Whitney A. Bauman, Assistant Professor of Religion and Science,
Department of Religious Studies

Bauman

Award Winning Publication

From Creatio ex Nihilo to Terra Nullius: The Colonization of Creation, forthcoming Routledge, 2009.
 

Theology, Creation, and Environmental Ethics falls at the intersection of Religion and Science, Post-Colonial Studies, and Theological Method.  The underlying question is: Has the doctrine of Creation out of Nothing in the Christian tradition provided a theo-metaphorical support system for a "logic of domination" toward human and earth others?  In other words, does the idea of being created in the image of an Omni-God that creates "out of nothing," provide support for Christians to act as if they can create "the other" out of nothing (through, e.g., civilizing and educating "other" peoples and cultivating and developing "other" lands).  This metaphor gives birth toward a colonizing spirituality: one that escapes from engagement with the other and seeks to assimilate the other into its own reality.  As an alternative, I develop a viable, agnostic theological method that seeks to take human and earth others seriously.  This metaphor, one of "planetary, continuous co-creation," provides support for a dialogical spirituality that respects and acknowledges human and earth "others."

In 8 chapters, the book explores theological metaphors at work in such figures as Constantine, Christopher Columbus, John Locke, and in the contemporary "logic of globalization."  Finally, in dialogue with some contemporary post-foundational theologians and philosophers, the concept of "emergence," and non-equilibrium ecology and thermodynamics, a theo-metaphorical support system for a spirituality of dialogical interaction is developed.

Current Project

Dr. Baumann is currently the Assistant Editor for Berkshire's Encyclopedia of Sustainability: The Spirit of Sustainability and is co-editor of an edited volume tentatively entitled, Inherited Land: The Changing Grounds of Religion and Ecology.  The latter includes essays from about 20 new scholars interested in the field of "Religion and Ecology." Beginning in the Summer of 2009, he will begin working on his second manuscript which brings together his interests in Religion, Nature, and Politics.

 

 

Stiehm

Professor Judith Stiehm (Political Science) was honored with a 2008 Frank J. Goodnow Award for her significant contributions to the political science profession and the American Political Science Association at the 2008 Awards Ceremony, Thursday, August 28, in conjunction with the APSA Annual Meeting in Boston.

She also received a 2008 FIU Faculty Award for Excellence in Research.

2008 Frank J. Goodnow Award:

"Leader, advocate and pioneer, Judith H. Stiehm has worked unflaggingly to advance the representation of women within the profession; she was an early contributor to the national and comparative study of women’s role in political life; indeed she has been instrumental in the development of the subfield of women and politics itself.

As a founder, and later president, of the Women’s Caucus in Political Science and a founder of the Section of Women and Politics within the International Political Science Association, Dr. Stiehm took on a myriad of roles to expand new and enhance existing opportunities for women in political science. In recognition of her efforts on behalf of women in the profession she was named a “Mentor of Distinction” by the APSA Women’s Caucus in 1996.

Similarly, Dr. Stiehm has been affiliated with the National Council for Research on Women, and the National Women’s Studies Association. She chaired the University of Southern California’s Committee of the Status of Women and the Professional Development Committee of the Western Political Science Association which she subsequently served as President with distinction.

In 1981, Dr. Stiehm was part of the American Political Science Association’s Task Force on Women and American Government Task Force. Her service to the Association include Secretary of the APSA Council and chair of the Franklin L. Burdette Pi Sigma Alpha Award Committee, as well as terms on the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award Committee; the Centennial Campaign Executive Committee; the APSA Council; the Nominating Committee; The Committee on Professional Ethics, Rights, and Freedoms; and the Recruitment and Placement Committee.

Dr. Stiehm has written six books, edited five, and published 24 book chapters and more than 25 articles. For her scholarship she received the APSA’s 1990 Victoria Schuck Award for the best book on women and politics. For her scholarship on the military she was awarded the U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal in 1996."

2008 FIU Faculty Award for Excellence in Research:

"Judith Hicks Stiehm is a Professor of Political Science, and formerly served as Provost and
Academic Vice President for four years. She studies political theory, social change, the status of
women, and civil-military relations. Professor Stiehm has received many prestigious awards
including the Frank J. Goodnow Award from the American Political Science Association and the
U.S. Army Distinguished Civilian Service Medal. She has published consistently since 1968,
and appears in the most recent edition of Who’s Who. She served as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and as a Consultant to the United Nations Commission for the Advancement of Women and to the Lessons Learned Unit of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Professor Stiehm has held academic appointments at University of Wisconsin, University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Southern California. She also served as a Visiting Professor at the U.S. Army Peacekeeping Institute and at the Strategic Studies Institute at Carlisle Barracks."

______________________________________________________________________________

 

Research Opportunity:

Faculty Fellowships at the Wolfsonian

 



  FIU HomepageFIU logo