Was Saint Teresa a Feminist?

On Thursday, October 15 at 6:00 PM, join the Library Associates for the annual Casey-McIlvane Memorial Lecture featuring Professor Bárbara Mujica of the Georgetown University Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Mujica, one of the most prominent experts on Saint Teresa of Ávila in the country, will address the question: was Saint Teresa a feminist?

Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 6:00 PM
Murray Room, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University
Book signing to follow

This year marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Teresa de Ávila, known in the Spanish-speaking world as Teresa de Jesús. One of the most dynamic and innovative of the sixteenth-century mystics, Saint Teresa founded the Discalced Carmelites, an order devoted to contemplation and mental prayer, in 1562. An avid reader and writer, Saint Teresa produced four treatises and hundreds of letters as well as meditations and essays.

Georgetown University Library has built one of the most significant collections of early Discalced Carmelite documents in the area. It includes the first edition of the works of Saint Teresa (1588), edited by Fray Luis de León, as well as the 1606 biography by Diego de Yepes. To mark this momentous anniversary, the Library’s Booth Family Center for Special Collections is hosting an exhibition of materials related to one of Spain’s most beloved saints, 500 Years of Teresa de Ávila.

In addition, the Library is co-presenting a symposium on the life and impact of Saint Teresa, beginning with the annual Casey-McIlvane Memorial Lecture on October 15. In the lecture, renowned Teresian scholar and professor Bárbara Mujica will address the provocative question: was Saint Teresa a feminist?

Bárbara Mujica is Professor of Spanish and Associated Faculty of Performing Arts at Georgetown University. She has written two scholarly studies of Teresa de Ávila: Teresa de Ávila, Woman of letters (Vanderbilt University Press, 2009) and Teresa de Jesús: Espiritualidad y feminismo (Orto / U. Minnesota, 2006), and a novel, Sister Teresa (Overlook 2007), among several other books, both academic and fiction. She has written numerous articles and lectured widely on Saint Teresa, her disciples and related subjects. She is Faculty Adviser of the Georgetown University Student Veterans’ Association and Co-Facilitator of the Veterans Support Team. In February 2015, Dr. Mujica received a Presidential Medal from Georgetown University for her work on behalf of student veterans.

The Casey-McIlvane Endowed Library Lecture Fund was established in memory of Francis L. Casey, Jr., C’50, L’53, and in honor of the Reverend Donald W. McIlvane, F’46 through the generous joint gift of Nancy McIlvane Del Genio, F’82 and the late Roseanne McIlvane Casey, S’79.

The Georgetown University Library Associates are a group of Georgetown alumni, parents and friends dedicated to supporting the Library. To learn more, contact us at 202.687.7446 or visit us at library.georgetown.edu/associates.

See the schedule for the full symposium, 500 Years of Saint Teresa of Ávila, on October 16