Feminist theologian examines the promises and threats of genetic research

The troubled moral and ethical landscape created by scientific advances in genetics will be critically examined by theologian Susan Thistlethwaite in a lecture titled "Adam, Eve and the Genome: Feminist Theology Looks at the Human Genome Project," March 14, 7 p.m. in Benton Chapel, Vanderbilt Divinity School.

The talk will explain what the human genome project is and what it is not. Thistlethwaite will then explore some of the changes these scientific advances bring to the current understanding of individuality and self-determination as well as the potential for abuses in a world where vulnerable populations could be genetically encoded out of existence.

Thistlethwaite, president of Chicago Theological Seminary, has served as assistant professor of theology at Boston University, Wesley Theological Seminary and Mt. Holyoke College. Her publications include: Casting Stones: Prostitution and Liberation in Asia and the United States; The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version; and Sex, Race and God: Christian Feminism in Black and White.

The lecture and reception following are free and open to the public. Free parking is available for this event in the Wesley Place Garage, spaces 1-170, located at the corner of 21st Avenue South and Scarritt Place, across from Benton Chapel. Free childcare for children ages 6 months to 12 years is available by reservation at 963-3601 by March 10.

The series commemorates the life of women's rights pioneer and abolitionist Antoinette Louisa Brown, who became the first woman in the United States to be ordained to the Christian ministry in 1853.