Author: WomenandMyth

Posted on

Christine Downing Dissertation Fellowship for 2012

Christine Downing Dissertation Fellowship for 2012

OPUS Archives and Research Center is announcing the Christine Downing Dissertation Fellowship for 2012.

This Fellowship carries the name of Professor Downing in acknowledgement of her contribution to the fields of depth psychology and mythology, her many years of teaching at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and her gift to OPUS of her own archival materials. The purpose of the Downing Fellowship will be to award an annual scholarship to dissertation students of any accredited graduate level institution in the fields of depth psychology and mythology. Once awarded, the winning student must use the collections at OPUS for a significant amount of her or his dissertation research.

The archival collections available for research at OPUS include Joseph Campbell, Marija Gimbutas, James Hillman, Jane and Joseph Wheelwright, Christine Downing, Marion Woodman, Adolf Guggenbühl-Craig, and Katie Sanford. Visit our website for more information at www.opusarchives.org

GUIDELINES

Applicants must demonstrate the necessity of substantial on-site use of OPUS’ collections.

Eligible Candidates. Students in doctoral programs writing within the fields of depth psychology and mythology whose proposal and /or first two chapters of the dissertation has been accepted by their dissertation committee. Further, the student must plan to use the collections at OPUS for a significant amount of their research. The fellowship will be awarded September 15, 2012.

Amount and Duration of Fellowship. The fellowship award is $5000. These funds are for one (1) year of research to be conducted between October 1, 2012 and October 1, 2013.

Dates and Deadlines:

Deadline for Submission: June 30, 2012 Notification of Awarded Grants: September 15, 2012

Selection Committees. Proposals will initially be screened by OPUS staff. Final selection will be made by the Fellowship committee which includes Christine Downing, David Miller, Richard Tarnas and Lyn Cowan.If You’re Interested. Please visit our website and review the application and instructions – www.opusarchives.org. If after reviewing these pages you have further questions, please email cddf@opusarchives.org

OPUS Archives and Research Center is a non-profit research center that houses the archives of Joseph Campbell, Marija Gimbutas, James Hillman, Jane and Joseph Wheelwright, Christine Downing, Marion Woodman, Adolf Guggenbühl-Craig, and Katie Sanford. In addition to safeguarding these important resources, OPUS works to foster ongoing research in the fields of depth psychology and mythological

Posted on

Seeking Proposals for 2012 ASWM Conference

Chalice (and hand) by Susan Minyard

CREATING THE CHALICE:  

Imagination and Integrity in Goddess Studies

The Association for the Study of Women

and Mythology

Biennial National Conference

San Francisco May 11-12, 2012.

Advancing our scholarship involves the evolution and refinement of our methods.  Suggested topics for this exciting conference might include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • What are new paths for the field of Women’s Spirituality and Goddess Studies?  How creative can we be?  Are we inventing, reconstructing, or using creative license to reawaken and bring the past into the present?  How do we evaluate this work?  How can we use this creative work together with more “traditional’ approaches to advance our scholarship?
  • What are new models and methods for our scholarly inquiry?  Can we develop and advance our scholarship with methods such as Organic or Heuristic inquiry?  What is Spiritual Autobiography, and how can this be useful?  Sacred geography?  What else?  How shall our new methods be evaluated?  What are our criteria for solid scholarship using these new models?
  • What are the complexities around issues of Cultural Appropriation?  How do we understand and address the tensions around rootedness and local culture on the one hand, and issues of lineage and history on the other?  Are there new models of scholarship that honor history and culture while simultaneously enriching our scholarship?

Proposals for papers, panels, and workshops addressing these topics will be given preference, but other subjects will be considered.  Papers should be 20 minutes; up to four papers on a related topic may be proposed together.  Workshops (limited to 90 minutes) should be organized to provide audience interaction and must clearly address theme.

Presenters from all disciplines are welcome, as well as creative artists and practitioners who engage mythic themes in a scholarly manner in their work.  Presenters must become members of ASWM prior to conference.

Send 250-word abstract (for panels, 200 word abstract plus up to 150 words per paper) to aswmsubmissions@gmail.com by January 15, 2012.  Include bio of up to 70 words for each presenter, as well as contact information including surface address and email.

About the chalice:  see Susan’s work at www.SweetwaterPottery.biz

Posted on

Die Zeit ist Reif: Report on the 2011 International Congress on Matriarchal Studies

by Lin Daniels, MA, Amazon Icon Foundation

            “Better to build lifeboats than to wait for the Patriarchy-Titanic to listen to reason” was the emphasis of this year’s conference.  It was an examination of what to do about the patriarchy-built looming global crisis. The conference was a feast for the mind and the heart as women from all over the world convened to find answers.

The conference was held in the medieval town of St. Gallen, at the Town Hall. The old building was transformed by the art exhibitions.  The photo exhibit by Siegrun Claaben gave glimpses of the New Matriarchal Mystery Festivals that began in 1983. They invoked the spirit of the time. “The 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe” exhibit displayed biographical postcards of women who have all profoundly changed lives on this planet for the better. Lydia Ruyle’s powerful banners graced all of the halls of the building. They set the atmosphere of the conference.

Dr. Cecile Keller designed and facilitated the rituals that closed the days of the Kongress, with drumming led by Isabella Verbruggen and Loes Moezelaar of the Netherlands.  We conjured a grand spectacle as hundreds of women made a sacred circle in the park in front of the town hall.

Continue reading “Die Zeit ist Reif: Report on the 2011 International Congress on Matriarchal Studies”

Posted on

Cultural Appropriation and Respectful Research

Cultural Appropriation and Respectful Research

The issue of cultural appropriation is important to all of us as researchers, subjects, and scholars exploring just about any topic.  Here are some articles related to appropriate and inappropriate approaches to cross-cultural research.

Max Dashu’s excellent article Respect and Responsibility concerns the appropriation of Native American cultures in the work of Lynn Andrews and other non-Native authors.  Though the article first appeared in 1994, the information is still relevant today.

The issues of naming and claiming traditional titles is described in the blogKathang Pinay 2, a forum for understanding Philippine Babaylan cultural concerns.

And, here is a recent article about an archaeological project in Australia where researchers worked with rather than in spite of native elders: Rock Art finds

 

Posted on

2011 East Symposium in Philadelphia

The Embodied Goddess, our first East Coast Regional Symposium, took place on March 12-13, 2011 in Philadelphia.More than 50 scholars attended the event.

The first-ever Brigit Award for Excellence in the Arts was given to Layne Redmond. Her presentation was a highlight of the evening performances.Click here for more information on Layne Redmond.

Miranda Shaw, Ph.D.,  of the University of Richmond opened the Symposium on Saturday afternoon with a keynote speech on “Living Goddesses: Embodying the Divine in Buddhist Nepal.” Dr. Shaw is the author of Buddhist Goddesses of India and Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism.

 

 As with the spring 2010 conference at Kirkridge, Lydia Ruyle’s inspiring goddess banners graced the meeting space.  Lydia also gave two presentations on embodied goddesses of the Americas and Anatolia.

Saturday evening featured performances by vocal group SheWho as well as conference participants Shelley Graff, Serpentessa, and Tova Beck-Friedman. Sunday morning starts with a networking breakfast, and the program concludes before lunch.

Program

See titles and presenters.

Through talk, film, visual art, dance, song, poetry, and more, goddesses as diverse as Demeter, Ogbuide and  inspired the gathering.

Topics ranged from river deities in African spirituality to embodiments of the female divine in Judaism;  from primordial figures to goddess images in contemporary art; descent myths to encounters with serprents; and ancient earth goddess in art to embodied spiritual 
empowerment.

Experiential workshops included “Wild Earth Shebrew (chants),” “Belly on Earth, Snake on Skin,” “Evoking and Re-membering the Ancient Earth Goddess” (a clay workshop), and “Singing in Sacred Circle.”