Rate My Professor Ginger Hanks-Harwood

Dr. Ginger Hanks-Harwood served as Associate Professor of Religious and Theological Studies in La Sierra University's H.M.S. Richards Divinity School from 1997, teaching courses in Bible, gender studies, ethics, and nineteenth-century American religious history. She earned her Ph.D. in religion and ethics from the joint program of the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver in 1991. Prior to joining La Sierra, Harwood was Assistant Professor of Religion at Pacific Union College, taught at Walla Walla University, and served as adjunct faculty and hospital chaplain at Loma Linda University Health. An ordained minister, she helped found the Women's Resource Center at La Sierra University, contributing to initiatives supporting women in academia and ministry.

Harwood's research focuses on Seventh-day Adventist history, women in ministry, spirituality, and biblical scholarship. She co-authored seminal articles in Andrews University Seminary Studies with Beverly Beem, including "Not a Hand Bound; Not a Voice Hushed": Ordination and Foundational Adventist Understandings of Women in Ministry (volume 52, issue 2, 2014), "My Soul is on the Wing for Glory": Adventist Spirituality, 1850-1863 (volume 44, issue 1, 2006), and "Study to Show Thyself Approved": Seventh-day Adventism's Legacy of Careful Biblical Scholarship (volume 57, issue 1, pages 137-174, 2019). These works analyze early Adventist hermeneutics, drawing from periodicals like the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald and Ellen G. White's writings, emphasizing principles such as contextualization, harmonization, and freedom of conscience. Harwood presented lectures on fundamentalism and women in the Adventist church, early Adventists as peace activists, and Bible women. In 2020, she received the Outstanding Achievement Woman of the Year Award from the Association of Adventist Women for her lifetime career teaching theology students and advancing gender equity in the church. Her scholarship continues to influence discussions on Adventist theology and women's roles in ministry.