Truett McConnell University’s (TMU) Balthasar Hubmaier School of Theology and Missions announced new concentrations in Women’s Studies for the Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies and the Master of Arts in Theology degree programs. The concentration is now open to any female in the TMU Christian Studies or Theology program, and its classes are available to any female student no matter what major.
Dr. Candi Finch, TMU’s new Adjunct Professor of Women’s Studies, will teach the new concentration under the direction of Dr. Maël Disseau, Dean of Theology and Missions and Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies.
“I have had the privilege of teaching these courses as part of the Women’s Studies Concentration at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in the past,” said Finch. “In addition, I have taught several of these courses as intensive courses at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and for several schools overseas. My academic training has been in theology, church history, and communication, and my ministry experience has been with women and teen girls, so these courses wed both my ministry and academic passions.”
Courses include: Intro to Feminism, Ministry to Women and Young Girls, and Women in Church History, along with training in theological and biblical studies dealing with womanhood. The specific courses for the concentration are offered in a hybrid format with our online platform and a one-week intensive on campus instruction session.
“This concentration prepares students to understand and articulate God’s good plan for biblical manhood and womanhood and the historical and contemporary challenges to that plan. It equips women to engage in ministry to women, and prepares them, if they so wish, to further their education in a graduate or doctoral program,” Disseau explained.
After the program’s completion, graduates will be prepared to work with women in local churches or in parachurch organizations whether here or on the mission field. Regardless of vocation, graduates will use their knowledge and experience to pour into their own families and relationships.
“Some women who have been influenced by secular women’s studies seek this concentration in order to have a biblical foundation to be able to examine cultural movements like feminism with legitimate scholarship and hard facts,” said Finch. “The movement of feminism has profoundly impacted our culture’s concept of womanhood so there is a sense in which it takes intentionality to step back and discern how we have been shaped and molded by culture.”
“I am thrilled to be able to dig into God’s Word with women—not fluff or surface-level but deep study,” added Finch. “We need women today who love the Word of God and who are passionate about seeing the world transformed by God’s life-giving message.”
For more information about the new concentrations, contact cfinch@truett.eduor mdisseau@truett.edu.
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Jenny Gregory is the Digital Content Specialist for TMU Marketing and Communications.
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