Category: Kore

The 2012 Kore Award for Best Dissertation in Women and Mythology has been award to Dr. Shannan Palma, a recent graduate of Emory University in Atlanta. Her dissertation, “Tales as Old as Time: Myth, Gender and the Fairy Tale in Popular Culture” takes the reader on a surprising journey through the theory of myth and an analysis of three very familiar fairy tales.

Driving Palma’s research is the question, “How and why do women become invested in stories, symbols, and ideas that are not in our own best interests?”

She chooses for analysis “Sleeping Beauty,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cinderella,” but instead of the typical analysis of the texts as a folklorist might do, Palma leads us on a journey through the tales in popular culture: novels, poetry, television series, advertising, photography, graphic arts and film. And her conclusions are surprising. She finds in “Sleeping Beauty” the working through of trauma narratives; in “Beauty and the Beast,” issues of visibility and community, and in “Cinderella,” thinking about fairy tales themselves, and the possibility of happily ever after.

The Kore Award Committee appreciated Palma’s “strong theoretical and methodological structure and unique analyses that remained firmly grounded in the realm of women’s studies and women’s concerns.” We  congratulate Dr. Palma and wish her the best in her scholarly career.

The Kore Award, offered through the Association for Study of Women and Mythology and made possible through the gift of a generous contributor, recognizes excellence in scholarship in the area of women and mythology. It is offered in even-numbered years, for dissertations completed in the previous two calendar years (including defense).

Applicants can be from any discipline, including but not limited to literature, religious studies, art or art history, classics, anthropology, and communications. Creative dissertations must include significant analysis of mythology in addition to creative work.   Applicants must be members of ASWM at time of submission.

Applications for the 2012 award may be made between November 1, 2011 and February 15, 2012.  Selection is made by a panel of scholars from a variety of disciplines.

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Application for Kore Award for Best Dissertation in Women and Mythology

Deadline for submission: February 15, 2012

Award announcement:  May 12, 2012

Name:

Mailing address:

Email:

Field of Study:

Title of Dissertation:

Date of graduation:

Degree granted by:

Dissertation advisor’s name:

Dissertation abstract:

Please submit this form via email to ASWM.KoreAward@gmail.com with Word attachment of dissertation.  Please have dissertation director email letter of support to same address.

The first Kore Award for Best Dissertation in Goddess Studies was presented  April 24, 2010, at ASWM’s  Green Goddess Conference.  The award went to Dawn E. Work-MaKinne, Ph.D., a graduate of Union Institute & University.  Her dissertation, Deity in Sisterhood: The Collective Sacred Female in Germanic Europe, was commended for its “skilled integration of important German language material critical to studies of mythology.”

Dr. Work-MaKinne received her Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2010, with a Concentration in Arts and Sciences and a specialization in Women’s Studies in Religion. Continue reading “2010 Kore Award for Best Dissertation”