Scholar-Activist Encounter: Vanessa Lovelace and Gale Yee

February 27, 2025, 7:30pm Eastern US Time

How do activism and scholarship contribute to our understanding of Scripture in the world today?

In honor of Black History Month, Vanessa Lovelace and Gale Yee will explore the importance of reading the Bible in conversation with the history of racism and sexism, as well as anti-oppression organizing. Dr. Lovelace will discuss her most recent book, A Womanist Reading of Hebrew Bible Narratives as the Politics of Belonging from an Outsider Within, which explores how biblical stories were first used by ancient biblical writers to include some and exclude others as members of the nation of Israel, and then appropriated by White supremacists in the antebellum era and the early twentieth century to do the same in the United States of America. Dr. Lovelace and Dr. Yee will discuss both the activist hermeneutical stance of using contemporary history and experience to inform our understanding of the Bible, and the implications of this way of reading for intersectional racial justice activism and organizing today. This event will be hosted by Rev. Dr. Eric Thomas.

Click Here to Register: Register for this event

PLEASE NOTE: Registration will be open until 7:00pm Eastern US Time on the day of the event.

Optional Advance Reading:

Attendees are welcome to read some or all of Dr. Lovelace’s book, A Womanist Reading of Hebrew Bible Narratives as the Politics of Belonging from an Outsider Within
Download this flyer to obtain a 30% discount on the book.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Vanessa Lovelace is Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Lancaster Theological Seminary. Her biblical interpretation occupies and explores the intersections of womanist hermeneutics, theology of Black liberation, gender, sexuality, and citizenship and the politics of belonging. She has published multiple books and articles on these themes within the Hebrew Bible, and she is the creator, editor, and host of Womanist Bible Talk: A Podcast for Womanish Bible Readers and Friends. Lovelace earned her Ph.D. in Bible (Hebrew), Culture and Hermeneutics from Chicago Theological Seminary, M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, and B.A. in Radio & Television from San Francisco State University. She is actively engaged in local politics including through GOTV and electoral campaigning and she currently serves as the chair of the Enhancing Our Environment Committee of her chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She also considers her scholarship as a form of activism, through which she educates and encourages people to think and act differently about issues of authority, power, and change.

Dr. Gale Yee is a Hebrew Bible Scholar who has opened pathways for the interpretation of the Bible from feminist, postcolonial and Asian American perspectives. In 2019, she served as the first Asian American and first woman of color president of the Society of Biblical Literature, and has held multiple leadership roles within SBL aimed at opening the field of biblical scholars to marginalized voices and perspectives. She currently lives at Pilgrim Place, a retirement community in Claremont, CA, known for its progressive social activism. Her publications include Towards an Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics: An Intersectional Anthology (2021), Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible (2003), and many others. She edited Hebrew Bible: Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives (2018) in which Dr. Lovelace has an article, was a former General Editor of Semeia Studies, and is currently a co-editor for the Texts@Context series. She is an active member of PANAAWTM (Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry) and serves on the Board of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary in 2020.

Rev. Dr. Eric A. Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Bible at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, pastor at Siloam Presbyterian Church in Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, and a member of the Board of the Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice. His research interests include Queer biblical interpretation, Diasporic Studies and Homiletics. His research explores the potential for queer people of color to engage with scriptural texts to articulate and embody their own modes of flourishing. Eric is a graduate of Drew University where he completed the Ph.D. in New Testament with concentrations in Africana, and Women and Gender Studies, and the Interdenominational Theological Center where he completed his M.Div. Full Bio: https://clbsj.org/about/leadership/eric-a-thomas/

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice invites you to join us for an interactive dialogue exploring the interfaces between scholarship and activism. How do these ways of being contribute to our understanding of Scripture in the world today? Let’s come together to learn from each other. Most events take place on the third Thursday of the month at 4:30pm Pacific Time / 7:30pm Eastern Time. We do not meet every month, and occasionally meet on a different night.

See the full schedule of the Scholar-Activist Encounter series. For questions, email info@clbsj.org.