recognize its official status in the country, nor do they envision the ICBH as a potential employer.