Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership
CALL’s online courses are offered throughout the year and are designed so that you can participate at your own pace and at your own time.
Each course is 7 weeks, each week a separate lesson. Continuing Education Units are offered at the rate of 2 CEUs per course. Students from across The Episcopal Church and beyond join experienced online instructors in creating a classroom environment of respect and mutual learning.
- Courses are open to anyone, lay or ordained, of any denomination or none.
- Review our FAQ’s for more information about how online classes work.
- All courses are subject to cancellation should the minimum registration limit not be met.
- Contact the CALL office via email or at 510-204-0727 with any questions.
Course fees:
$210 Standard Rate
$185 Association of Episcopal Deacons Rate
Winter 2016: January 25- March 14, 2016
Registration is now open
Biblical Heroines
Although traditional biblical interpretation has tended to focus on the “great men” of the Bible (Abraham, Moses, David, etc.), more recent interpretation – both scholarly and otherwise – has shown that female characters play intriguing and complicated roles in the stories, poems, and legal texts of the Bible. Focusing on women from both the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as well as the Christian Bible (New Testament), this course will explore how women are represented as complex characters in this ancient literature, with some reflection on the theological and ethical significance of that representation. The stories range from the inspirational (Ruth’s love for Naomi) to the ribald (the woman of Song of Songs) to the militaristic (Judith) to the saintly (Hannah and Mary). Each in their own way challenges us to redefine what it means to be a biblical heroine. The focus in the class will be on the students’ own close engagement with and literary analysis of the biblical texts and their response to that material.
Instructor: Dr. Sandra Collins
Dr. Collins holds a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in Jewish Studies as well as master’s degrees in church history and library science. She is currently Academic Dean and faculty in Biblical Studies at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA. Sandee has taught biblical courses and general religion classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Her dissertation, Weapons Upon Her Body: The Female Heroic in the Hebrew Bible was published by Cambridge Scholars Press in 2012.