CURRICULUM VITAE Gisela Webb Department of Religious Studies Seton Hall University South Orange, New Jersey 07079 Employment
1997- Director University Honors Program, Seton Hall University
1996- Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Seton Hall University
1989-1996- Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Seton Hall University
1984-1989- Instructor of World Religions and Islamic Studies courses at Temple University (Philadelphia, Pa.), Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, Pa.), Saint Joseph's University (Philadelphia, Pa.), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (Wyncote, Pa.)
Education
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of Gisela Teran Acosta and James Goodrich.
B.A. (1980) Department of Religion, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa.
M.A. (1986) Department of Religion, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa.
PhD (1989) (with distinction), Department of Religion, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. Title: The Human/Angelic Relation in the Philosophies of Suhrawardi and Ibn Arabi: A Study in Medieval Islamic Epistemology
Travels and research include Europe, China, North Africa, Indonesia, Jordan, Syria, Israel and the Occupied West Bank.
Current Duties at Seton Hall
Director of the University Honors Program at Seton Hall
Faculty member, Department of Religious Studies
Faculty Fellow, Seton Hall School of Diplomacy and International Relations
Courses regularly taught: Honors Colloquium on the Middle Ages--An Intercultural Approach; World Religions; Religious Dimension of Life; Introduction to Islam; Women, World Religions and Human Rights; Women, Gender, and Islam; Islamic Spirituality; Mysticism East and West
President's Council on Faculty Diversity
Mentor, Seton Hall Comprehensive Achievement Program (SHUCAP)
Professional Organizations
Phi Beta Kappa
American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies, Board of Directors
American Academy of Religion
Middle East Studies Association
Grants/Awards
Sabbatical 2003-2004 and Fulbright Award for Teaching and Research at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Title of Project: "Teaching and Learning Religion in Indonesia: A Dialogical Approach to the Study of World Religions"
Sabbatical 1996-97 to research Islamic Spirituality in America, Focus on Muslim Women's Scholarship and Activism in the U.S.
National Endowment for the Humanities Grants Selection Committee (1994-95)
National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Research Fellowship 1991: Contemporary American Islamic Spirituality in America (Part II, Praxis)
Seton Hall University Research Council Summer Stipend, 1990: Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary American Islamic Spirituality (Part I, Theory)
Publications
"Themes of Wisdom in Dialogue: Pedagogical Possibilities in Medieval Metaphysics for Undergraduate Liberal Arts Studies." In Beacon of Knowledge: Essays in Honors of Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Louisville, Kentucky: FONS VITAE Press. 2003.
"Gabriel." In the Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 2002.
Review: "Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text From a Woman's Perspective." Written by Amina Wadud. Journal of Law and Religion. Vol. XV, No. 1 and 2, 2000-2001.
"Intimations of the Great Unlearning: Inter-religious Spirituality and the Demise of Consciousness Which is Alzheimer's." Cross Currents. Vol. 51, No. 3 Fall. 2001.
Windows of Faith: Muslim Women Scholar-Activists in North America. (A collection of essays by leading Muslim women theologians, legal scholars, literary historians, and activists in the United States working on issues of Muslim women's rights from a Muslim perspective.) Edited and introductory chapter by Gisela Webb. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. 2000. Translated into Arabic by Dar al-Fikr Publishing, Damascus, Syria. 2002.
"The Angel." In the Encyclopedia of the Qur'an. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 2000, 2001.
"The Core of Honors." In Reflections on the Core Curriculum. Paper in response to Center for Catholic Studies Summer Seminar 2001 on The Core Curriculum and the Catholic University of the Twentieth Century. Published by the Center for Catholic Studies. Seton Hall University, 2001
"Teaching Islam as a World Religion to Undergraduates: Challenges and Opportunities in the Age of Globalization and Multiculturalism" in Religion and Education. Vol. 25, 1&2. Winter. 1998.
"Teaching with Pictures: Three Paintings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen." In Windows on the House of Islam. Edited by John Renard. Berkely: University of California Press. 1998.
"Expressions of Islam in America," "Sufism in America," and "Subud." Three chapters in America's Alternative Religions. Edited by Timothy Miller. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995.
Readings in World Religions: Selections from Primary Sources, Arranged with Comments By Gisela Webb. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt Publishers, 1995.
"Islam and Muslims in America." In Islam, Muslims, and the Modern State. Edited by Hussin Mutalib and Taj-Hashimi. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
"Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary American Islamic Spirituality: The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship." In Muslim Communities in North America. Edited by Yvonne Haddad and Jane Smith. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.
"Hierarchy, Angels and the Human Condition in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi," The Muslim World, 81, 3-4 (July-October 1991): 245-253.
Presentations (at Professional Organization Meetings)
November 2001 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, Presided on Panel on Islamic Spirituality in North America.
November 1997 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Presenter on Panel on Ethics and Medicine: "Imitations of the Great Unlearning: Inter-religious Spirituality and the Demise of Consciousness Which is Alzheimer's"
September 1995, Second Annual Islam in America Conference, DePaul University, Chicago: "The Third Wave: Tendencies and Tensions in American Sufism of the Nineties"
November 1995, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Philadelphia: President/Presenter of Panel: "The current Situation of Muslim Women's Scholarship/Activism in the United States."
December 1995, Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.: Respondent to Papers on Panel: "Muslim Women's Self-Identity."
November 1992, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Francisco: The Maturation of Islam-Inspired Groups in America: A Comparative Analysis."
October 1992, Association of American Muslim Social Scientists, Annual Conference, East Lansing, Michigan: "Women and Gender in Islam: A Review of Current Scholarship."
May 1992, College Theology Society Annual Convention, Allentown, Pa., Teaching Workshop: "Finding the Right Texts and Methodology for Teaching Islam."
November 1991, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Kansas City, Missouri: "Tradition and Innovation in Contemporary American Islamic Spirituality: The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship."
November 1990, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston: "Imagery and Orthodoxy in the Noetic Experience of Suhrawardi and Ibn Arabi."
Partial List of Presentation in Community Service:
Presented research on "Alzheimer's Disease and Spirituality: An Inter-religious Approach" in several conferences:
January 23, 2000, Radnor Meeting, Radnor, Pennsylvania
September 3, 1999, Consultation at Seabrook Village, Tinton Falls, New Jersey
May 25, 1999, St. Vincent's Ethics Coalition, Overlook, New Jersey
April 23, 1999, New Jersey Chapter Alzheimer's Association Statewide Conference on Connecting Through Creative Care, Princeton, New Jersey.
April 21, 1999, Franzblau Institute's Seminar on Hope and Healing in the Elderly, Daughters of Zion Nursing Home.
March 1998, Ethical Issues in Geriatric Care Series, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Patterson, New Jersey.
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October 27, 1999, Taught seminar on Islam for South Orange-Maplewood Adult School.
October 3-4, 1998 and October 1-2, 1999, Led interracial, inter-religious retreat, "Return to Eden", Zavier Retreat Center, St. Elizabeth College, Covent Station, New Jersey.
November 1994, Grace Episcopal Church, New York City, Panelist in Symposium on "The World of Religion in 2009"
April 1994, two lectures at Rutgers University, Newark, for Masterpieces in Literature course (plus consultation work on integrating Islamic literature into multicultural-oriented humanities courses).
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Home Address: 125 Union Avenue
Bala Cynwynd, Pa. 19004
610-664-1529
email: webbgise@shu.edu
