M Kathy Rudy is an associate professor of women's studies

Women's studies

Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...

 and ethics

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 at Duke University

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

. Rudy's work is often interdisciplinary as she merges philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

, theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

, politics

Politics

Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...

, feminism

Feminism

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

, and medical ethics

Medical ethics

Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...

. She is open

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 about her homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

, and is a radical social constructionist

Social constructionism

Social constructionism and social constructivism are sociological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena or objects of consciousness develop in social contexts. A social construction is a concept or practice that is the construct of a particular group...

.

Rudy's current projects include A Good Enough Mother — a personal and intellectual examination of the U.S. foster care

Foster care

Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....

 system from the perspective of a failed adoptive parent — and Hollywood Theology — an examination of the ways that meaning is produced with and in the world of film.

Rudy penned a controversial opinion piece that alleged that white culture hypocrisy was responsible for the prosecution of admitted animal abuser Michael Vick

Michael Vick

Michael Dwayne Vick is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League...

.

Duke False Rape Accusation Scandal

Rudy was one of the Group of 88 professors who, in the wake of the Lacrosse players scandal, signed a controversial letter thanking protesters for "making a collective noise" [2] on "what happened to this young woman."[3] The letter has been widely criticized as a prejudgment since the charges against the players were eventually dismissed and the District Attorney, Michael Nifong who prosecuted the case, was disbarred. [4][5]

Works

• Sex and the Church: Gender, Homosexuality and the Transformation of Christian Ethics (1997). Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-1034-0
• Beyond Pro-life and Pro-choice: Moral Diversity in the Abortion Debate (1996). Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-0427-8
• The Politics of Representing Jesus: Jacques Derrida and John Howard Yoder. (1989). Duke University Press. ASIN B00073ARNK
• "Radical Feminism, Lesbian Separatism, and Queer Theory," Feminist Studies 27, no. 1 (Spring 2001).

External links

• "Group Profile: Kathy Rudy" Durham-in-Wonderland, July 6, 2007. URL accessed December 17, 2009.
• "Q&A: Whole New World" Duke Magazine, September–October 2005 (Volume 91, No.5)