Entrepreneurs

Abstract

One wonderful result of women coming into religious studies in larger numbers is that some of us are able to imagine not simply moving into open slots but actually creating new opportunities for others and ourselves. These so-called entrepreneurs are responsible for the creation of new departments of women’s studies and gender studies that simply did not exist before. They have created and endowed lectureships and research programs. They have founded journals like theJournal of Feminist Studies in Religion (JFSR) (www.hds.harvard.edu/jfsr). They have built organizations like the Center for Women and Ministry in the South; the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual (WATER) (www.hers.com/water); and the Women’s Theological Center, among so many such accomplishments. Consider joining their ranks. The challenge of entrepreneurial action is that such creations take money and time that most of us simply do not have on our own. Therefore, they require intense collaboration, meticulous organization, fund raising ability, and good luck.