Chaplain’s Office to Launch New Podcast ‘Women and Worldviews’ in March

Katherine Low, assistant professor of religious studies and university chaplain, will host a new monthly, 30-minute podcast starting in March to coincide with MBU’s celebration of Women’s History Month. Women and Worldviews features conversations between Low and MBU students that delve into women’s diverse experiences with religion and belief. The podcast will also explore issues including gender expression in society, religious expectations, and how young people build meaning for themselves.

“In the classroom and through on-campus programs like Quest, I have witnessed the wonderful religious diversity of our students,” Low said. “I want my audience to experience, and celebrate with me, that diversity through this podcast. I hope the audience will start to think about their own intersections of gender, ethnicity, culture, and religion in order to build bridges of understanding in our world.”

The first student slated to be featured on the podcast is senior Milagro Ventura, who will discuss how she constructs her worldview as a part of immigrant communities and how her ethnic identity and study of international relations help inform her beliefs. Baldwin Online and Adult student Brianna Venenga is set to be the April interviewee — a devout Christian, she is interested in applying religious diversity engagement to business settings.

“Religious identity should not be a taboo subject, especially in our contemporary society,” Low said. “This podcast will model civil interchange of religious ideas, which our students at Mary Baldwin do well, and will highlight how college students develop meaning for their lives at the crossroads of discovering their multiple identities as women, leaders, and citizens of the world.”

The podcast has its origins in an event during Interfaith Awareness Week last year — featuring presentations by a panel of women from different religions and philosophies — that Quest, MBU’s interfaith student organization, sponsored.

Low plans to launch the podcast in late March and will promote further conversation on Twitter under #WomenWorldviews @Drklow.