Category: Conferences & Symposia

ASWM Conferences, held biennially in even-numbered years, and symposia, held on occasion in odd-numbered years

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2021 Symposium: The Institute of Archaeomythology

 

IAM

ASWM’s 2021 Symposium, “Wisdom Across the Ages: Celebrating the Centennial of Archaeomythologist Marija Gimbutas,” is presented in cooperation with the Institute of Archaeomythology (IAM).  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.

Marija Gimbutas

Inspired by the work of visionary scholar Marija Gimbutas, who encouraged students and colleagues from a variety of fields to examine problems in European prehistory with an inclusive, interdisciplinary point of view.

Learn more about IAM, and their free online journal and other publications.

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, to those who register, until the end of July 2022.

The Institute for Archaeomythology

IAM

ASWM’s 2021 Symposium, “Wisdom Across the Ages: Celebrating the Centennial of Archaeomythologist Marija Gimbutas,” 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.

Marija Gimbutas

Background

A visionary scholar, Marija Gimbutas actively encouraged students and colleagues from a variety of fields to examine problems in European prehistory with a more inclusive and interdisciplinary point of view. A major focus of her research centered on the Neolithic cultures of Old Europe and the Indo-European Bronze Age societies that replaced them. She stressed the importance of investigating the enormous changes in beliefs, rituals and social structure that took place as a result of the “collusion of cultures” that took place between c. 4500-2500 BC, during the Indo-Europeanization of Europe, in order to more fully understand subsequent European cultural development. In Gimbutas’s view, this was “one of the most complex and least understood [periods] in prehistory.”

Journal of Archaeomythology

The JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOMYTHOLOGY has been published on a semi-yearly basis since 2005. The Journal is available on an OPEN ACCESS basis. All issues of the Journal are freely available to members and non-members alike. To have full access to all Journal articles, please click here to register for a free account. IAM also publishes collected papers from international symposia and monographs on archaeomythological themes. Learn more at their website. IAM is a membership organization; learn more here.

2022 ASWM Symposium

 “Hearing the Invisible: Lessons from Sentient Beings and Inter-relational Ecosystems”

ASWM Online Symposium: Sunday, April 10, 2022

DID YOU MISS OUR SYMPOSIUM? You can now purchase recordings for the concert or the whole event–

  • Concert only/General public all recordings  here.  
  • Members sign in and get $50 discount here.  
  • Join/Renew your ASWM membership here.
  • Questions? events @ womenandmyth.  org

“The Caretaker of the Precious” by Denise Kester

SYMPOSIUM DETAILS:

Jane Goodall has pointed out that human global disregard for nature brought on the current pandemic, documenting that mistreatment/exploitation of sentient beings can result in an exponential crisis for the whole planet.

Our 2022 biennial Symposium focuses on meanings found in the relational reality among science, culture, and mythology in regards to animals, the green world, and ecosystems.

With our primary focus on interconnectedness, we feature academic and artistic work that addresses collaborations between humans and other sentient beings, foundational myths about earth’s response to misuse, and scientific solutions to transgressions against the balance of nature. 

Read about Denise Kester and “The Caretaker of the Precious,” the featured artwork for this event.

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Scholar Salon with Starr Goode and Cristina Biaggi

Wednesday, July 15 3:00-4:30 Eastern Daylight Time

“The Civilization of the Vulva”

A new spirit stirs the consciousness of our times. Women are reclaiming the vulva as an icon of primal creative energy. Unbounded by time or space, this sacred image can be found in uncountable representations from Paleolithic caves to Sheela na gigs to pink pussy hats. The startling image of a female displaying her sex can be seen in the visual and narrative arts all over the planet. So rooted in our psyches is this image, it seems as if the icon of the vulva is the original cosmological center of the human imagination and a basis of civilization. 

The Web—the patterns that connects—is a primary symbol of women’s mysteries. Found in Paleolithic and Neolithic art, it connects back to the vulva from which it all began. In its latest manifestation, the Web has come to symbolize women’s movements for peace and justice during the 80s and 90s of the last century. It has inspired what we continue to experience—art dedicated to feminism, peace and environmental issues.

 

Starr Goode, MA, teaches writing and literature at Santa Monica College. Producer and moderator for the cable TV series, The Goddess in Art is available on YouTube. Her latest essay, “Adventures She Has Brought My Way” appears in Elders and Visionaries Anthology. Her latest book, Sheela na gig: the Dark Goddess of Sacred Power, won the 2018 Sarasvati Award for Best Non-Fiction Book presented by the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology. www.starrgoode.com 

Cristina Biaggi is primarily an artist and has exhibited her work in Europe, the United States and Australia. She’s also a writer and a lecturer and has written 4 books on Women Spirituality, Prehistory and the Great Goddess. In addition to her artistic and literary pursuits, Biaggi is also a mountain climber, a Fifth degree Black Belt in the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do, and a Black Sash in Shaolin Kung Fu.

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Scholar Salon with Mandisa Wood

Wednesday July 1,  2 -3 pm Eastern Daylight Time (note early start time!)

Black Women Undulating Justice: Dancing Feet Touch Earth to Assert Their Right to Life

“Women who perform Indigenous African dances heal the present and assert their power to co-create our future.  Our dancing feet retrace the same path of our elder’s steps, invoke the same deities, and honor the same earth elements. Writing from my perspective as an activist scholar and dancer/initiate of the Yorùbá Orisha tradition of West Africa and the Diaspora, I research the ways women use dance to navigate their roles in sacred and secular spaces. Through the theoretical lens of Gloria Anzaldúa’s nepantla theory, I posit that women who study and share Indigenous dances are nepantleras. Dancing nepantleras embody life between borders, love in times of immense political and racial turmoil, feel the pain of the earth and their sisters. From this space, I invite others to move with me to catalyze personal and collective healing. This paper and conversations are not limited to, or preferencing bodies that move.”

 

Mandisa Amber Wood

Mandisa Amber Wood, M.A., M.F.A., a tenure-track Arts/Humanities/Philosophy faculty member at Napa Valley College, is an artist, dancer, and urban farmer kept by bees. Mandisa is also a PhD student in Sustainability Education at Prescott College. Her research focuses on women’s individual and collective healing modalities present in Indigenous dance forms. Mandisa is a Priestess of Aggayu, initiated in the Orisha tradition of West Africa and the Diaspora. 

Scholar Salons are an ASWM member benefit. Current members can find the link to join the Salon on the Scholar Salons page, and they will also receive the link by email. If you are not yet an ASWM member, join here.  (Thanks!) The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event.