(VIDEO) 2021 Program: Poetry Performance, “An Exaltation of Goddesses”
Gimbutas Symposium Recordings Available for Purchase
Great news! There is now an opportunity to register to see all the recordings of our 2021 symposium in celebration of Marija Gimbutas’ centennial. The entire program of scholarly panels, arts and culture are ready for new registrations.
Registration for symposium recordings is now available to the public! Register here.
To give you plenty of time to view the program at leisure, all sessions will remain available for a year from the date of purchase.
2021 Symposium
Wisdom Across the Ages: Celebrating the Centennial of Archaeomythologist Marija Gimbutas
A virtual event
July 16-18, 2021
Registration for symposium recordings is now available to the public! Register here.
Also, our program recordings will remain accessible for free, to anyone who attended, for 12 months on the symposium website. (You will be asked to sign in using the email on your registration.)
Our online Art Exhibition, “Wisdom Across the Ages” remains open and available until December 31, 2021
Marija Gimbutas’ pioneering scholarship on the earliest horticultural societies focuses on Old European cultures of Europe and the Mediterranean (6500-3500 BCE). She founded a new interdisciplinary field, archaeomythology, which investigates beliefs, rituals, symbols, and social structures of these early societies. The imagery she explored resonates with mysteries of the living world that are described in other indigenous cultures. Archaeomythology is inspiring a new generation of scholars to develop a deeper understanding of past and present earth-based societies. 
Our ASWM online symposium seeks to expand this understanding by highlighting the voices of First Nations and Indigenous scholars to discuss indigenous, Old European, and other Nature-based cultures. Our program includes: “Celebrating a Great Woman of Science: The Life and Legacy of Archaeomythologist Marija Gimbutas” “Women at the Center: Historic and Contemporary Resonances with Marija Gimbutas’ Work” “Marija Gimbutas’ ‘Collision of Cultures’: the Kurgan Invasions and the End of Old Europe” “Voices from/for the Land: Wisdom of Place and Tradition” “The Human/Animal Connection and Sacred Stories” “The Voice of the Goddess” (film) “Inspired by Marija: Artists, Writers, and Performers Roundtable” “Remembering Marija: Roundtable” “An Exaltation of Goddesses: A Poetry Performance” Â
Our 2021 Symposium is presented in cooperation with the Institute of Archaeomythology (IAM). Inspired by the scholarship of Lithuanian-American archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, IAM is an international organization of scholars dedicated to fostering an interdisciplinary approach to cultural research with particular emphasis on the beliefs, rituals, social structure, and symbolism of past and present societies. The Institute encourages dialogue among specialists from diverse fields by sponsoring international symposia, by publishing collected papers and monographs, and by promoting creative collaboration within an atmosphere of mutual support. 
Our thanks to the Lithuanian Foundation for their grant support of our our 2021 Symposium. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization providing support for initiatives that preserve and foster Lithuanian culture and traditions in the United States, Lithuania, and Lithuanian communities worldwide. 
Special thanks to Annie Finch and the talented women of the Poetry Witch Community for the performance “An Exaltation of Goddesses.” Annie says the Community “brings together women poets and poetry lovers, feminists, and women-centered spiritual seekers and practitioners from around the world. We practice poetry, scansion, and magic, weave webs of connection and empowerment–and explore the rhythmic languages of poetry and life–so we can learn to craft our lives and words in more joyfully powerful ways.”
2021 Program: Keynote by Harald Haarmann
“Marija Gimbutas’ ‘Collision of Cultures’:
the Kurgan Invasions and the End of Old Europe”
Dr. Harald Haarmann and Joan Marler
In this session, Dr. Harald Haarmann and Joan Marler discuss the
significance of the civilization of Old Europe that sustained
peaceful, egalitarian, matristic societies throughout southeastern
and central Europe for three millennia (c. 6500-3500 BCE). The
arrival of nomadic herders from the Pontic-Caspian steppes created a
“collision of cultures” that caused the destruction of Old Europe,
the spread of patriarchal systems, male dominance, and warfare that
have continued to the present day. The subsequent development of
European societies cannot be fully understood without recognizing the impact of this collision in which certain Old European patterns have remarkably endured.
Dr. Harald Haarmann is a German linguist and cultural scientist who taught and conducted research at a number of German and Japanese universities, and is a member of the Research Centre on Multilingualism in Brussels. He is also Vice-President of the Institute of Archaeomythology, and director of its European branch. Haarmann is the author of more than 40 books in eight languages. His studies on the influence of Old Europen cultures include Myth as source of knowledge in early western thought (2015); Roots of ancient Greek civilization: The influence of Old Europe (2014); Interacting with figurines: Seven dimensions in the study of imagery (2009); and (with Joan Marler) Introducing the Mythological Crescent. Ancient beliefs and imagery connecting Eurasia with Anatolia (2008).
Registration for symposium recordings is now available to the public! Register here. Â
To give you plenty of time to view the program at leisure, all sessions will remain available, to those who register, until the end of July 2022.
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