Category: Conferences & Symposia

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

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At our 2020 Conference: Jane Caputi and “Feed the Green,” Film on Ecofeminism

Jane’s presentation will be Skyped into the conference.

Feminist social critic Jane Caputi is Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University.  In 2016, she was named as Eminent Scholar of the Year by the Popular Culture Association.  She has written three books, The Age of Sex Crime (1987), Gossips, Gorgons and Crones (1993), and Goddesses and Monsters: Women, Myth, Power and Popular Culture (2004), and collaborated with Mary Daly on Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language (1987).

She also has made two educational documentaries, The Pornography of Everyday Life (2006, Berkeley Media) and Feed the Green: Feminist Voices for the Earth (2015, Women Make Movies).

Her new book, Call Your “Mutha’” A Deliberately Dirty-Minded Manifesto for the Earth Mother in the Anthropocene, is being published by Oxford University Press in August 2020, in a series on “Heretical Thinking” edited by Ruth O’Brien.

About Feed the Green: Feminist Voices for the Earth

Feed The Green: Feminist Voices for the Earth was inspired by one of the most powerful dreams that ever came to Jane, giving her the phrase “Feed the Green”: “We do this in multiple ways – material, intellectual, spiritual, emotional – listening to and responding to the call of the Green, always returning energy to the Source.”

Feed the Green features a variety of feminist thinkers, including ecological and social justice advocates Vandana Shiva, Starhawk and Andrea Smith, ecosexual activists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens; ecofeminist theorist and disability rights activist Ynestra King, poet Camille Dungy, scholars and bloggers Janell Hobson and Jill Schneiderman and grass roots activist La Loba Loca. “ßTheir voices are powerfully juxtaposed with images from popular culture, including advertising, myth, art, and the news, pointing to the ways that an environmentally destructive worldview is embedded in popular discourses, both contemporary and historical.”–Container.

Jane says, “We think we’re doing it all. But the animals are doing the real work of holding it all together, and keeping us on our path. As are the plants. It’s as if we think the stars and sun and moon and the earth itself aren’t doing any work.”

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Wendy Rule to Perform at 2020 Conference

We are pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Wendy Rule will perform on Friday evening of our 2020 conference. 

“Hearing her perform live is an incredible experience that can easily be described as atmospheric, bewitching, and Otherworldly.”--Kelden Mercury

Wendy Rule, photo by Karen Kuehn

With the release of her latest double album ‘Persephone’,  Wendy’s work  continues to defy categorization. This exciting  project is  “a beautifully evocative retelling of the Ancient Greek myth of the Goddess Persephone’s descent into the Underworld and the ensuing grief of her mother Demeter, the Goddess of the Grain.”

Since her first album Zero was released in 1996, this visionary songstress has combined elements of gothic, folk, world, ambient and cabaret music, and crossed over into Pagan and New Age categories with her many mythological, esoteric, and ritual references. Renowned for her extraordinary voice and live shows that blur the line between music, ritual and theatre, Wendy has gained a loyal following in Australia, the USA, Europe and the UK. From the most intimate solo house concerts to large festival gigs, Wendy takes her audience on an otherworldly journey of depth and passion.

In 2014 Wendy relocated from her hometown of Melbourne, Australia to the USA, and is now living in the beautiful High Desert city of Santa Fe, New Mexico – allowing her an even stronger connection to her ever growing US fanbase, and providing daily access to the wild Nature that inspires her unique and transformational work. 

“I follow a very eclectic, improvisational, ever-changing Magical path, focused on Nature and her cycles. I honour the Light and the Dark in equal measure. I’m in love with the Moon, and have honoured every Dark and Full Moon for decades.”

Learn more at  www.wendyrule.com  Or join her Patreon site to hear special monthly concerts based on the astrological sign of the full moon .

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Conference Keynote by Navajo Poet Laureate Luci Tapahonso

Luci Tapahonso is Professor Emerita of English Literature (University of New Mexico 2016) and served as the inaugural Poet Laureate of the Navajo Nation (2013-2015). She is also the recipient of a 2018 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Artist Fellowship.

Tapahonso is the author of three children’s books and six books of poetry including A Radiant Curve. She recently served as a judge for Poetry Out Loud, the New Mexico High School Poetry Competition and was selected as “2016 Best of the City- Our City and State’s Prolific Authors,” by Albuquerque the Magazine. Professor Tapahonso has delivered keynote addresses at several conferences and institutions including Harvard, Gallup Central High School, Kenyon College, Institute of American Indian Arts, the Tbisili International Literature Festival in the Republic of Georgia and “Creativity Week” at the University of New Zealand at Auckland and Wellington.

She recently completed a script for an exhibition called “Creating Tradition: Innovation and Change in American Indian Art” for the American Heritage Gallery at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. Her work is included in the exhibition currently touring the country: “Hearts of our People: Native Women Artists at the Minneapolis Institute of Art,” as well as the podcasts “The Slowdown with Tracy K. Smith” and forthcoming on “In Sickness and Health” with Dr. Celine Grounder.

Luci Tapahonso lives in Santa Fe with her husband, Dr. Robert Martin, who is president of the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Featured Photo by Juliana Lightle

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2020 Conference: Inspiring Film about Visionary Artist Lydia Ruyle

“Herstory: The Visionary Life of Lydia Ruyle and the Banners of the Divine Feminine,” is a new 1-hour documentary film by Dr. Isadora Leidenfrost that shows the colorful and heartwarming story of Lydia Ruyle, a scholar, author, professor, political activist, matriarch, and iconic artist. 

At age 60, Lydia  began creating her Goddess Banners, which are visionary images of the Sacred Feminine drawn from all cultures. The collection grew from 18 banners to  over 300, which she used to inspire, empower, teach, and share their herstories all over the world. 

The film also documents the incredible story of how her worldwide community came together when she was terminally ill, with less than 2 weeks notice, to celebrate her, say goodbye, and then to honor the passing of a matriarch.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, says: “The documentary, “Herstory” is a powerful movie that is beautifully filmed! I am delighted to show it to my circles of women worldwide.”

See the film trailer here.

The much anticipated “Herstory” movie, featuring many ASWM scholars and leaders of women’s spirituality,  was released worldwide in August 2019. It is  a poignant tribute to Lydia’s life and work. Since its premiere, the film has screened in 59 countries. For more information: https://www.theherstorymovie.com/

The film will be shown Saturday evening at to close our conference on an inspiring note. Lydia was an important member of the ASWM advisory board, guiding us through hard times after the loss of co-founder Patricia Monaghan. With Sid Reger, she also established the Modern Matriarchal Studies Day which is held following our conference.

Here is Dr. Isadora presenting the film, wearing Lydia’s wreath and her smile.

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Join Us for a Goddess Banquet during the 2020 Conference

 

Join four Hebrew Priestesses–Amanda Nube, Judith Maeryam Wouk, Sheva Melmed, and Sarah Chandler–for a vegetarian dinner & ritual to celebrate the opening of the Jewish sabbath with poetry, prayer, and song. This special event takes place on Friday, March 13, over the dinner hour at ASWM’s 2020 conference. The language of the ritual plays with gender of God/Goddess both in Hebrew and English. It also includes some earth-based imagery. Participants will have the option to interact with natural objects on a small altar at the center of our table/altar, as well as the option for contemplative time. For more information and to RSVP, contact Sarah Chandler.  All are welcome.

The cost is $75 per person. A limited number of subsidized scholarships are available. Please contact Sarah to inquire.  It is required that all participants register and pay in advance, as the meal will be catered. To register, send $75 via PayPal from the ASWM Donation page, with “FRIDIN” in the “use my donation for” section.  Reservations are required and will be accepted until March 9th, which is the hotel’s catering deadline.

Remember to use the Donation page and write FRIDIN in the memo!