Category: Conferences & Symposia

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.

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, 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.