Faculty
Elizabeth Bucar
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Office: 364 Holmes
Phone: 617-373-3638
Email: e.bucar@neu.edu
Areas of Academic Interest
- Islamic Studies
- Religious Ethics
- Comparative Religions
- Gender and Sexuality Studies
Publications
- The Islamic Veil: A Beginner’s Guide (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, forthcoming 2012).
- "The 'Invention' of Lesbian Acts in Iran: Interpretative Moves, Hidden Assumptions, and Emerging Categories of Sexuality" with F. Shirazi, Journal of Lesbian Studies 16:4, (2012): 416-434.
- "Saving Face: Navigating Land Mines with Ritual Politeness in Iran" History of Religion (2012): 31-48.
- Creative Conformity: The Feminist Politics of U.S. Catholic and Iranian Shi‘i Women (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, Feb. 2011)
- "Unlikely Sex Change Capitals of the World:’ Trinidad, USA and Tehran, Iran as Twin Yardsticks of Homonormative Liberalism," with A. Enke, Feminist Studies 37.2 (2011): 301-328.
- “Sexing Comparative Religious Ethics,” with I. Oh and G. Kao, Journal of Religious Ethics, 38.4 (2010): 654-659.
- “Bodies at the Margins: The Case of Transsexuality in Catholic and Shia Ethics,” Journal of Religious Ethics 38.4 (2010): 601-615.
- “Capacities, Skills, and the Ambiguity of Moral Excellence: Response to Aaron Stalnaker’s Virtue as Mastery,” Journal of Religious Ethics 38.3 (2010): 429-435.
- "Dianomy: Understanding Religious Women's Moral Agency as Creative Conformity." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 78.3 (2010): 662-686.
- “Ethical Genre in the Digital Age: The Case of Reading Weblogs in Tehran,” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 29.2 (2009): 141-156.
- "Free Speech in Weblogistan? The Off-line Consequences of On-line Discourse," with Roja Fazaeli, International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 40.3 (2008) :403-419.
- "Methodological Invention as a Constructive Project: Exploring the Production of Ethical Knowledge Through the Interaction of Discursive Logics," Journal of Religious Ethics 36.3 (2008): 355-373.
- "Speaking of Motherhood: The Epideictic Rhetoric of John Paul II and Ayatollah Khomeini," Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 26.2 (Fall/Winter 2006): 93-123.
- "Women, Gender, and Non-Governmental Organizations: Iran," Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures, ed. A. Joseph (The Netherlands: Brill, 2006).
- Does Human Rights Need God? ed. E. Bucar and B. Barnett (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005).
Teaching Philosophy
My goals for students include openness to new ideas, an informed concern about contemporary gender issues and their historical groundings, and an appreciation for other cultural and religious traditions. I believe the most successful courses on Islam and ethics not only help students to understand a given thinker's or community’s argument or practice, but also encourage them to reconsider their own presumptions about what is "real," "true," and "good." My time in the classroom as an instructor has convinced me that a combination of enthusiasm for one’s subject, respect for students’ intelligence, and ability to hear the unstated concerns behind student questions are the key components to excellent teaching.