Erin Culp, a senior Religious Studies/ English major and Elon College of Arts and Sciences Fellow, is the 2006 winner of the Albert Clark Award. This award is given to the outstanding essay in Theology or Religious Studies as determined by a panel of judges from Theta Alpha Kappa, the National Religious Studies Honor Association. Her essay, “Is Lilith ‘Fair’? :Contemporary Reinterpretations of a Historical Myth,” will be published in the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa, likely in the spring 2008 issue.
This paper was the culmination of Erin’s Fellows’ research with Lynn Huber, assistant professor of religious studies. Erin will present a version of the paper later this month at the Southeastern Regional Commission for the Study of Religion in Nashville, Tenn. In this paper, Erin explores the origins of the Lilith myth, from her depiction as a she-demon in Ancient Near-Eastern literature to the Israelite legend of Lilith as Adam’s first wife, as way of engaging contemporary feminist appropriations of Lilith as a symbol of the empowerment of women.