Welcome to Misogynoir to Mishpat Research Network's - Substack
Welcome to Our Substack
Why this, why now
The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network is a high-profile research network which exists to amplify the religious knowledge production of African descended women in Religious Academia (including but limited to Biblical Studies, Religious Studies, Theology, Religious History, Christian Ethics), Religious Leadership (including ordained ministries of multiple religious backgrounds) and Activism (including those who are also in the first two categories, and also those whose work intersects with our goals from an activist stance).
African descended women are among the least likely to be hired into positions of Religious Academia and Religious Leadership - both defined above. Our goal is to stand in the gap with those who have been pushed to the margins. Universities do not charge less tuition because they have pre-determined they will not hire African descended women. By increasing diversity, all of religious scholarship and religious leadership is strengthened.
Imagine being someone who mortgaged her future - now owing high interest student loans for an education she is nearly prohibited from using. If you are on the “margins” as someone who has been unable to secure a post as a professor or lecturer, and you would like to use that doctorate, or if you would like to ensure you are viable within our religious community, the goal here is to amplify your voices, create structures and partnership and work against the precarity that you have endured.
Our community
The purpose of this community is to make African descended women more effective where they are within their journeys of religious knowledge production. Our emphasis is on such women in the groups identified above.
What you can expect
We will begin with weekly postings here. We will announce resources such as job postings, paid fellowships, postdoctoral positions, opportunities for mentorship, and academic grants. We will also begin to provide support to ensure you are able to create strong applications and dossiers.
Finally, we are working on a pilot program to ensure we identify research institutions (including research institutes, universities, schools) which will partner with us to support you during the process. Because this work is important and requires significant time, we began a Substack account to provide an opportunity for paid subscriptions. We cannot guarantee our goals for you will be met - much of this really depends on you. But we can certainly work to give you every opportunity to succeed. Over time, we will address the three major aspects of being an academic: grant capture, publication and teaching. For 2023, we are focusing on mentorship. Our theme is, “Power on the Margins: Open the Gates!” We are so excited about working with you.
What we need from you
Please click the subscribe button below. By subscribing, you can stay up to date with our latest seminars and publications. We are offering free and paid subscriptions.
Our free subscriptions will provide you with regular content to inspire and encourage you on your journey. Our paid subscriptions are an important part of ensuring we can spend the time needed to develop and launch the pilot program that will ensure independent scholars can obtain full-time and reliable income. This will also enable us to provide seminars at low cost with targeted support provided for you.
We also offer the opportunity for you to gift a subscription to someone else. We are acutely aware that we exist to assist the most vulnerable among us. Yet, we must ensure our staff can also be compensated for their work. Your gift allows the most vulnerable religious scholars and religious leaders to benefit from our work to ensure they are able to obtain grants, get published and create a strong dossier to compete for paid positions.