Menopause and Theology course
While a very common experience, only recently has menopause been discussed more openly. Public discourse around work support, lifestyle strategies and rituals, medication and changing attitudes has increased, and in this new course developed with the Susanna Wesley Foundation we bring theology into the mix.
We will explore different theological lenses and creative metaphors that may help us with theological thinking around menopause, balancing sense-making with acceptance of mystery, and drawing on theological literature and research. We’ll consider menopause holistically in the wider context of mid-life with its transitions, as well as other intersectional issues.
We will also explore innovatively how menopause can ‘speak back’ helpfully into theology, with its metaphors and embodied experience of uncertainty, change, power, anger, lament and more.
This won’t be a support group but it will be an interactive course that helps us think theologically and practically about how to support ourselves and each other around menopause in our faith communities.
About the tutor
Dr Emma Pavey has worked for the Susanna Wesley Foundation based at Southlands College, University of Roehampton since 2017, undertaking research, designing resources, and planning and facilitating workshops, seminars and conferences, as well as hosting the SWF podcast series. She holds a PhD in linguistics, a ThM in theology, postgraduate qualifications in restorative justice and adult education, and has an 900-day streak on Duolingo. She previously lectured in theology and linguistics – not (yet) together – in various colleges and universities in the UK, US and Canada. She has published on the topic of menopause and is engaging in action research to explore the lived theology of menopause.
Leave a Reply