Naomi Ruth Goldenberg is a professor at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

. Her regular undergraduate courses include Gender and Religion, Women and Religions, Psychology of Religion and Method and Theory in the Study of Religion. Goldenberg is best known for her work in the areas of Feminist Theory and Religion, Gender and Religion, as well as the Psychoanalytic Theory and Political Theory of Religion. She is one of the early members of the Women's Caucus at the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature and continues to work on and support scholarship in areas of religion and feminism, psychoanalytic theory, women's issues, gender. Currently, Goldenberg is writing about understanding religions as vestigial states. Her theory demystifies religion in order to continue the feminist critique she articulated in her earlier work.

Early life and education

Born in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York, Naomi Ruth Goldenberg grew up in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

. She attended

Teaneck High School , motto_translation = To enrich the mind and improve the character , fundingtype = Public , schooltype = high school , grades = 9– 12 , district = Teaneck Public Schools , enrollment = 1,239 (as of 2021–22) , faculty = ...

and graduated with High Honors in Classics from Douglass College in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1969. After beginning graduate work in Classics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, she switched to Religious Studies at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

where she received an M.A. in 1974, an M.Phil. in 1975, and a Ph.D. in 1976. for her graduate work. Goldenberg studied at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zürich, Switzerland during her doctoral program.

Academic career

Goldenberg is a full professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa

where she has been employed since 1977. She served as Director of Women’s Studies from 1989-1992. Her graduate and undergraduate courses cover topics related to psychoanalysis, politics, gender, popular culture and mythology.

Awards and honours

Goldenberg has received many honourable prizes and recognized for her work. * 1966 Cornelison Prize for Latin translation, Douglass College * 1967

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

Sophomore prize, Douglass College * 1968 Phi Beta Kappa, Douglass College * 1969-70

Woodrow Wilson Fellow The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) is a nonpartisan, non-profit based in Princeton, New Jersey that aims to strengthen American democracy by “cultivating the talent, ideas, ...

and University Fellow, Princeton University * 1975-76 Woodrow Wilson Dissertation Fellow in Women's Studies, Yale University * 1980 Merit increase for excellence in teaching at the University of Ottawa * 2004 William C. Bier Award,

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

* 2004 Excellence in Education Prize, University of Ottawa

Published works

Books

*'' Changing of the Gods: Feminism and the End of Traditional Religions'' (1979) *''The End of God'' (1982) *''Returning Words to Flesh: Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and the Resurrection of the Body'' (1990) *''Resurrecting the Body: Feminism, Religion and Psychoanalysis'' (1993) *''Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion'' (2007, editor) *''Religion As a Category of Governance and Sovereignty'' (2015, editor, with Trevor Stack and Timothy Fitzgerald)

Journal articles

* "Theorizing Religions as Vestigial States in Relation to Gender and Law: Three Cases" * "A Gentle Critique of Mourning Religion" * "What's God Got to do with it? A call for problematizing Basic Terms in the Feminist Analysis of Religion" * "Thought on the 20th Birthday of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion" * "Witched and Words" * "Memories of Marija Gimbutas and the King's Archaeologist * "Interview"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldenberg, Naomi 1947 births People from Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck High School alumni University of Ottawa faculty Princeton University alumni Yale University alumni Living people