Susan Henking
Susan E HenkingEmeritus Professor of Religious Studies
Joined faculty in 1988
Ph.D., University of Chicago
M.A., University of Chicago
B.A., Duke University
Contact Information
Scholarly Interest
My work is in the general area of religion, gender, and sexuality. I have written on the place of the public intellectual in U.S. debate regarding religion, the history of American sociology, representations of religion in AIDS related memoirs, the intersection of religious studies and lesbian/gay/queer studies, and the theoretical status of religion and psychological studies. I was the founding editor of the American Academy of Religion book series, "Teaching Religious Studies" and have written on the relation of religion, religious studies and higher education in the U.S.
Courses Taught
"Imagining American Religion"
"Religion and Social Theory"
"Psychologies of Religion"
"Unspoken Worlds: Women, Religion and Culture"
"Que(e)rying Religion" (lesbian/gay/queer studies and religion)
"Reading Theory in Religious Studies: Durkheim"
"Reading Feminism in Religious Studies: Mary Daly"
"The Loss of Certainty" (on secularization)
"God, Gender and the Unconscious"
Published Work:
Henking, Susan, William Parsons and Diane Jonte Pace. Mourning Religion (University of Virginia Press, 2008).
Henking, Susan and Gary David Comstock, Quer(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology, Continuum, New York: 1997.
In addition, I have published articles on topics mentioned above in scholarly journals such as Religion and American Culture, Religious Studies Review, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and in edited books including such works as Religion and Psychology: Mapping the Terrain (edited by Diane Jonte Pace and William Parsons) and Religion, Terror and Violence (edited by Philip Tite and Brian Rennie).
Professional Activities and Affiliations:
In 2009/2010 I was a Fellow of the American Council on Education, spending the year at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. I am an active participant in: Campus Women Lead and have been a leader in the American Academy of Religion, serving on its Board of Directors for 9 years. In addition, I have lead within higher education through my involvement with HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) for whom I served as co-coordinator of the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute and the HERS Wellesley Management Institute. I have also served as Acting Provost of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Publications
Henking, Susan, William Parsons and Diane Jonte Pace. Mourning Religion (University of Virginia Press, 2008).
Henking, Susan and Gary David Comstock, Quer(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology, Continuum, New York: 1997.
In addition, I have published articles on topics mentioned above in scholarly journals such as Religion and American Culture, Religious Studies Review, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and in edited books including such works as Religion and Psychology: Mapping the Terrain (edited by Diane Jonte Pace and William Parsons) and Religion, Terror and Violence (edited by Philip Tite and Brian Rennie).
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
In 2009/2010 I was a Fellow of the American Council on Education, spending the year at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. I am an active participant in: Campus Women Lead and have been a leader in the American Academy of Religion, serving on its Board of Directors for 9 years. In addition, I have lead within higher education through my involvement with HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) for whom I served as co-coordinator of the HERS Bryn Mawr Summer Institute and the HERS Wellesley Management Institute. I have also served as Acting Provost of Hobart and William Smith Colleges.