M. Wolff Book Talk & Signing at the Davenport Public Library Eastern Avenue Branch -- October 30.
Thursday, October 30, 6 p.m.
Davenport Public Library Eastern Avenue Branch, 6000 Eastern Avenue, Davenport IA
An associate professor of religion and highly decorated professor of women's, gender, and sexuality studies at Augustana College, Dr. M. Wolff will be at the Davenport Public Library's Eastern Avenue Branch on October 30, discussing and signing her new book Body Problems: What Intersex Priest Sally Gross Teaches Us About Embodiment, Justice, and Belonging.
As stated by the book's publisher at DukeUPress.edu, "In Body Problems, M. Wolff offers groundbreaking insight into Sally Gross, a South African intersex priest and activist whose body was continuously policed and politicized. Gross’s role in founding Intersex South Africa and her involvement with the African National Congress are celebrated in the Apartheid Museum, but the complex dimensions of her life – from her Jewish heritage to her Christian priesthood and Buddhist practices – remain largely unexplored. Wolff illuminates these lesser-known aspects of Gross’s spirituality and theorizes her resistance to the regulation of intersexuality. The book urges readers to rethink bodies and belonging, particularly as they relate to formations of gender and religion. Wolff presents Gross’s life as a guide for discerning our commitments to social justice and responsible relations. Body Problems is a timely and expansive contribution to ongoing discourses on the medical, religious, and political construction of bodies."
Kent L. Brintnall, author of Ecce Homo: The Male-Body-in-Pain as Redemptive Figure, offered this rave: “Engagingly written and extensively researched, Body Problems is a compelling and insightful account of the life, contributions, and ongoing relevance of scholar-priest-activist Sally Gross. M. Wolff has done a remarkable job of organizing such a rich and varied life into a story that functions not only as a biography but also something more expansive and more enlightening: a provocation to think more carefully about questions of identity, the regulation of bodies, and the consequences of committing one’s life to activism.”
Meanwhile, David A. Rubin, author of Intersex Matters: Biomedical Embodiment, Gender Regulation, and Transnational Activism, extoled, "Body Problems provides a rich, theoretically rigorous, cross-culturally contextual, biographical account of the life of Sally Gross, whose contributions to numerous activist movements have yet to be fully recognized. Combining theology, decoloniality, and feminist and queer theory, this work stands at the cutting edge of numerous fields, including critical intersex studies, religious studies, and cultural studies, making it valuable to students, scholars, and activists. Moreover, M. Wolff’s accessible, poetic style, and careful research tell Gross’s story with verve, compassion, and great critical insight.”
Dr. Wolff teaches "Race, Ethnicity, & Religion," "Sexual Ethics," "Religion & Film," "Senior Capstone," "Christian Theology," and "Christian Ethics" at Augustana. South African-born, and U.S.-raised, Wolff was a first-generation college student, as well as a 2016-17 American Association of University Women dissertation fellow who completed a Ph.D. in Christian theology and ethics, a certificate in College Teaching, and a certificate in Feminist Studies at Duke University in 2017. They were also selected for the Wabash Center's 2021-22 Teaching and Learning Workshop for Early Career Religion Faculty Teaching Undergraduates.
The book talk and signing with M. Wolff will take place at the Davenport Public Library's Eastern Iowa Branch on October 30, participation in the 6 to 7:30 p.m. event is free, and registration is appreciated but not required. For more information, call (563)326-7832 and visit DavenportLibrary.com.
