Musa W. Dube
- PhD, Vanderbilt University, 1997
- MA, Vanderbilt University, 1995
- MA, University of Durham, 1990
- BA, University of Botswana, 1988
Prior to joining Candler's faculty in 2021, Dr. Musa W. Dube served as professor of New Testament in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Botswana. She has held positions at the World Council Churches, Scripps College, Union Theological Seminary, University of Stellenbosch, University of Bamberg, and University of South Africa.
Particularly known for her work as a postcolonial feminist theologian, her research interests include gender, postcolonialism, translation, and HIV and AIDS studies. Her research has been supported by awards from the John Templeton Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the World Council of Churches, and the Society for Biblical Literature, among others. In 2011, she received a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, one of academia’s most prestigious funding institutions.
Dube has authored 262 academic works, published in journals, books, encyclopedias, educational modules, and magazines, and has edited 12 volumes. Her first book, Postcolonial Feminist Interpretation of the Bible (Chalice Press, 2000), challenges the often oppressive and patriarchal Western interpretations of biblical texts and offers an alternative, less imperial interpretation that attends to and respects needs of women. Her book The HIV and AIDS Bible: Some Selected Essays (Scranton Press, 2008) examines the HIV/AIDS crisis in light of biblical and ethical teachings and argues for a strong theological presence alongside economic, social, and political efforts to deal with the disease.
The 2017 winner of the international Gutenberg Teaching Award, Dube has given up to 162 papers in at least twenty-six countries, and has served in institutions in Switzerland, the U.S., Germany, and South Africa as well as her native Botswana. She received an honorary doctorate from Stellenbosch University (South Africa) in 2018.
Dube is the current continental coordinator of The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, vice president of the Society of Bibilcal Literature (2022-2023), and a member of the The United Methodist Church.
Selected Publications
Books
Co-editor,The Bible Centers & Margins: Dialogues Between Postcolonial African and UK Biblical Scholars, T & T Clark, 2018
Co-editor,Postcoloniality, Translation and the Bible in Africa, Pickwick Publications, 2017
Co-editor,Postcolonial Perspectives on African Biblical Interpretations, SBL, 2012
HIV and AIDS Bible: Some Selected Essays, The University of Scranton Press, 2008
Co-author,The Voices and Identities of Botswana’s School Children, UNICEF, 2005
Co-editor,Feminist New Testament Studies: Global and Future Perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005
Postcolonial Feminist Interpretations of the Bible, Chalice Press, 2000
Moral Education 2, Longman, 2000
The Victims: A Novel, Botsalaano Press, 1993
Chapters and Articles
Editor, Special Issue on Botho/Ubuntu and Community Building Journal of Interdenominational Theological College, Volume 51, 2022.
Co-author, "Naomi/Laban Shower and the Creation of Womanist Botho/Ubuntu Ethic of Community Living Spaces.” In Journal of the Inter-denominational Center Vol. 51 (2022):1-54.
“Towards Botho/Ubuntu-centred Individuals, Communities and Nations.” In Journal of the Inter-denominational Center Volume 50 (2021): III-XIX.
“Go laya: Unsettling Patriarchy in Gaborone Bridal Showers,” In Journal of the Interdenominational Center, Vol. 51 (2021):1-46.
Editor, Special Issue on Botho/Ubuntu and Community Building, Journal of Interdenominational Theological College, Volume 50,
Co-author, “Exploring Botswana Bridal Showers Through a Relational-Cultural Connections.” In Journal of the Interdenominational Center Vol. 51 (2021):47-82.
“John 18:2-19: A Postcolonial Trickster Reading of the Arrest and Trial of Jesus.” In Tubinger Theologische Quartalschrift/2, 2022: 54-73
“Speaking the Unspeakable: Biographies of PLWHA,”pp. 229-250. In S. Chirongoma. Ed. Mother Earth, Mother Africa and World Religions. Cape Town: Sun Media, 2022
Co-author, “The Christic Okavango Delta of Botswana,”pp. 37-56. In Sophia Chirongoma and Scholar Wanyua Kiilu eds. Mother Earth, Mother Africa and World Religions. Cape Town: Sun Media, 2022
“Mother,” p.13; “Goliath,” p.153; “HIV & AIDS,” pp.183-184 and “Africa,” pp. 251-252. In Sophia Chirongoma and Scholar Wanyua Kiilu, eds. Mother Earth, Mother Africa and World Religions. Cape Town: Sun Media, 2022
"Teaching in the Death Zone: Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS in the Curriculum with African Theologians," in International Bulletin of Mission Research, 2019
Co-author, "Pathways to Social Capital and the Botho/Ubuntu Ethic in the Urban Space of Gaborone," Botswana. Global Social Welfare: Research, Policy and Practice, 2019
“Purple Hibiscus: A Postcolonial Feminist Reading,” in Missionalia 46/2, 2018
Co-author, "Reproducing or Creating a New Male? Bridal showers in the urban space in Botswana," in Journal of African Studies, 2020
Co-author, “Reproducing or Creating a New Male: Bridal Showers in the Urban Space of Botswana,” in Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa, Vol 24/1
Selected Awards
The Mercy Amba Oduyoye Global Leadership Award, Circle of Concerned African Women Association 30th Anniversary Celebrations, 2019
Winner of Botswana Society Poetry Competition, 2019
Doctor of Theology (Dth), Honoris causa, Stellenbosch University, 2018
Gutenberg Teaching Award, University of Gutenber Mainz, 2017
John Templeton Foundation through Nagel Institute Research Award, 2016
Frau des Monats, IG Feministische Theologinnen, 2015
NACA Research Award, 2014
UB HIV & AIDS International Research Champion, University of Botswana Red Ribbon (UBBRA) Awards, 2014
HIV and AIDS Teaching Champion, UBBRA Awards, 2014
Named Professor Extraordinary, Dept of Religion & Classical Studies, UNISA, 2015-2017