Ellen T. Armour E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Associate Professor of Theology Associate Professor of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt Divinity School 411 21st Ave. So. Nashville TN 37240 615/322-2776 (O) [email protected] EDUCATION Vanderbilt University 1983-1993 Ph.D. awarded with honors, 1993 M.A. 1989 Major: Theology Minor: History of Christian Thought Stetson University 1977-1980 B.A. 1980 Major: Humanities Auburn University 1976-1977 No degree Major: Piano Performance PUBLICATIONS Books Deconstruction, Feminist Theology and the Problem of Difference: Subverting the Race/Gender Divide. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Religion and Postmodernism Series (Mark C. Taylor, editor), 1999. Bodily Citations: Religion and Judith Butler. Co-edited with Susan M. St. Ville. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Articles/Book Chapters E. Armour C.V., p. 2 “Sallie McFague.” Key Theological Thinkers: From Modern to Postmodern. Staale Johannes Kristiansen and Svein Rise, eds. London: Ashgate, 2013. 517-528. [Revised and updated version of 1996 essay.] “Reponsi/ability After Derrida.” Living Together: Jacques Derrida’s Communities of Peace and Violence. Edited by Elisabeth Weber. Fordham University Press, 2012. 123-136. “Beyond the God/Man Duo: Globalization, Feminist Theology, and Religious Subjectivity.” The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theology. Ed. Mary McClintock Fulkerson and Sheila Briggs. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 371-381. “Queer Bibles, Queer Scriptures?: An Introductory Response.” Bible Trouble: Queer Reading at the Boundaries of Biblical Scholarship. Eds. Teresa J. Hornsby and Ken Stone. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature: Semeia Series, No. 67, 2011. 1-8. “Reading From This Place: Resources for Sexual Justice.” Reading Ideologies: Essays on the Bible and Interpretation in Honor of Mary Ann Tolbert, ed. Tat-siong Benny Liew. London: Sheffield, 2011. “Thinking Otherwise: Derrida’s Contribution to the Philosophy of Religion.” Continental Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion. Ed. Morny Joy. New York: Springer, 2011. 39-60. “Visual Theology: Diagnosing Postmodernity.” Between Philosophy and Theology: Contemporary Interpretations of Christianity. Edited by Lieven Boeve and Christophe Brabante. London: Ashgate Press, 2011. 175-192. “Blinding Me with (Queer) Science: Religion, Sexuality, and (Post?)Modernity.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 68 (1-3): 107-119 (2010). 40th Anniversary Issue. “Planetary Sightings? Negotiating Sexual Differences in Globalization’s Shadow.” Planetary Loves: Postcoloniality, Gender and Theology. Edited by Stephen Moore and Mayra Rivera. New York: Fordham University Press, 2010. 209-224. “Toward an Elemental Theology: A Constructive Proposal.” In Theology that Matters: Ecology, Economy, and God. Ed. Darby Kathleen Ray. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2006. 42-57. “Theology in Modernity’s Wake.” “Reply to [Peter J.] Ochs.” “Response to Paul J. Griffiths.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74.1 (March 2006): 1-16, 19-20, 75-76. “’Man and His ‘Others,’” Bulletin de la Société Américaine de Philosophie de Langue Française, vol. 15, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 1-11. “Touching Transcendence: Sexual Difference and Sacrality in Derrida's Le Toucher.” Derrida and Religion: Other Testaments. Ed. Yvonne Sherwood and Kevin Hart (New York: Routledge, 2005). 351-362. E. Armour C.V., p. 3 “God.” Co-authored with Laurel Schneider, Paul Capetz, Don Compier, et al. Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes. Ed. Serene Jones and Paul Lakeland. Fortress Press, 2004. 19-76. “A Post-Structuralist Approach.” Feminist Philosophy of Religion: Critical Readings, ed. Pamela Sue Anderson and Beverley Clack. Routledge Press, 2004. 42-53. “Divining Differences: Irigaray and Religion.” Religion in French Feminist Thought: Critical Perspectives. Edited by Kathy O’Grady, Morny Joy, and Judith Poxon. Routledge Press, 2003. 29-40. “Beyond Belief?: Sexual Difference and Religion After Ontotheology.” The Religious. Ed. John Caputo. Blackwell Readings in Continental Philosophy. Simon Critchley, General Ed. New York: Blackwell Press, 2002. 212-226. “Through flame or ashes”:Traces of Difference in Geist’s Return.” Feminist Interpretations of Martin Heidegger. Ed. Nancy Holland and Patricia Huntington. State College: Penn State University Press, 2001. 316-333. “American/French Intersections: The Play of Race/Class/Politics in Irigaray.” Reinterpreting the Political: Continental Philosophy and Political Theory. Ed. Lenore Langsdorf and Stephen H. Watson with Karen A. Smith. Selected Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Volume 20. Albany: SUNY Press, 1998. “Writing/Reading Selves, Writing/Reading Race.” Remembrance and Responsibility. Ed. Linda Martìn Alcoff, Debra Bergoffen and John Caputo. Selected Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Volume 23. Philosophy Today 41, supplement. “Crossing the Boundaries Between Deconstruction, Feminism and Religion.” Feminist Interpretations of Derrida. Ed. Nancy Holland. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997. "Questions of Proximity: Woman's `Place' in Derrida and Irigaray.” Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, 12:1 (Winter 1997): 63-78. “Sallie McFague.” New Handbook of Christian Theologians. Ed. Joseph Price and Donald Musser. Abingdon Press, 1996. “On Diversity and Conflict.” Celebrating the Humanities: A Half Century of the Search Course at Rhodes College. Ed. Michael Nelson. Vanderbilt University Press, 1996. “Questioning ‘Woman’ in Feminist/Womanist Theology: Irigaray, Ruether and Daly.” Transfigurations: Feminist Theology and the French Feminists. Ed. C.W. Maggie Kim, Susan M. St. Ville, and Susan M. Simonaitis. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1993. “Recent French Feminist Works.” Religious Studies Review 17:3 (July 1991). E. Armour C.V., p. 4 Non-peer reviewed articles “Queering the Subject.” Bulletin for the Study of Religion 39.4 (2010). Contribution to “Spiritual Geographies.” Cross Currents 48.2 (Summer 1998). Encyclopedia entries “Christianity and Sexuality,” Encyclopedia of Pyschology and Religion, 2nd ed. David A. Leeming, ed. London: Springer, 2014: 331-334. “Feminist Theology and Racism,” “Feminist Theology in North America,” “Postmodernism, Theology, and Ethics.” Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Edited by Daniel Patte. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. “Essentialism.” Dictionary of Feminist Theologies. Ed. Letty Russell and Shannon Clarkson. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996. Selected book reviews "Border Crossing." philoSOPHIA 3.2 (2013): 175-181. [Review of Kalpana Seshadri, HumAnimal: Race, Law and Language] Review of Feminism, Sexuality and the Return of the Religious, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Review of Powers of Submission, Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Review of Feminist Theory and Christian Theology. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Review of Knowing Other-wise. Religious Studies Review. Review of Feminist Interpretations of Søren Kierkegaard. Religious Studies Review. Review of Eros for the Other: Retaining Truth in a Pluralistic World. Journal of the American Academy of Religion (Fall 1998). Review of Transcending Boundaries: Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to the Study of Gender. Religious Studies Review 19:2 (April 1993). UNDER REVIEW OR IN PRESS Signs and Wonders: Theology After Modernity (book ms. under review at Columbia University Press). E. Armour C.V., p. 5 “Jacques Derrida.” Theory/Critique/Religion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches. Ed. Richard King. New York: Columbia University Press. Submitted to editors July 2009. PRESENTATIONS Invited Lectures “Crisis in the Anglican Communion: Christian Bio-Discipline (and Beyond?).” 40th Anniversary Antoinette Brown Lecture, Vanderbilt Divinity School, 20 March 2014; also presented as a keynote address at “Democracy Realized? The Legacies of the Civil Rights Movement,” Allegheny College, Meadhville PA, 29 March 2014 and as keynote address at “Sexuality and Spirituality,” Advanced Degree Student Organization Conference, Toronto School of Theology, Toronto CA, 14 March 2014. “Regarding Photographs of Others: Abu Ghraib and Bio-Disciplinary Power.” Thinking Through Foucault. Department of Religion, Syracuse University. 14 April 2013. “Blinding Me with Queer Science: Critical Reflections.” Gilberto Castaneda Lecture. Chicago Theological Seminary. Chicago IL. 6 May 2010. “Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve?: Text, Tradition and The Debate Over Homosexuality.” Plenary lecture, Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting. Louisville KY. 4 March 2011. [Also presented as the annual faculty lecture, RainbowReVU Pride Week, Vanderbilt University, 23 March 2011.] “Becoming Terri Schiavo.” Judith Butler, respondent. “Becomings, Misplacements, Departures: Butler and Whitehead as Catalysts for Thought”. Claremont School of Theology. Claremont CA. 3 December 2009. “Theology, Theory and the Debate over Homosexuality.” Lecture on Religion. Drury University, Springfield IL. 28 February 2009. “Diagnosing Postmodernity: A Theological Response.” “Theological Perspectives on Contemporary Philosophical Interpretations of Christianity.” Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. 13 February 2008. “Planetary Sightings? Negotiating Sexual Differences in Globalization’s Shadow.” Invited presentation, “Planetary Loves: Postcoloniality, Gender and Theology.” Transdisciplinary Theological Colloquium with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Drew Theological School, 1-4 November 2007. “Man and His Others.” Keynote Address, Annual Meeting of the Société Americaine de Philosophie de Langue Française, Eastern Section of the American Philosophical Association, Boston MA, 29 December 2004. E. Armour C.V., p. 6 “Through the Looking Glass: ‘Man’ and His ‘Others’ After Modernity.” Dept. of Philosophy, Hamline University, St. Paul MN, 9 November 2004. “Theology, Feminist Theory, and Postmodernism.” Department of Religion, Syracuse University. 26 April 2001. “Thinking Through the Difference Race Makes.” Lecture, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon IO, November 11, 1999. “Questioning ‘Woman’ in Feminist/Womanist Theology: Irigaray, Ruether and Daly.” “Feminist Theologies and French Feminisms: Possibilities and Problems,” The University of Chicago Divinity School, Chicago IL, 4/26-28/91. Conference Papers “The Death Penalty and Beyond: The Theo-Politics of Life and Death.” American Comparative Literature Assocation Annual Meeting, New York University, New York, NY, 23 March 2014. “Queering the Subject.” Queer Pedagogies and/in Religious Studies. Queer Theory and LGBTQ Studies Consultation and Teaching Religion Section. 29 October 2009. American Academy of Religion. Montreal CA. “Visualizing Philosophy: Reading (Through and About) Images.” PhiloSOPHIA. John Jay University/Fordham University, New York NY. 28 May 2009. “Queerying Identity Politics: Humanity, Animality, and Beyond.” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh PA. 18 October 2008. “The State of the Union(s): Terri Schiavo and Religion in America.” NEXUS Interdisciplinary Conference on Religion and Nation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, 8 April 2006. “Visualizing Philosophy: Abu Ghraib, Animality, and Cosmopolitanism.” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Salt Lake City, Utah, 20-22 October 2005. “Chasm or Chiasm?: Gift, Sexual Difference, Religion.” Session on “Chiasms of Exchange: Derrida’s Gifts.” International Association for Philosophy and Literature, Helsinki, Finland, 2-7 June 2005. “Material Differences: Heidegger’s Others.” Panel presentation, “Heidegger’s Materialities.” International Association of Philosophy and Literature, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, 19- 25 May 2004. “Touching Transcendence: Sexual Difference and Sacrality in Derrida's Le Toucher.” Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection Group/Theology and Continental Philosophy Group, American Academy of Religion, 25 November 2002. E. Armour C.V., p. 7 “Interpreting Practices, Sustaining Differences: Deconstruction as Hermeneutical Praxis.” Invited presentation, International Congress on Hermeneutics, St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, NY (May 5-10, 2002). Published in conference proceedings. “‘Through flame or ashes’: Spectral Sightings, Haunting Differences.” Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. Baltimore MD. 5 October 2001. "Deconstructing God, Deconstructing Belief: Sexual Difference and the Sacred." Continental Philosophy of Religion Conference, St. Martin's College, Lancaster, England, 19 July 2000. “Writing/Reading Selves, Writing/Reading Race.” Presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Lexington, KY, October 1997. “Divining Differences with Irigaray’s Sensible Transcendentals.” Presented to the Theology and Continental Philosophy Group at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, November 22-26, 1996. “The (Im)possible Possibility of Theology Without God.” Presented to the Theology and Religious Reflection Section at the American Academy of Religion, November 20, 1995, Philadelphia, PA. “Theorizing Desire Between Women.” Presented at the 1995 annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Chicago, IL, October 14, 1995. “Divine Speculations in Derrida and Irigaray.” Annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Seattle WA, 10/1/94. “Questions of Proximity: ‘Woman’s Place’ in Derrida and Irigaray.” Annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, New Orleans LA, 10/23/93. “American/French Intersections: The Play of Race/Class/Politics in Irigaray.” Annual meeting of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Boston MA, 10/29/92 “Social Justice and Religious Discourse: Forging an Alliance with Derrida.” Annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, New Orleans LA , 11/20/90. “Deconstruction and Feminist Thinking: Luce Irigaray’s Ce sexe qui n’en est pas une.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Chicago IL, 11/20/88. Invited Responses or Panel Presentations Panelist, “Sexual and Gender Identity at the Intersections, Part 2 – Pedagogy,” Status of Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgendered, Intersex and Queer Persons in the Profession, 25 November 2013. Respondent, “Queering Debates on Animal/Human Relations, Gay Men and Religion Group, Baltimore MD, 25 November 2013. E. Armour C.V., p. 8 Respondent, “The Self and Other Fictions in Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection,” Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection Group, Baltimore MD, 24 November 2013. “Bach and Bible Trouble.” Women in the Biblical World and GLBT Queer Hermeneutics. Society for Biblical Literature Annual Meeting. Chicago IL, 19 November 2012. “Theology as Intimate Address: Wendy Farley’s Gathering Those Driven Away.” Pacific Northwest Regional AAR. Spokane, WA. 14 May 2011. Respondent, Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection (Revised and updated), ed. Marvin Ellison and Kelly Brown Douglas (Westminster John Knox, 2010). American Academy of Religion, 31 October 2010. “Response to The Queer Bible Commentary.” Invited presentation. Consultation for GLBTQ Hermeneutics. Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. San Diego, CA. 18 November 2007. “Response to Edith Wyschogrod’s Crossover Queries: Dwelling with Negatives, Embodying Philosophy’s Others. Invited presentation. Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, 7 November 2007. “Response to Amy Hollywood, Sensible Ecstasy: Mysticism, Sexual Difference, and the Demands of History.” American Academy of Religion, Washington, D.C. 19 November 2006. Panelist, “Virginity, Death, and Subjectivity in Feminist Philosophy of Religion: Françoise Meltzer's For Fear of the Fire: Joan of Arc and the Limits of Subjectivity.” Philosophy of Religion Section. American Academy of Religion. 26 November 2002. Respondent, An Ethics of Dissensus: Postmodernity, Feminism, and the Politics of Radical Democracy by Ewa Planowska Ziarek, Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, 10 October 2002, Chicago IL. Respondent, “Gender, Deconstruction, and the Divine: Feminist Approaches to Philosophy of Religion.” Philosophy of Religion Section, American Academy of Religion, Denver CO, 18 November 2001. Panelist, Responses to Serene Jones, Feminist Theory and Christian Theology: Cartographies of Grace. Society for Theology and Continental Philosophy. Baltimore MD. 4 October 2001. Panelist, “Queering Religious Studies.” Celebrating Our Past, Envisioning Our Future. Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry, Pacific School of Religion. 20 April 2001. Panelist, “Theology and Derrida 1: Relation without Relation”. Theology and Religious Reflection Section, American Academy of Religion, Nashville TN, 18 November 2000. Respondent, Ellen T. Armour’s Deconstruction, Feminist Theology, and the Problem of Difference, and Thomas A. Carlson’s Indiscretion: Finitude and the Naming of God, Feminist E. Armour C.V., p. 9 Theory and Religious Reflection Group and Philosophy of Religion Section, American Academy of Religion, Nashville TN, 19 November 2000. Presider, Yielding Gender: Feminist Deconstruction and the History of Philosophy by Penelope Deutscher. Presentations by Tina Chanter (University of Memphis) and Ewa Ziarek (University of Notre Dame); response by Penelope Deutscher (Australian National University). Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, Eugene OR, October 1999. Presider, “Bodily Citations II: Religionists Engage Judith Butler.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, November 24, 1997. San Francisco, CA. “Moira Gatens’ Work on the Body.” Invited paper presented at SPEP, Washington, D.C., October 10, 1996. Respondent, “Identities and Differences II,” Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection Group, American Academy of Religion, November 20, 1995, Philadelphia, PA. Invited respondent to Margaret McLaren, Rollins College, “Foucault on the Subject of Feminism,” Mid-South Philosophy Conference, The University of Memphis, February 25, 1995. Respondent, Consultation on Feminist Theory and Theology, Annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Washington, D.C., 11/20/93. Invited respondent to Tina Chanter, “Pornography and Essentialism” at a symposium entitled “New Currents in Feminist Theory” sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and Center for Research on Women, Memphis State University, Memphis TN, 4/16-17/93. Respondent, “The Self and Other Fictions in Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection,” Feminist Theory and Religious Reflection Group, Baltimore MD, 24 November 2013. Respondent, “Queering Debates on Animal/Human Relations, Gay Men and Religion Group, Baltimore MD, 25 November 2013. OTHER PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENTS Treasurer, Constructive Theology Workgroup 2007-present Co-Editor, Theology, Religious Studies Review 1997- present Network Editor, Feminist Theology, Religious Studies Review 1995-1999 Editorial Board, Bulletin de la Société Americaine de Philosophie de Langue Française 2004-present Founding member, PhiloSOPHIA: A Society for Women in Philosophy. Spring 2007. E. Armour C.V., p. 10 Invited panelist, “Scholarship, Service, and Stress: The Tensions of Being a Chair,” Chairs Workshop, American Academy of Religion, 21 November 2003. Participant, “Thinking Through the Difference Between Transcendence and Immanence: Levinas, Bergson, Deleuze.” Collegium Phaenomenologicum, Citta di Castello, Italy. 14 July-1 August 2003. Invited participant, “Critical Religious Worldviews.” Graduate Theological Union (sponsored by the Ford Foundation). Invited participant, Lived Theology and Race Work Group, The Project on Lived Theology, directed by Charles Marsh, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia. Sponsored by the Lilly Endowment. Invited participant, Constructive Theology Workgroup, Vanderbilt University, coordinated by Serene Jones, Yale Divinity School, and Paul Lakeland, Fairfield University (sponsored by Fortress Press). Auditor, “Forgiveness”, Seminar by Jacques Derrida, New School for Social Research, Fall 1998 Auditor, “Animality,” Seminar by Jacques Derrida, New York University, Fall 1998 Reviewer for Routledge Press, Westminster John Knox, Indiana UP, SUNY Press, Manchester UP (UK), University of Chicago Press, Columbia UP, Fordham UP, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Signs, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Toronto Journal of Theology, JAAR, Foucault Studies External reader for dissertations at University of Memphis (Mary Bloodworth, Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1997), Toronto School of Theology (Lorraine McKenzie Shepherd, Ph.D. in Theology, 1998), and Emory University (Christopher Boesel, Ph.D. in Theology, 2002) Grant Reviewer, American Academy of Religion 2000-2008 AWARDS AND GRANTS Jameson Jones Award for Faculty Service, Rhodes College, 2005 R.A. Webb Professorship in Theology, Rhodes College, 2001-2006 Clarence Day Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, Rhodes College, 1997-1998. Faculty Development Endowment Grant, Rhodes College, Summer 1998 Co-Investigator with Professor Stephen Haynes, Consultation on the Church-Related Liberal Arts College (funded by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.) Faculty Development Endowment Grant, Rhodes College, Summer 1997 Faculty Development Endowment Grant, Rhodes College, Summer 1995 Faculty Development Endowment Grant, Rhodes College, Summer 1994 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE