Religious Studies Department Honors Memory of Teresia Hinga with Planting of Tree and Posting of Plaque next to Kenna Hall
On Thursday, May 21st, members of the Religious Studies Department and of the wider University community held a dedication for a newly planted tree and plaque in memory of our beloved colleague, Teresia Mbari Hinga, who passed away three years ago. Teresia was a professor in the Religious Studies Department for 18 years, where she taught global feminist theologies, ethics, and African spiritualities. Her generosity and joyful spirit made her beloved by students and colleagues alike.
Speakers for this included RS Professors Pearl Barros, Karen Peterson-Iyer, and Cathleen Chopra-McGowan. Also retired Professors Jane Curry from Political Science, and Mary Hegland from Anthropology participated.
Teresia was born in British-occupied Kenya, the youngest of seven children. In her own life, she was a loving mother, grandmother, and godmother who protected her children and helped them flourish with her sense of humor, love of song, and faith in God, all while a single mother balancing her home and professional life.
As a scholar, Teresia was an African Christian feminist who pioneered the fields of African feminist theology and ethics. She was a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians in Accra, Ghana in 1989 and promoted the Circle throughout her career. She was also a founding member, and on the executive committee, of the African Association of the Study of Religion (AASR), a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), and the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). She was on the board of the Journal of Global Catholicism and a member of the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church (CTEWC) Network until her death.
The memorial plaque features the image of a hummingbird, a powerful symbol in Teresia’s life. As she wrote in her 2021 article celebrating Kenyan environmental and gender activist and scholar Wangari Mathai:
Wangari […] urges us to learn a lesson from a certain hummingbird. The story runs that one time there was a huge wild fire in the forest and all the animals were scared, overwhelmed and paralyzed. All except for one little hummingbird who kept going to the pond and drawing water with its beak and dropping the water on the fire drop by drop.
The other animals thought she was being ridiculous and her beak work futile and tried to dissuade her by ridiculing her. The hummingbird’s response was, ‘I am doing the best I can.’
Wangari identifies herself with the hummingbird and invites all to adopt the hummingbird spirit and do something rather than nothing to put out the multiple fires threatening life all around us. Cumulatively the many small acts will make a difference.
We thank Teresia for the difference she made in making our world a kinder and more just place.
SCU Faculty gather to honor Teresia Hinga.