Expectations, challenges, and opportunities : beyond being a south american woman at the Society of Biblical Literature

Abstract

When I was invited to participate in this inspiring and unique project of the Society of Biblical Literature, I thought about what would be the main expectations, challenges, and opportunities for a woman from South America who became part of such a great and worldwide institution. More than twelve years after my first encounter with the Society of Biblical Literature, and after being involved in different projects and initiatives since then, I recognize that I have only positive things to express. It doesn’t mean that I haven’t gone through different challenges, but I gained plenty of experience by overcoming them. Being a woman in academics and living and working in Argentina— that is my home country—is a challenge of its own. I am lucky enough to live in a big and modern city—Buenos Aires—and work at a university willing to face new challenges and to be involved in worldwide networks. Thus, my experience related to the Society of Biblical Literature is also the history of the academic center I created at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in 2002, of the people who joined it, and of the network of relationships built in these last sixteen years...