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Academics - Religion Faculty & Staff

Academics - Religion Faculty & Staff

Emily Smith

Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion

CONTACT:

Center Hall 201
765-361-6283
smithe@wabash.edu

Dr. Emily Smith is a 20th century U.S. historian specializing in the intersection of women, gender, sexuality, and religion. Her research reveals how Catholic women between the 1950s and 1980s integrated religious teachings into all aspects of their reproductive lives—from conception through pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and menopause. She is currently working on her first book, a history of “pro-life feminism” and anti-abortion activism. This project will show how Catholic participation in debates over natural childbirth, women’s health, and home birth movements provided the woman-centered language and feminist vocabulary that characterizes the pro-life feminist branch of anti-abortion movement.

After graduating from Kalamazoo College, Smith earned an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Notre Dame. She taught courses at the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana before coming to Wabash College.

Smith is an avid hiker and camper—she hiked about 1,700 miles of the Appalachian Trail before beginning her graduate education. If she’s not outdoors, you can probably find her in the kitchen testing recipes from her cookbook collection.

EDUCATION

2023 Ph.D. History, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Graduate Minor, Gender Studies

Dissertation: “‘Sanctifying Pregnancy’: Motherhood and American Catholicism, 1930-1981.”

2019 M.A., History, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

2017 M.T.S., Women, Gender, Sexuality & Religion, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA

2014 B.A., Religion and Psychology, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI

RECENT COURSE OFFERINGS

Wabash College

Religion in America  (Fall 2023)

Religion and the Body  (Fall 2023)

Catholicism in Modern America (Fall 2023)

Saint Mary's College

U.S. History Since 1865 (Fall 2022)

University of Notre Dame

Introduction to Gender Studies (Spring 2021)

Race and Reproduction in American History (Winter 2021)

RECENT PRESENTATIONS

Peer Reviewed

2024 “The Rhythm of Family Life: American Catholic Motherhood through the Rhythm Method,” Paper accepted for presentation at the American Catholic Historical Association, San Francisco, CA (January 4-7).

2023 “Sanctifying Pregnancy: Catholics and Natural Childbirth in the 1950s,” Annual Academic Museum of Motherhood and Journal of Mother Studies Conference, St. Petersburg, FL [online] (March 21).

Invited Talks

2023 “Sanctifying Pregnancy: Catholics and Natural Childbirth in the 1950s,” Utah Valley University (April 3).

2023 “Sanctifying Pregnancy: American Catholics and Motherhood, 1950-1980,” Wabash College (March 16).

Panels and Workshops

2023 “‘Conscious Conception: Pro-Life Feminism at the Close of the Twentieth Century,” Ides of August, Wabash College (August 15).

2023 “Film Forum: The Hurt Locker,” Notre Dame Forum on War and Peace, University of Notre Dame (February 1).

2022 “Storytelling and the historical method: graduate students collaborate at the Notre Dame-Bielefeld Transatlantic Workshop,” Co-written with Melissa Coles and Z. Efe Antalyali for the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, University of Notre Dame.

2022 “The Rhythm of Natural Family Planning: Lay Catholics and the Papal Birth Control Commission,” International Ph.D. Student Workshop Exchange, Universität Bielefeld (May 14).

2020 “How to Have a Baby:” Women and the Sanctification of Maternity in Post-WWII America,” Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Notre Dame (October 15).

2020 “A Wilder Sisterhood”: Mormon Motherhood and Feminism in Extra-Church Periodicals,” Presentation to the Gender Studies Graduate Research Workshop, University of Notre Dame (April 17).

2019 “‘How to Have a Baby’: Women and the Sanctification of Maternity in Post-WWII America,” Presentation to the International Ph.D. Student Workshop Exchange, University of Notre Dame (May 7).

HONORS AND AWARDS

2023 G. Margaret Porter Gender Studies Graduate Writing Award for “The Rhythm of Family Life: 1960s American Catholic Motherhood through the Rhythm Method” (dissertation chapter). Gender Studies Program, University of Notre Dame.

2021 Gender Studies Research Grant, Gender Studies Program, University of Notre Dame.

2020-2021 Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS)-Graduate School PhD Fellowship Program, University of Notre Dame.

2018 Allan J. and Redwa Radwan Riley Scholarship, University of Notre Dame.

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Positions

2022-2023 Graduate Associate, Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2021-2022 Teaching Apprentice, Gender Studies Program, University of Notre Dame.

Publications

2023 “Incorporating Feminist Pedagogy into Your Courses,” Notre Dame Learning.

2023 “Beyond Accommodations: An Introduction to Universal Design for Learning,” Notre Dame Learning.

2022 “Ungrading 101,” Notre Dame Learning.

2022“How to Make Group Work Work,” Notre Dame Learning.

Workshops

2023“Designing Inclusive Syllabi” (created), Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2023 “Introduction to Universal Design for Learning” (created), Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2023 “Foundations of Teaching in STEM, Humanities, and Social Sciences” (Parts I-IV), Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2022 “Facilitating Engaging and Inclusive Workshops,” Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2022 “Leading Effective Discussions in the Humanities,” Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2022 “Foundations of Teaching in the Humanities and Social Sciences” (Parts I-IV), Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

Training and Certificates

2022 Certificate in Inclusive Pedagogy, American Academy of Religion/ Committee on the Status of People with Disabilities in the Profession.

2022 Advanced Teaching Scholar Certificate, Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

2020 Striving Towards Excellence in Teaching Certificate, Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Notre Dame.

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