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Maria Harris

By Joanmarie Smith & Maureen O'Brien

Catholic

Maria Harris

MARIA HARRIS (1932-2005) was a prolific writer, speaker, and advocate of religious education that reflected her concerns for justice, her interests in the aesthetic, and the centrality of spirituality. A former member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Maria spent a lifetime involved in teaching and leading in Catholic parochial schools and teaching in higher education at Immaculate Conception seminary, Andover Newton Theological School, and Fordham University. Her publications and speaking on issues of women's spirituality, teaching and aesthetics, Jubilee, and curriculum and the church have had profound influence on how Christian religious education is understood and practiced by many leaders in both Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions.

Biography

The following essay by Joanmarie Smith originally appeared in Religious Education, Volume 100, No. 3, Summer 2005, pp. 235-238 and is used here with the permission of Taylor & Francis.

Maria Harris was born on August 8, 1932 in New York City. She lived in Jamaica, Queens, an upper-middle-class neighborhood, with her mother Mary (Tunney) and father, Edward J. Harris. Her father, who worked for the New York Times, died suddenly when Maria was only eight years old and her brother, Thomas, was nine. Their mother, a high school teacher in the New York Public School system, raised them alone after that. Maria says that although the loss of her father was a shattering emotional experience that haunted her into her adult life, she was never aware of any lack of caring or material goods in her childhood.

She won a scholarship to the Mary Louis Academy from her grammar school, Immaculate Conception, and then a scholarship to St. John's University. Instead of entering her sophomore year, however, she entered the Sisters of St. Joseph, a New York Roman Catholic religious order primarily engaged in teaching. After completing her novitiate, she was sent to teach music at Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, Long Island. Her next mission was teaching music in a Catholic grade school (St. Ambrose) in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY. During the summers she studied music at Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI. But, after five summers, she transferred to St. John's University in order to complete her undergraduate degree more quickly. At St. John's, she majored in English and graduated Magna Cum Laude. By that time she realized that she was most interested in religious studies. She received a number of scholarships from graduate schools including one from Catholic University through to the doctorate. However, her religious order asked her to take a scholarship from Manhattan College in New York City because this would keep her out of the classroom for the least amount of time. By this time she was teaching in middle school grades in parish schools in Brooklyn and Queens.

Upon completing her Masters degree in 1967 at Manhattan College, she began studies in the joint degree program in education and religious studies offered by Columbia Teacher's College and Union Theological Seminary. She was awarded the Ed.D in 1971.

Her interest in the aesthetic was nurtured by her mother, a musician in her own right, who saw to it that Maria began studying the piano when she was five years old. The studies continued through her school years and after she entered the convent. At Alverno College, she broadened her knowledge of music by studying voice, conducting, and various instruments. She became proficient enough to play the French horn in the orchestra of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY. And even while teaching in the classroom, she developed choirs and choruses that won many diocesan-wide choral competitions.

The years in a religious order that focused on a liturgical prayer life also nurtured her appreciation of the aesthetic dimensions of religion and religious education.

After completing her Master's degree in theology at Manhattan College in New York, she accepted an invitation to join the Rockville Centre Diocesan Office of Religious Education. There she directed the programs in adult education for the entire diocese. At this time she also taught at Immaculate Conception, Huntington, NY, the major seminary for the dioceses of Rockville Centre and Brooklyn.

Her first book, Experiences in Community, co-authored with Gabriel Moran (New York: Herder and Herder, 1968) was published at this time and marks the beginning of a life-long collaboration with the man who would become her husband. Her doctoral dissertation, "The Aesthetic Dimension in Redefining Religious Education," was completed under the tutelage of Mary Tully at Union Theological Seminary and Dwayne Huebner of Teachers' College, Columbia University.

She left the religious order in 1973 and was invited to be principal of the Middle School of St. Jean the Baptist, a Dominican parish on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She lived in the same neighborhood. After only a year at the parish school, she was invited to join the faculty of Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts. It was a particularly fruitful period in her life. Between 1976 and 1981 she published four books that contributed to her growing influence in the field: The D.R.E. Book (New York: Paulist Press, 1976); Parish Religious Education (ed.) (New York: Paulist Press, 1978); The D.R.E. Reader (ed.) (Winona: St. Mary's Press, 1978); Portrait of Youth Ministry (New York: Paulist Press, 1980); She was awarded tenure at Andover Newton in 1978 and named to the Howard Chair of Religious Education in 1983.

In April 1986, Maria married Gabriel Moran, Professor of Education at New York University. She soon joined her husband in New York City and the faculty of the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University as Professor of Religious Education. During this time she also published a major theoretical piece on teaching grounded in aesthetics: Teaching and Religious Imagination (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987).

At this point her reputation was such that she was invited to teach in numerous universities and to lecture across the world. She regularly offered a series of lectures and workshops in Australia, often with Gabriel Moran. She made presentations in Honolulu, Ireland, Germany, Korea, and Burma. She also was a consultant to a study tour of Israel sponsored by the World Council of Churches. Two major works of this period, Women and Teaching: Themes for a Spirituality of Pedagogy (New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1988) and Fashion Me a People: Curriculum and the Church (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1989) focused the themes that were becoming increasingly important in Maria's work: justice, feminism, and her increasing belief in the centrality of spirituality to the education enterprise. Undoubtedly, one of her most profound and popular books is Dance of the Spirit: The Seven Steps of Women's Spirituality, (New York: Bantam Books, 1989). Published in hardcover, it was subsequently published in paperback and translated into a number of languages.

Her career was crowned with the insight that the idea, ideal of Jubilee as found in Leviticus 25 combined her lifetime interests in the aesthetic, justice in the political order, and spirituality. As early as 1993 she was anticipating that the coming millennium year offered an opportunity to proclaim Jubilee. As soon as her book by that name was published (Proclaim Jubilee: A Spirituality for the 21st Century, Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), she began to be invited by religious orders, universities, and denominational judicatories to address their constituents on this spirituality as 2000 loomed.

Her last book (Reshaping Religious Education: Conversations on Contemporary Practice, Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), like her first book, was written with Gabriel Moran.

In 2001 Maria was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and the beginning of a dementia that sometimes accompanies that malady. Shortly after that diagnosis, a group of Maria's friends, women who accompanied her on various segments of her journey, conducted a ritual that celebrated her life to date and sent her into the remainder of her life with prayers to accompany this pilgrimage into the unknown and unimaginable. In the winter of 2004, Maria entered the nursing home on the grounds of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph. She died less than a year later on February 1, 2005.

In his eulogy at Maria's Funeral Mass, Gabriel said, "Everyone loved Maria" - a cliche that everyone would recognize as true. Perhaps that was the genius of her influence. A passionate advocate of those causes that are grouped under social justice, she did not alienate those who could not go along with this agenda. There is not one ounce of stridency in her work. She won our attention with poetry.

In the introduction to Proclaim Jubilee, the Bible Scholar Walter Brueggemann commented on her style.

Harris has refused to leave things in the conventional categories and so can bring matters into new relationships that quietly resketch our usual segmentations of the world.

Harris is an addictive quoter, and given that effort on her part, we get the best from the most buoyant and inventive thinkers among us - Yoder and Moran and Thomas Berry and Arendt and Wendell Berry and Gutierrez and Terrien and Walker and Dillard and Heschel - not to drop names but to place judicious reference, giving us pause and making us tremble.

Harris is likewise a stunning phrase-spotter and phrase-maker, calling up and creating phrasing that brings everything into fresh focus. Try these: "tears in things" (Virgil), "heightened holy time," "I am becoming Jubilee," "to be forgiveness," "touch one Jubilee dimension and all the others quiver," "work of storying," "earth deficits," " a will can be a Jubilee document," "noisy spirituality." Hearing Harris is like watching a poet arrange her scrapbook, one who carefully places each word and then annotates each phrase so that each gathers a world around itself.

Brueggemann also remarks that each chapter in the book he is introducing is followed "by a full set of reflective questions." But she provided this in all her books as well as her workshops and keynote addresses. She believed in conversation. She never claimed to have the last word, the reader and her listeners did. She made sure they knew that.

Contributions to Christian Education

The following essay, bibliography, excerpts, and recommended reading list were developed by Maureen O'Brien.

In an affectionate and appreciative essay on Maria Harris, Judith Dorney described the personal impact of experiencing the "energy, spirit, and passion" of her teaching style in a graduate classroom. Harris's teaching embodied how the relationship between teacher and student, and their relationship in turn with the subject matter, are sources of authenticity, truth and power (Dorney, 1997, pp. 183-184). Harris's lifelong identity as teacher, along with her commitment to a particular style of teaching, illuminates the significant themes in her writing. For her students and colleagues throughout the world, the conjunction of her personal style with its eloquent articulation in her publications has left an especially memorable legacy.

Like the weavings of a tapestry, the core commitments of Harris's work are intertwined throughout her career. In what follows, several of her central themes are highlighted, acknowledging their importance individually as well as their interrelationships, and indicating their significance for religious education.

The Aesthetic Dimension of Religious Education

Harris's most distinctive and significant contribution to religious education was her focus on its aesthetic dimension, with her 1987 book, Teaching and Religious Imagination, as the fullest articulation of a central interest that she first pursued in depth in her doctoral work at Union Theological Seminary. In his review of the book, John H. Westerhoff III commented that "Few books of enduring value are written in any field, but Teaching and Religious Imagination is destined to be one in the field of religion and education" (Westerhoff, 6 April 1988, p. 347). In this work and others, Harris developed the conviction that the heart of teaching is imagination, not technique, and that education as work of art requires the teacher to assume the role of artist. She further argued for the notion of "religious" imagination as evoking a sense of ultimacy and depth and as highlighting the mysterious, numinous and mystical dimensions of existence.

A set of theological and educational convictions undergirds the aesthetic approach to religious education, well expressed in the thesis of Teaching and Religious Imagination:

Teaching, when seen as an activity of religious imagination, is the incarnation of subject matter in ways that lead to the revelation of subject matter. At the heart of this revelation is the discovery that human beings are the primary subjects of all teaching, subjects who discover themselves as possessing the grace of power, especially the power of re-creation, not only of themselves, but of the world in which they live (Harris, 1987a, xv).

She developed the theological themes of incarnation, revelation, the grace of power, and re-creation as the cornerstones of this pedagogy-themes with Christian resonance, yet explored by Harris through wide-ranging sources. Philip Wheelwright, Suzanne Langer, John Dewey, Elliot Eisner, Paulo Freire, Abraham Heschel and Alfred North Whitehead are some of her important dialogue partners in this presentation, and throughout her career.

Scholarly assessments of Harris' contribution in this area note the importance of Harris's treatment of such theological themes as underlying all efforts to educate. In Models of Religious Education, Harold Burgess placed Harris's work within what he calls the "mid-century mainline" approach, citing her emphasis on how revelation is opened up through teaching, with particular attention to the use of "indirect methods" through the four key teaching roles of contemplative, ascetic, creator and sacrament (Burgess, 1996, pp. 119 and 133). Similarly, Mary Boys highlighted Harris's vital contribution to expanding the epistemology of religious education beyond empirical and rational modes through her conception of artistic knowing. This mode allows learners to enter into subject matter in revelatory ways: "In theological terms, this knowing is the source of the sacramental imagination-that vision that sees all creation as mediating the divine" (Boys, 1989, p. 157). Regarding this approach to revelation, reviewers tended to ask, particularly from a Christian perspective, whether it sufficiently distinguished between divine and human revelatory activity (for example, see Little, 1988, and Leupp, 1989, reviews of Teaching and Religious Imagination). Nevertheless, they acknowledged how its transparent honesty, hope and passion for teaching would inspire readers.

A prominent metaphor for teaching in this artistic mode, evoked by Harris in numerous works, is that of a dance. Key characteristics inherent in such a pedagogy included its non-linear movement (avoiding the common imagery of climbing a staircase or ladder toward some final achievement), its need for a well-cultivated rhythm among dance partners, its embodied and organic quality, and its openness to the unexpected (see, for example, Harris, 1988a, pp. 14 ff.). Harris elaborated a set of dance "steps" in many writings, with later works focusing more directly on the meaning of this metaphor for the spirituality of women and for empowering ways of teaching women and girls (see also, for example, Harris, 1989a, and Harris, 1993g).

The concepts of aesthetics, artistry and imagination gained potency from their congruence with Harris's own writing style. In a review of her 1989 book, Fashion Me a People, Helen DeLaurentis expressed this convergence of topic and execution: the book is "a work of art, with the 'wholeness' characteristic of good music or a fine painting. As art draws the viewer into itself, this book draws the reader into a wholeness of understanding and response, and into the sense that one is able and ready to shape the church's life" (DeLaurentis, 1990, pp. 83-84). Similarly, in his review of the same work, Kieran Scott declared, "The book is what it advocates" (Scott, 1990, p. 185). Characteristic of this artistic style was Harris's frequent use of stirring quotations and stories from other sources, including poetry and song. Her customary inclusion of practical educational strategies and reflective exercises also invited readers to "play" with her approach and to make their own connections with her themes.

Curriculum in the Church and Education as the Refashioning of Forms

A second area of Harris's influence in religious education flows from the first. An aesthetic sensibility, she argued, involves the fashioning and refashioning of forms expressive of the inner reality of the subject matter. In the pedagogical activity of molding clay, she found a metaphor for religious education that involves the contemplative search for the form inherent in the clay, and the effort to bring forth that form through relational and embodied engagement with it (see Harris, 1987a, pp. 155-56). Her widely used and frequently cited work, Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church, employed this metaphor to illuminate a wholistic approach for the faith community's embodiment of, and engagement in, education. Eschewing a narrow identification of "education" with "schooling" and with children in classroom settings, Harris proposed that the vocation of the church is expressed in its priestly, prophetic and political "traditional forms," and that the five "curricular forms" glimpsed in the Book of Acts-koinonia, leiturgia, diakonia, kergyma and didache-comprise a constellation for realizing this vocation in church life. She developed an understanding of "curriculum" that hearkened to its early meaning of "a course to be run," rather than merely a set of printed materials, and insisted that the church is itself a curriculum. "Where education is the fashioning and refashioning of these forms in interplay, curriculum is the subject matter and processes that make them to be what they are. Where education is the living and the fashioning, curriculum is the life, the substance that is fashioned" (Harris, 1989b, p. 64).

The impact of this approach on Christian education has been significant. Craig Dykstra, in his Foreword to Fashion Me a People, connected this expanded understanding of curriculum with the emerging interest in "practices" as socially established, cooperative activities with inherent goods and standards of excellence (Harris, 1989b, pp. 8-11). Many writers have also found in the metaphor of religious education as "fashioning a people," with attention to the five central forms of church life, both a strong biblical grounding and a cogent framework for integrating the practices of religious educators with all dimensions of communal practice. Recent dissertations and scholarly articles have developed these metaphors in Harris's work, on topics ranging from the creation of cyberspace communities (Lytle, 2005) to an argument for the inherent unity of worship and education (Martin, 2003) to the use of the curricular forms in adult religious education on homosexuality (Rowell, 1996).

Related to this work was Harris's ongoing interest in supporting the growth of professional congregational Directors of Christian Education and Directors of Religious Education (DCE's, DRE's). Through publications like The D.R.E. Book and The D.R.E. Reader, as well as many essays for PACE (Professional Approaches for Christian Educators), she helped to clarify the contours, responsibilities and calling of the profession. She also offered these readers the fruits of her research on aesthetics, imagination and spirituality as these illuminated their ministry. Her work addressed the needs of other church professionals as well, notably the 1981 Portrait of Youth Ministry, in which the fivefold curricular forms for ministry, later developed in Fashion Me a People, were first presented.

Harris was wary of tendencies to conflate religious education with the ministry of "catechesis," as is evident in her writings on Roman Catholic religious education and DRE's. While honoring catechesis as vital work "to teach people to practice a particular way of life," she seldom engaged at length with official church documents Rather, she insisted that religious education must also move beyond the ministry of churches "to teach people to understand religion" in diverse traditions, drawing for this language on Gabriel Moran's "two aims" of religious education (Harris & Moran, 1998, pp. 31-43). Thus, in Reshaping Religious Education-co-written with Gabriel Moran-she contributed a unique perspective on catechesis as it relates to the "second aim" of religious education, in a chapter on "Teaching the Way." This essay encouraged catechetical leaders to reflect on their ministry of witnessing to Christ through a focus on the Paschal Mystery, using the questions of what they find to be "living," "dying" and "rising" in their churches. Posing such questions would offer new possibilities both for faithfulness to the "universal and cosmic Christ" who has died, risen and will come again, and for recognizing that God is encountered in other religions as well (Harris & Moran, 1998, p. 55). "Resurrection is our most profound truth. But in a new world that honors many religious traditions, Christian catechists must admit that the opposite of a profound truth is not a superficial truth. The opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth" (Harris & Moran, 1998, p. 54).

This approach is consistent with the strongly ecumenical and interreligious thrust of Harris's work. A committed Roman Catholic, she cited the formative influence on her scholarship of her years of teaching in the interdenominational Christian setting of Andover Newton Theological School, as well as many speaking and teaching engagements in diverse religious settings. She wrote and spoke frequently on themes related to Judaism, especially insisting on the kerygmatic imperative for Christians to denounce the Holocaust and other contemporary evils (see, for example, Harris, 1989b, pp. 134-136). Dorney noted, "Her work to promote interreligious understanding has been recognized by such educational organizations as Facing History and Ourselves, which infuses education for tolerance and understanding into traditional public school classrooms" (Dorney, 1997, 187).

Feminism, Justice and Jubilee

In a 1984 article, Harris reflected on how contemporary feminism had influenced her scholarship in its insistence on greater inclusiveness of women in language, sources consulted, and vision (Harris, 1984c). She continually took a political perspective in relation to education and gender issues, with Elliot Eisner's three curricula as a frequent heuristic device for uncovering the "explicit," "implicit" and "null" dimensions (see, for example, Harris, 1986c, pp. 122-127, and Harris, 1987a, pp. 99-103). In her 1988 Madeleva address, published as Women and Teaching, she drew on diverse feminist sources to propose a new vision of a liberating and empowering "dance" of pedagogy with women, encompassing silence, remembering, mourning, artistry and birthing (Harris, 1988a). In such contexts she also acknowledged the need to move beyond her earlier focus on "imagination" alone as not sufficient for the kind of multi-sensory "artistry" required for the creativity of women to flourish. Her affinity for the spiritual journeys of women led her into growing engagement with wider audiences and foci for her work (see especially Harris, 1989a, and Harris, 1995a). Her interests in teaching women also began to turn toward earlier life stages as she collaborated with researchers in psychology and education to explore more fully the "silence" of both women and girls, and to seek strategies for listening and calling forth their voices so as to move beyond silence to empowerment (see Harris, 1993g, and Harris & Moran, 1998). These interdisciplinary collaborations also made her work known to new groups in education, especially to teachers in public and private schools who learned and practiced her pedagogical "steps."

Feminist priorities also contributed to her questioning of developmental stage theory, much in vogue among religious educators in the 1970s and 1980s. While acknowledging the value of this research, Harris consistently pointed out its limitations in its excessive reliance on all-male studies, with proposed stages assuming the same traits in females; the need for artistic ways of knowing to "complete" the cognitive orientation of stage theories; and the importance of Sabbath to balance the emphasis on linear time and future/accomplishment orientation in developmental approaches (1986c). Influenced by Moran's critique of "development" and a concern for social justice, she also joined with him to advocate a focus on economic rather than psychological dimensions of the term in Reshaping Religious Education (Harris & Moran, 1998, pp. 59-88).

Many of the themes noted above were woven by Harris into the consistent call to justice evident in all her writing. This theme reached distinctive and original articulation in her later work on Jubilee. As the twentieth century drew to a close, the biblical image of Jubilee beckoned Jews and Christians, as well as others, to bring forward its priorities in working to repair the world. Harris eloquently drew forth the rich insights of the Bible, especially Leviticus 25, in offering Jubilee to a wide audience of scholars and practitioners, in university, seminary and church settings, through numerous writings and lectures in the 1990s. She contended that the Jubilee is an especially appropriate spirituality, "because it is attentive to the demands of the times in which we live, demands that encompass care for the earth, forgiveness of debts, freedom, justice, and jubilation" (Harris & Moran, 1998, 135-36). Through articulating the five "core traditions" of Jubilee-letting the land lie fallow, forgiving debts, proclaiming liberty, practicing justice, and feasting and singing with jubilation-she drew together both the biblical witness and her own comprehensive vision of justice as a call to care for the earth and all its creatures, restoration of right relationships and equitable redistribution of goods, and the Sabbath call to recreation and celebration (Harris, 1996a, and Harris & Moran, 1998, pp. 135-143). Reviewers committed to congregational education and justice work affirmed the topicality and evocative power of the Jubilee themes at this pivotal time in history (for example, see Prevost, 1997, and Dennis, 1997, January-February).

In his appraisal of Roman Catholic religious educators of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, John Elias noted Harris's contribution in writing "perceptively and movingly about the connections among religious education, feminism, aesthetics, and spirituality" (Elias, 2002, p. 216). Her legacy is evident in this "connected" and artistic style of writing, in the profound connections that she fostered in her professional relationships with students, scholars and others, and in her passionate efforts to connect the human spiritual and educational quest with the Divine Mystery at the heart of the universe.

Works Cited

  • Boys, M. C. (1989). Educating in faith: Maps and visions. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
  • Burgess, H. W. (1996). Models of religious education: Theory and practice in historical and contemporary perspective. Wheaton, Ill.: BridgePoint Books.
  • DeLaurentis, H. (1990). [Review of the book Fashion me a people]. The Living Light, 27, 83-84.
  • Dennis, M. (1997, January-February). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. The Witness, 80, 29.
  • Dorney, J. A. (1997). Maria Harris: An aesthetic and erotic justice. In B. A. Keely (Ed.), Faith of our foremothers: Women changing religious education (pp. 180-190). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Elias, J. L. (2002). A history of Christian education: Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox perspectives. Malabar, Fl.: Krieger Publishing Company.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1998). Reshaping religious education: Conversations on contemporary practice. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1996a). Proclaim jubilee! A spirituality for the 21st century. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1995a). Jubilee time: Celebrating women, spirit, and the advent of age. New York: Bantam Books.
  • Harris, M. (1993g). Women teaching girls: The power and the danger. Religious Education, 88, 52-66.
  • Harris, M. (1989a). Dance of the spirit: The seven steps of women's spirituality. New York: Bantam Books. German translation: (1990). Tanz der See Ie. Die sieben Stufen der weiblichen Spiritualitat. Munchen: Goldmann Verlag.
  • Harris, M. (1989b). Fashion me a people: Curriculum and the church. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1988a). Women and teaching: Themes for a spirituality of pedagogy. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1987a). Teaching and religious imagination. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
  • Harris, M. (1986c). Completion and faith development. In C. Dykstra and S. Parks (Eds.), Faith development and Fowler (pp. 115-133). Birmingham: Religious Education Press.
  • Harris, M. (1984c). Weaving the fabric: How my mind has changed. Religious Education, 79, 18-23.
  • Leupp, R. T. (1989). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 32, 271-272.
  • Little, S. (1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Theology Today, 45, 346-347.
  • Lytle, J. A. (2005). Fashioning-a-people in an interactive age: The potential of computer-mediated communications for faith formation (Doctoral dissertation, Boston College, 2005). UMI Proquest, publication number AAT 3167362. Retrieved February 16, 2006, from http://wwwlib.umi.com/disserta....
  • Martin, R. K. (2003). Education and the liturgical life of the church. Religious Education, 98, 43-64.
  • Prevost, R. (1997). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Review and Expositor, 94, 319-320.
  • Rowell, J. C. (1996). Toward understanding homosexuality: A agenda for adult Christian education's contribution to human wholeness. Religious Education, 91, 122-134.
  • Scott, K. (1990). [Review of the book Fashion me a people]. Horizons, 17, 184-185.
  • Westerhoff, J. H. (6 April 1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. The Christian Century, 105, 347.

Bibliography

Books

  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1998). Reshaping religious education: Conversations on contemporary practice. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1996a). Proclaim Jubilee! A spirituality for the 21st century. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1995a). Jubilee time: Celebrating women, spirit, and the advent of age. New York: Bantam Books.
  • Harris, M. (1991a). The faith of parents: As your child begins formal religious schooling. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1989a). Dance of the spirit: The seven steps of women's spirituality. New York: Bantam Books. German translation: (1990). Tanz der See Ie. Die sieben Stufen der weiblichen Spiritualitat. Munchen: Goldmann Verlag.
  • Harris, M. (1989b). Fashion me a people: Curriculum and the church. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1988a). Women and teaching: Themes for a spirituality of pedagogy. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1987a). Teaching and religious imagination. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
  • Harris, M. (1981a). Portrait of youth ministry. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (Ed.) (1980a). The D.R.E. reader: A sourcebook in education and ministry. Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press.
  • Harris, M. (Ed.) (1978a). Parish religious education. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1976a). The D.R.E. book: Questions and strategies for parish personnel. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Moran, G., & Harris, M. (1968). Experiences in community: Should religious life survive? New York: Herder and Herder.

Articles

  • Harris, M. Preparing for the Jubilee year. (1999a, February). Millennium Monthly. Retrieved March 6, 2006, from http://www.americancatholic.org/newsletters/mm/ap0299.asp
  • Harris, M. (1999b). Proclaiming Jubilee justice. The Way, 39, 315-324.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1995b, September). Over the years: Reflections on a quarter-century. PACE, 24, 5-7.
  • Harris, M. (1995c, January). Inventory time for the Spirit. Encore, II (5), 14.
  • Harris, M. (1994a, October). Telling a woman's life. PACE, 24, 3-4.
  • Harris, M. (1994b, May). The daughter's journey. Encore, II (3), 11.
  • Harris, M. (1994c, March). Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. Encore, II (2), 9.
  • Harris, M. (1994d, Spring). Jubilee time. Liberal Religious Education, 12, 7-14.
  • Harris, M. (1994e). A worship way of knowing: An interview with Maria Harris. In Season, 8 - 10.
  • Harris, M. (1993a, December). Jubilee time: Educating for adult spirituality. Virginia Seminary Journal, XLV (4), 22-24.
  • Harris, M. (1993b, September-October). Enter the land I am giving you. Encore, I (6), 25.
  • Harris, M. (1993c, July-August). Ending female impersonation. Encore, I (5), 11.
  • Harris, M. (1993d, May-June). Forgiving, releasing, and letting go. Encore, I (4), 19-20.
  • Harris, M. (1993e, March-April). Let the land lie fallow. Encore, I (3), 12.
  • Harris, M. (1993f, January-February). The mythical journey. Encore, I (2), 14-15.
  • Harris, M. (1993g). Women teaching girls: The power and the danger. Religious Education, 88, 52-66.
  • Harris, M. (1992a, July-August). Spirituality. Praying, 49, 8-9.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1992b). Catechetical language and religious education. Theology Today, 49, 21-30.
  • Harris, M. (1991b, November-December). Women and education. The Catholic World, 234, 254-259.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1991c). Artistic and moral dimensions of teaching. The Living Light, 27, 318-39.
  • Harris, M. (1990a). Die Welt Wiederserstellen: Arbeit der Kunst-Arbeit durch die Kunst. Jahrbuch der Reliqionspadaqoqik, 7, 121-140.
  • Harris, M. (1990b). Field education as parable: Transforming images of ministry. In Association for Theological Field Education, Proceedings: Twentieth Biennial Consultation, n.p.
  • Harris, M. (1990c). Repairing the world: A work of art-a work through art. Word in Life: Journal of Religious Education, 38 (1), 1-11.
  • Harris, M. (1990d). Themes in women's spirituality. Studies in Formative Spirituality, XI (2), 169-183.
  • Harris, M. (1989c, October). The church: A people with an educational vocation. PACE, 19, 8 - 12.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1989d). Feminism and the imagery of religious education. British Journal of Religious Education, 12 (1), 45-51.
  • Harris, M. (1989e). Teaching the null curriculum: The holocaust. British Journal of Religious Education, 11 (3), 136-138.
  • Harris, M. (1988b, February). Imagination and the catechist. The Catechist's Connection, 4, 1-2.
  • Harris, M. (1988c). Art and religious education: A conversation. Religious Education. 83, 453-473.
  • Harris, M. (1987b, December). Teaching and religious imagination. Ministry Management, 8, 1-4.
  • Harris, M. (1987c). Fantasy: Entrance into inwardness. British Journal of Religious Education, 10 (1), 8 - 14.
  • Harris, M. (1986a, April-May). Underchurch: New form for a new era. Today's Parish 18, 8 - 10.
  • Harris, M. (1986b). Holy water and candles: Catholic piety and religious education. PACE, 16, 147-150.
  • Harris, M. (1985a, September). Religious education in Australia: One woman's impressions. Alternative Newsletter, 12, 4-5.
  • Harris, M. (1985b, April). In response: To being a woman and ORE. Newsletter of Parish Coordinators/Directors of Religious Education, 10, 3.
  • Harris, M. (1985c). Teaching and religious imagination. Catholic School Studies, 58 (2), 51-52.
  • Harris, M. (1984a, November). The mystery of forgiveness. Charities U.S.A., 11, 12-14.
  • Harris, M. (1984b). Interview with Maria Harris. National Association of Episcopal Schools Journal, I (1), 6 - 11.
  • Harris, M. (1984c). Weaving the fabric: How my mind has changed. Religious Education, 79, 18-23.
  • Harris, M. (1983a). The imagery of religious education. Religious Education, 78, 363-375.
  • Harris, M. (1982-83). Enlarging the religious imagination. A four-part series in PACE, 13 (Issues section), n.p.
  • Part I: Starting points
  • Part II: The imagery of knowing
  • Part III: The imagery of authority
  • Part IV: The imagery of time
  • Harris, M. (1982a, October). Let's do away with the laity. Today's Parish, 14, 13-15.
  • Kelp, L. E., Withers, B. A., & Harris, M. (1982b). The aesthetic and curriculum development. Atlanta, GA: Joint Curriculum Development.
  • Harris, M. (1982c). Response to D. E. Huebner and W. B. Kennedy, From theory to practice: Curriculum. Religious Education, 77, 399-403.
  • Harris, M. (1981b, October). Prophetic ministry means troublemakers in the parish. Today's Parish, 13, 15.
  • Harris, M. (1981c, February). Of clay and clowning. Alternative Newsletter, 7, 2-3.
  • Harris, M. (1981d, January-February). Political ministry and the claim to power. New Catholic World, 224, 25-28.
  • Harris, M. (1980b, May). On silences. Alternative Newsletter, 6, 2-3.
  • Harris, M. (1980c). Challenge for teachers: Prayer and the political order. Religion Teachers Journal, 14 (3), 10.
  • Harris, M. (1980d). DREs in the U.S. Church: The first twenty years. The Living Light, 17, 250-259.
  • Harris, M. (1980d). Religious educators and the comic vision. Religious Education, 75, 422-432.
  • Harris, M. (1979-80). Prayer and vision. A four-part series in PACE, 10 (Directions section), n.p.
  • Part I: The imaginal vision (1979, September-October)
  • Part II: The companioned vision (1979, November)
  • Part III: The political vision (1979, December)
  • Part IV: The comic vision (1980, January)
  • Harris, M. (1979a, December). Prayer and the political order. Alternative Newsletter, 6, 3-4.
  • Harris, M. (1979b, September). The justice curriculum: Yes, maybe or not at all. Alternative Newsletter, 6, 4-5.
  • Harris, M. (1979c, Fall). Educational ministry: Priestly and prophetic. J.E.D. Share, 8, 3-5.
  • Harris, M. (1979d, May). Religious rhythms in the teacher's prayer life. Today's Catholic Teacher, 12, 12-13.
  • Harris, M. (1979e). Tensions for the teaching pastor. Religious Education, 74, 147-158.
  • Harris, M. (1978b, November-December). D.R.E.'s and the future. The Catechist, 12, 12;35.
  • Harris, M. (1978c, September). Catechesis as a kind of sacrament. The Catechist, 12, 14-15; 23.
  • Harris, M. (1978d, September). I said to the artist, "Teach me to pray." Alternative Newsletter, V, n.p.
  • Harris, M. (1978e, July-August). A model for aesthetic education. New Catholic World, 221, 170-174.
  • Harris, M. (1978f, May). Health and holiness: See "kailo" in the appendix. Alternative Newsletter, IV, n.p.
  • Harris, M. (1978g, February). The religious educator as spiritual director. PACE, 8 (Trends section), n.p.
  • Harris, M. (1978h). From myth to parable: Language and religious education. Religious Education, LXXIII, 387-398.
  • Harris, M. (1977a, March-April). Organization for catechesis. New Catholic World, 220, 101-103.
  • Harris, M. (1976b, Spring). Women in church ministries. PACE, 7 (Issues section), n.p.
  • Harris, M. (1976c, March). Religious education and the aesthetic. Andover Newton Quarterly, 16, 125-132.
  • Harris, M. (1972a, May). A conversation with Gabriel Moran. Colloquy, 43-48.
  • Harris, M. (1972b). The aesthetic and religious education. The Ecumenist, 10 (3), 44-48.
  • arris, M. (1972c). Response to C. E. Nelson, Is Christian education something particular? Religious Education, LXVII, 31-33.
  • Harris, M. (1969). Four programs of religious study: An exploration. The Living Light, 7, 7-17.
  • Harris, M. (1967a, April). Paul and the American experience. The Bible Today, 2106-2113.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1967b, 22 November). Revelation and religious. National Catholic Reporter, 6.
  • Harris, M. C. (1967c). Teaching the parousia. The Living Light, 4, 121-124.

Chapters in Books

  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1999c). Homosexuality: A word not written. In W. Wink (Ed.), Homosexuality and Christian faith: Questions of conscience for the churches (pp. 71-76). Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
  • Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1997). Educating persons. In J. Seymour (Ed.), Mapping Christian education: Approaches to congregational learning. (pp. 58-73). Nashville: Abingdon Press.
  • Harris, M. (1996b). Holy water and candles: Catholic piety and religious education. In P. O'Hare (Ed.), Keeping PACE: 25 years of theology, education, and ministry from PACE (pp. 207-212). Dubuque, Iowa: Brown-ROA.
  • Harris, M. (1996c). Teach us to pray: The group experience of prayer. In F. A. Eigo (Ed.), Teach us to pray (pp. 143-174). Villanova, PA: Villanova University Press.
  • Harris, M. (1996d). That we may see. In S. A. Blain et al. (Eds.), Imaging the Word: An arts and lectionary resource, Vol. 3 (pp. 9-13). Cleveland: United Church Press.
  • Harris, M. (1995d). Foreword. In P. O'Hare, Busy life, peaceful center: A book of meditating (pp. xi-xvi). Allen, Texas: Thomas More Publishing.
  • Harris, M. (1990e). Introduction. In John Hull, God talk with young people (pp. 21-30). Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International.
  • Harris, M. (1989f). Holy place, teaching place: The sanctuary and education. In E. Shelp and R. Sunderland (Eds.), The pastor as teacher (pp. 9 – 27). New York: The Pilgrim Press.
  • Harris, M. (1988d). The church as artist: Empowering the people. In L. C. Williams (Ed.), Hope for ministry: Words of encouragement for Christian ministers (pp. 33-46). Raleigh, NC: Sparks Press.
  • Harris, M. (1988e). A discipleship of equals: Implications for ministry. In F. A. Eigo (Ed.), A discipleship of equals: Towards a Christian feminist spirituality (pp. 151-172). Villanova: Villanova University Press.
  • Harris, M. (1988f). Teaching: Forming and transforming grace. In C. Ellis Nelson (Ed.), Congregations: Their power to form and transform (pp. 238-263). Atlanta: John Knox Press.
  • Harris, M. (1986c). Completion and faith development. In C. Dykstra and S. Parks (Eds.), Faith development and Fowler (pp. 115-133). Birmingham: Religious Education Press.
  • Harris, M. (1984d). Questioning lay ministry. In G. Peck and J. S. Hoffman (Eds.), The laity in ministry (pp. 33-46). Valley Forge: Judson Press.
  • Harris, M. (1984e). U.S. directors of religious education in Roman Catholic parishes. In M. J. Taylor (Ed.), Changing patterns of religious education (pp. 205-219). Nashville: Abingdon Press.
  • Harris, M. (1983b). Education for priesthood. In P. O'Hare (Ed.), Education for social justice. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
  • Harris, M. (1983c). Preface. In C. E. Lowery (Ed.), Christian spirituality for the eighties (pp. v-x.). Dubuque, Iowa: Brown Press
  • Harris, M. (1983d). Present revelation and the promise of possibility. In T. P. Walters (Ed.), ORE: Issues and concerns for the 80's (pp. 25-38). Washington: NCDD.
  • Harris, M. (1982d). Questioning lay ministry. In R. Coll (Ed.), Women and religion: A reader for the clergy (pp. 97-110). New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1980f). DRE's today: Dwelling in the tensions. In F. D. Kelly (Ed.), The vocation and spirituality of the D.R.E. (pp. 6-8). Washington: NCEA.
  • Harris, M. (1980g). The ministry of forgiveness. In Seventy Times Seven: A Curriculum Resource on the Criminal Justice System. Kansas City, MO.
  • Harris, M. (1980h). The original vision: Children and religious experience. In G. Durka and J. Smith (Eds.), Family ministry (pp. 56-79). Minneapolis: Winston Press.
  • Harris, M. (1979f). A model for aesthetic education. In G. Durka and J. Smith (Eds.), Aesthetic dimensions of religious education (pp. 141-152). New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1979g). Word, sacrament, prophecy: Tradition and religious education. In P. O'Hare (Ed.), Tradition and transformation in religious education (pp. 35-57). Birmingham: Religious Education Press.
  • Harris, M. (1978i). The future of the profession from a Catholic perspective. In M. Harris (Ed.), Parish religious education (pp. 217-232). New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1977b). Pastoral team program. In J. M. Hiesberger (Ed.), Change my heart: A Lenten program (pp. 335-338). New York: Paulist Press.
  • Harris, M. (1977c). Reaction to C. Brusselmans, Some reflections on the catechesis of children. In B. L. Marthaler and M. Sawicki (Eds.), Catechesis: Realities and visions (pp. 93-96). Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, Department of Education.
  • Harris, M. (1976d). Isms and Religious Education. In G. Durka and J. Smith (Eds.), Emerging issues in religious education (pp. 40-57). New York: Paulist Press.

Media

  • Harris, M. (1996e). Proclaim Jubilee! A spirituality for the 21st century. (Videocassette). Richmond, VA: Presbyterian School of Christian Education.
  • Harris, M. (1995e). Themes from the past, calls from the future. (Audio cassettes). Elkridge, MD: Chesapeake Audio/Video Communications.
  • Harris, M. (1993h). A spirituality for adults at century's end. (Audio cassettes). Decatur, GA: Columbia Theological Seminary.
  • Harris, M. (1991e). Catechesis and the imagination. (Videocassette). Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward.
  • Harris, M. (1991f). Fashion me a people: Education as artistry. (Audio cassettes). Madison, WI: Meadville/Lombard Winter Institute.
  • Harris, M. (1991g). Jubilee time: Age, adulthood, and the church. (Audio cassettes). Pittsburgh, PA: Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
  • Harris, M. (1991h). Spirituality for today's woman. (Videocassette). Allen, TX: Tabor Pub.
  • Harris, M. (1987d). Professional update: Developments in catechetical ministry. (Audio cassette). Canfield, Ohio: Society of St. Paul.
  • Harris, M. (1986d). Taking care: A retreat for religious educators. (Audio cassettes). Kansas City, MO: National Catholic Reporter Pub. Co.
  • Harris, M. (1986e). Women as outsiders: Challenge to curriculum (Audio cassette). Fullerton, CA : Tape Data Media.
  • Harris, M. (1985d). Ministry and religious imagination. (Audio cassettes). Delaware, OH: Methodist Theological School in Ohio.
  • Harris, M. (1981e). The D.R.E. in ministry: Priestly and prophetic. (Audio cassettes). Kansas City, MO : National Catholic Reporter Pub. Co.
  • Harris, M. (1981f). Empowering the people: The church as artist. (Audio cassettes). Kansas City, MO : National Catholic Reporter Pub. Co.
  • Clark, L., Harris, M., & Cone, J. H. (1980i). Arts and the renewal of the church. (Audio cassettes). Boston: Boston University.

Book Reviews by Maria Harris

  • Harris, M. (2000). [Review of the book Christianity and colonization and globalization]. The Way, 40, 197-198.
  • Harris, M. (1996f). [Review of the book Midlife women and death of mother: A study of psychohistorical and spiritual transformation]. Journal of Religious Gerontology, 9 (4), 87-88.
  • Harris, M. (1996g). [Review of the book Lifecycles: Jewish women on life passages and personal milestones]. Journal of Religious Gerontology, 10 (1), 57-58.
  • Harris, M. (1991i). [Review of the book Over the hill: Reflections on ageism between women]. Journal of Religious Gerontology, 7 (3), 91-92.
  • Harris, M. (1991j). [Review of the book Images of religion in Australian art]. ARTS, 3 (3), 25.
  • Harris, M. (1989g). [Review of the book Art as religious studies]. Horizons, 16, 200-201.
  • Harris, M. (1988g). [Review of the book Religious education and the future]. Horizons, 15, 214-215.
  • Harris, M. (1986f). [Review of the book Free to teach]. Religious Education, 81, 331-332.
  • Harris, M. (1984f). [Review of the book Religious education development: Images for the future]. Theology Today, 41, 94; 96; 98.
  • Harris, M. (1979h). Religious experience: William James would be delighted [Review of the book The original vision]. Religious Education, 74, 668-670.
  • Harris, M. (1976e, March). [Review of the book The arts and human development]. Andover Newton Quarterly, 16, 284-286.
  • Harris, M. (1976f). [Review of the book An American Catholic Catechism]. Religious Education, LXXI, 663-664.

Reviews of the Work of Maria Harris

  • Badley, K. R. (2000). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Journal of Education and Christian Belief, 4 (1), 82-83.
  • Cannell, L. (2000). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Trinity Journal, 21 (1), 89-94.
  • Dean, K. C. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Princeton Seminary Bulletin, 20, 223-225.
  • Foster, C. R. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Interpretation, 53, 217-218.
  • Johnson, K. L. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Word & World, 19, 216; 218.
  • O'Hare, P. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Religious Education, 94, 371-372.
  • Sullivan, J. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Heythrop Journal, 40, 362-363.
  • Vermillion, A. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Encounter, 60, 264-266.
  • Warner, S. (1999). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Lexington Theological Quarterly, 34, 111-112.
  • Dawson, K. L. (1998). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Koinonia, 10, 254-256.
  • Range, J. (1998). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Review for Religious, 57, 326-327.
  • Weigel, A. D. (1998). [Review of the book Reshaping religious education]. Consensus, 24 (2), 134-136.
  • Dennis, M. (1997, January-February). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. The Witness, 80, 29.
  • Heiser, W. C. (1997). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Theology Digest, 44, 68.
  • Prevost, R. (1997). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Review and Expositor, 94, 319-320.
  • Senior, D. (1997). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. The Bible Today, 35, 63.
  • Vann, J. R. (1997). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Interpretation, 51, 444; 446.
  • Warner, S. (1997). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Lexington Theological Quarterly, 32, 112-114.
  • Willliams, B. H. (1996-97). [Review of the book Proclaim Jubilee!]. Liberal Religious Education, 17, 81-82.
  • Wood, G. (1995). [Review of the book Jubilee time]. Library Journal, 120 (12), 105.
  • McDonald, C. M. (1994). [Review of the book The faith of parents]. Religious Education, 89, 151-154.
  • Keely, B. A. (1992). [Review of the book Women and teaching]. Religious Education, 87, 163-164.
  • Booker, B. (1990). [Review of the book Dance of the Spirit]. Religious Education, 85, 319-321.
  • Byrne, L. (1990). Review of the book Dance of the Spirit]. The Way, 30, 267.
  • Honkomp, C. P. (1990). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Spirituality Today, 42, 182.
  • Mitchell, P. (1990). [Review of the book Fashion me a people]. Religious Education, 85, 655-657.
  • Murphy, K. C. (1990). [Review of the book Women and teaching]. The Living Light, 26, 374.
  • O'Connell, M. (1990, February). [Review of the book Dance of the Spirit]. St. Anthony Messenger, 97, 48.
  • Scott, K. (1990). [Review of the book Fashion me a people]. Horizons, 17, 184-185.
  • Theodore, B. (1990, Spring). [Review of the book Fashion me a people]. Evangelical Journal, 8, 51-52.
  • Tillman, W. M. (1990). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Southwestern Journal of Theology, 32, 74.
  • Aleshire, D. O. (1989). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Review and Expositor, 86, 654-655.
  • Lee, J. M. (1989, November). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Momentum, 20, 76.
  • McCann, D. (1989, September). [Review of the book Fashion me a people]. Religion Teacher's Journal, 23, 13.
  • ox, Z. (1989, Spring). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Church, 5, 53.
  • Chase, E. (1989). [Review of the book Dance of the Spirit]. Library Journal, 114 (12), 84-85.
  • Impastato, F. (1989). [Review of the book Women and teaching]. Review for Religious, 48, 630.
  • Leupp, R. T. (1989). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 32, 271-272.
  • Leupp, R. T. (1989). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Christian Scholar's Review, 18, 411-412.
  • Westerhoff, J. H. (6 April 1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. The Christian Century, 105, 347.
  • Grierson, D. (1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Pacifica, 1, 343-344.
  • Little, S. (1988) [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Theology Today, 45, 346-347.
  • McCarthy, E. R. (1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Religious Education, 83, 480-481.
  • Mills, M. (1988). [Review of the book Women and teaching]. Priest and People, 2, 340.
  • Proffitt, A. (1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. The Living Light, 25, 69-71.
  • Regan, J. (1988). [Review of the book Teaching and religious imagination]. Sisters Today, 59, 363.
  • Allen, J. (1982, June-July). [Review of the book Portrait of youth ministry]. Modern Liturgy, 9, 21.
  • Kane, M. (1982). [Review of the book The DRE reader]. Review for Religious, 41, 312-313.
  • Pacione, M. (1982). [Review of the book Portrait of youth ministry]. The Living Light, 19, 186-187.
  • Warren, M. (1982). [Review of the book Portrait of youth ministry]. Horizons, 9, 194.
  • Dykstra, C. (1981). [Review of the book Portrait of youth ministry]. Religious Education, 76, 674-676.
  • Gleason, M. (1981). [Review of the book The DRE reader]. Religious Education, 76, 462-463.
  • McCabe, E. (1981). [Review of the book The DRE reader]. Sisters Today, 52, 635.
  • Smith, T. J. (1981). [Review of the book The DRE reader]. The Living Light, 18, 89-90.
  • Ward, A. (1981). [Review of the book Portrait of youth ministry]. The Furrow, 32, 827.
  • Kathan, B. W. (1978). [Review of the book Parish religious education]. Religious Education, LXXIII, 721-722.
  • Furnish, D. J. (1977). [Review of the book The D.R.E. book]. Religious Education, LXXII, 247.

Articles about Maria Harris

  • Dorney, J. A. (1997). Maria Harris: An aesthetic and erotic justice. In B. A. Keely (Ed.), Faith of our foremothers: Women changing religious education (pp. 180-190). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • Keller, J., Dougherty, J., Baker, L., & Johnson, F. (1987, May). Religious imagination in the work of Maria Harris. Word in Life, 46.

Excerpts from Publications

Harris, M. (1987). Teaching and religious imagination. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

Of all the moments in teaching, perhaps none is more dependent on the exercise of the imagination than is form-giving. Not only does the power of imagination make formgiving [sic] possible, teaching in a form-giving way is possible only if the teacher imagines that it is possible; if the teacher imagines that this is what teaching is. If the teacher believes that teaching means merely to hand over ideas, facts, and concepts to be memorized, teaching is certain to fail….[F]orms are not our ideas, our concepts, our learning. They are, instead, the grounds of those ideas, the roots of learning, and the foundations of our lives: love, identity, death, intention, destiny, courage, hope.
In teaching as an activity of religious imagination, the moment of form-giving is the one where our creative imagination gives shape to the content or subject matter; form-giving is the way we attempt to put subject matter together. New form comes into being because we take the risk of becoming artists, becoming creators, becoming teachers (pp. 35-36).

Harris, M. (1988). Women and teaching: Themes for a spirituality of pedagogy. New York: Paulist Press.

[Here is] the conviction which is at the core of this book: the best way to create a spirituality of teaching which liberates women is to posit and describe a series of steps, leading to and emerging from one another in a natural rhythm.…[T]hey are as steps in a dance. Using this metaphor, we can immediately draw on the power of rhythm, and study how in the work of spirituality and teaching, a more organic and human series of steps than the ladder and the staircase are those which like the dance can go backward or forward, can incorporate one another, can involve turn and re-turn, can move down as well as up, out as well as in, and be sometimes partnered, sometimes solitary. In the dance, we do not come to the next step by planning it beforehand, but by doing the bodily work from which the next step emerges (pp.14-15).

Harris, M. (1989). Fashion me a people: Curriculum and the church. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

The meaning of curriculum is fluid; it is not set….Church curriculum has always been broader than schooling alone, but today we are in the midst of recognizing and celebrating a meaning of curriculum that consciously incorporates other facets of ministry….Given these two factors, we can conclude that a fuller and more extensive curriculum is already present in the church's life: in teaching, worship, community, proclamation, and outreach….[The curriculum] is the entire course of the church's life, found in the fundamental forms of that life. It is the priestly, prophetic, and political work of didache, leiturgia, koinonia, kerygma, and diakonia. Where education is the fashioning and refashioning of these forms in interplay, curriculum is the subject matter and processes that make them to be what they are. Where education is the living and the fashioning, curriculum is the life, the substance that is fashioned (pp. 62-64).
[W]hether in church or beyond, teaching is itself a fundamentally religious activity in the sense that it is always, at root, in the direction of deepest meaning, ultimate origin, and final destiny. Often, if we become sensitive listeners, we find that the tradition itself is asking the questions, and the questioning is not only by us but of us and our situations (p. 117).

Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1998). Reshaping religious education: Conversations on contemporary practice. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

I use the term spirituality to refer to our way of being in the world; spirituality includes the listening and responding we do to life-and death-in the light of the Mystery at the core of the universe. Human beings live in the world in many different "ways," and almost always the times shape those ways, which in turn eventually constitute an entire spirituality. This is the claim I make for the Jubilee. For religious people standing on the threshold of a new millennium, the year 2000 of the Common Era, the Jubilee is particularly appropriate as a spirituality. This is because it is attentive to the demands of the times in which we live, demands that encompass care for the earth, forgiveness of debts, freedom, justice, and jubilation.
Similarly, and equally pertinent to the themes of this book, Jubilee includes what are-or ought to be-essential components of religious education and pastoral ministry: contemplative quiet, liberation, redistribution of resources, and the festivity and gratitude common expressed through liturgy and worship. These elements can serve as a curriculum for classrooms and schools but are not limited to these settings. They also can serve the family as it educates. They can serve diocese, parishes and congregations, and judicatories as sources of pastoral practice. They can serve businesses and nations….[E]ach of these settings is a form of education. In the case of the Jubilee, however, education is to a wider, deeper spirituality than we have heretofore known: one that is demanded by the arrival of the new millennium (pp. 135-136).

Books

Harris, M. (1976a). The D.R.E. book: Questions and strategies for parish personnel . New York: Paulist Press.

This early work by Harris shows her grasp of the emerging role of the congregational Director of Religious Education, and her ability to offer these new professionals the key questions and strategies to consider in understanding and fulfilling their responsibilities. Her delineation of the "educational framework" for DRE's, in which "religious education" understood as the study of religion serves as the foundation for all forms of intra-church education and catechesis, is an important indicator of the standpoint she would develop throughout her career.

Harris, M. (1987a). Teaching and religious imagination. . San Francisco: Harper and Row.

This influential work brings full articulation of the aesthetic vision of education that Harris had presented in previous articles and book chapters. Arguing for "religious imagination" as a mode of bringing elements together in new ways with a focus on ultimacy, depth and mystery, she presents teaching in this mode as a five-step dance of contemplation, engagement, formgiving, emergence and release. Harris presents in-depth reflection on the teaching of her mentor, Mary Anderson Tully, and her own teaching to illustrate the aesthetic vision in practice.

Harris, M. (1988a). Women and teaching: Themes for a spirituality of pedagogy. . New York: Paulist Press.

In this short book, originally delivered as the 1988 Madeleva Lecture in Spirituality, Harris presents a "spirituality of pedagogy" that brings together her aesthetic vision with the distinctive educational needs of women. Drawing on a diverse range of feminist sources, she presents a new version of her "dance" metaphor to describe the movements of pedagogy for women as silence, remembering, mourning, artistry and birthing. She insists throughout on the political imperatives of teaching women so as to overcome enforced silence and discrimination, and to create and release power as the capacity and ability to act. In this context, the teacher serves as both midwife and priest, "ordaining the learner into a world of responsibility" (73).

Harris, M. (1989b). Fashion me a people: Curriculum and the church .Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

This widely used work invites congregations to an expansive view of "curriculum" as the entire course of the church's common life, and "education" as the fashioning and refashioning of the forms of that life. The forms which embody the church's pastoral vocation are the priestly, prophetic and political, further represented in the five ancient "curricular forms" of koinonia, leiturgia, diakonia, kerygma and didache. Thus Harris continues here to draw upon aesthetic metaphors for education while grounding her vision solidly within the identity and mission of Christian faith communities. Suggested exercises with each chapter invite congregations to refashion their own forms.

Harris, M. (1996a). Proclaim Jubilee! A spirituality for the 21st century. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

The themes for this contemporary presentation of the biblical Jubilee are drawn from Leviticus 25: letting the land lie fallow, forgiving debts, proclaiming liberty, practicing justice, and feasting and singing with jubilation. In this book and in many lectures and articles in the 1990s, Harris advocates for the contemporary relevance of Jubilee as empowering spirituality for facing the manifold challenges of our times.

Harris, M., & Moran, G. (1998). Reshaping religious education: Conversations on contemporary practice. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.

Harris continually cited Gabriel Moran as her most vital conversation partner; this work makes the dialogue explicit. Harris and Moran offer their current perspectives on major themes developed in their prior writings, including foundational issues for the field of religious education, various understandings of "development," spirituality and its connections with justice and Jubilee, and the need for wider dialogues in interreligious and international contexts. The book's design allows the authors to reprise and expand upon their own most pressing concerns while inviting readers to join the conversation.

Articles

Harris, M. (1979-80). Prayer and vision. A four-part series in PACE, 10 (1979), (Directions section), n.p. Part I: The imaginal vision (1979, September-October). Part II: The companioned vision (1979, November). Part III: The political vision (1979, December). Part IV: The comic vision (1980, January)

This series is a good illustration of Harris's many writings for religious education practitioners. Here she highlights how four "visions"-the imaginal, companioned, political and comic-are vital for religious educators to draw upon in fostering the prayer life of others. The fourth piece is especially notable for its insistence on the comic qualities of foolishness and paradox, allowing one to reach beyond despair to hope. These categories are presented in similar form in: Harris, M. (1980e). Religious educators and the comic vision. Religious Education, 75, 422-432.

Harris, M. (1984c). Weaving the fabric: How my mind has changed. Religious Education, 79, 18-23.

In this mid-career self-appraisal, Harris names three major influences on the development of her thinking from the mid-1970s through mid-1980s: contemporary feminism, leading her to adopt inclusive language and seek female sources for her scholarship; her move from New York City to Andover Newton Theological School as provoking broader ecumenical and interreligious thinking; and her experience of growing power as a personal call for herself to "enlarge and humanize it in new ways" (p. 22).

Harris, M. (1993g). Women teaching girls: The power and the danger. Religious Education, 88, 52-66.

This article shows the influence on Harris's thinking of contemporary research on the "different voice" of women and concerns over the apparent "loss of voice" among adolescent girls in the United States, abetted by their educational experiences. She describes collaborations with educational researchers in presenting the themes she developed in Women and Teaching to teachers of girls, and the opportunities and resistances raised by this activity.

Author Information

Joanmarie Smith

Joanmarie Smith, Ph.D. (Fordham University, 1971) is Emerita Professor of Christian Education at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio and a long-time friend of Maria Harris.

Maureen O'Brien

Maureen R. O'Brien, Ph.D. (Boston College, 1990) is Associate Professor of Theology and Director of Pastoral Ministry at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.