Category: News & Articles

General ASWM news and organizational updates

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Announcing Scholar Salon 50: Register for January 12

“Eruptions of Inanna: Justice, Gender, and Erotic Power”

with Judy Grahn

Thursday,  January 12, 2023 at 3 PM Eastern Time 

REGISTER HERE

Inanna-Ishtar on Akkadian seal

“My forty-year love affair with Sumerian goddess Inanna continues with the 2021 publication Eruptions of Inanna: Justice, Gender, and Erotic Power, with interpretive retelling of eight of her stories. I address her depth, her longevity (now!), and a beginning take on her thealogy. This salon will allow even more complex and relevant understandings of who She is, and how we access Her. Because if, as I argue, She is goddess of Life itself, and we are blessed to have lush material from the ancient poets who first described Her, then what can we perceive of the ethical as well as the psychological teachings in Her stories?”

Eruptions of Inanna, 2021

“From the translations and interpretations of Noah Kramer and Diane Wolkstein, Betty De Shong Meador, and a dozen more, we already know much of the psychological value of Inanna’s literature. For fourteen years my colleagues and I used her Descent myth to frame the journey students took through our MA program in Women’s Spirituality. Researching and writing Eruptions allowed me to address my own questions: why is a goddess of love and beauty also so violent–or is She? How do Her androgyny and cross-gendered priesthoods fit? Were the writings of her greatest poet, Enheduanna, the central axis of the Book of Job? And how, if She is goddess of Life itself, how do we have an intimate, even everyday, relationship with Her?   Using two of her lesser-known stories, I plan a presentation with illustrations enhanced by your questions and experiences to deepen our connection to Her vivacity and love.”

Judy Grahn

Judy Grahn is an internationally known poet, author, mythographer, and cultural theorist. Her works include seven books of nonfiction, two book-length poems, five poetry collections, a reader, and a novel.  Audible just released two audiobooks if her works: Judy’s first forty years memoir, A Simple Revolution, and The Judy Grahn Reader, which also includes The Queen of Swords, read by six readers as a raucous verse play on Inanna’s Descent Myth. Grahn’s eco-essays, Touching Creatures, Touching Spirit: Living in a Sentient World came out in print in 2021, as did Eruptions of Inanna: Justice, Gender, and Erotic Power. The latter has won two awards for scholarship, from ASWM (the Sarasvati Award for Best Nonfiction) and from PENOakland. Coming next: an updated version of The Highest Apple: Sappho and the Lesbian Poetic Tradition with commentaries by seven younger writers. Judy’s lifework has fueled LGBT movements, feminism, and Women’s Spirituality. For more information about her work see the Commonality Institute, a community for artists and scholars engaged with Judy’s work.

Save these dates for the next ASWM Salons:

January 26, 2023, 12 NOON Eastern Standard Time  
“Matriarchal Landscape Mythology”
Andrea Fleckinger and Heide Goettner-Abendroth

February 9, 2023, 12 NOON Eastern Standard Time  
Title to Be Announced
Luciana Percovich

Benefit of Membership - ASWM

The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event. 

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Site of 2023 Conference: Crowne Plaza Hotel

Crowne Plaza Syracuse is located in the heart of the downtown area near Syracuse University, Manley Field House, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and the Convention Center Complex. Check out their  Services & Amenities.

Lodging at Crowne Plaza Hotel  Conference rates are $129/night per room, plus tax and fees.  Use this link (also on your registration form)

or call 315 479 7000 to reserve your room.  If you call be sure to mention our conference in order to get the special rate.

Shuttles and Garage The hotel has a complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport but you must arrange for your ride at the time you reserve your room. Parking in the hotel garage is discounted to $5 per day for conference attendees; you can ignore the $15 amount given on the registration form.

2023 ASWM Conference

 “Waters of Life: Exploring Mythos, Divinity, Beings, and Ecology”

Crowne Plaza, Syracuse New York

ASWM Conference May 5-6, 2023

In-person registration is open. Good news–Live streaming is available for keynotes and all panels in main room. See below to register.

“Salmon River” by Natalie Sappier

Water is one of the elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) recognized in multiple spiritual traditions as building blocks of everything on earth from the holy to the mundane. Water  is scientifically recognized as a necessary component of life, crucial for our survival and composing 50%-60% of our bodies.  

Indigenous peoples honor the intertwining of life and water and hold it as sacred in ritual, story and everyday life, while the industrial world has reduced it to a commodity.  With the onset of global warming, a consciousness is arising of the need for respect, reverence and protection for our water sources – a time to look back and around to gather the wisdom of Water Keepers, past and present, around the globe. 

This conference will provide the opportunity to explore world myths of water Goddesses, water creatures and water itself in cultural, spiritual, historical, and ecological contexts.  We especially encourage proposals from First Nations women of the Americas,  Indigenous women, internationally, and women of color.

CONFERENCE  DETAILS:

Please note: The International Feminists for a Gift Economy will hold a free Day of Global Sisterhood on Sunday May 7 at the Crowne Plaza. The Matriarchal Studies Day has been cancelled.

If you have questions about ASWM or our conference please contact Events@womenandmyth.org

Read about artist  Natalie Sappier and “Salmon River,” the featured artwork for this event.

Our deep gratitude to the Worldwide Indigenous Sciences Network for their grant support of our Native American and Indigenous conference presenters.

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Natalie Sappier’s Water Spirits Flow through our Conference

 

“Salmon River” by Natalie Sappier

Our thanks to Samaqani Cocahq-(Natalie Sappier) for sharing her artwork with us for our 2023 Conference, “Waters of Life –  Mythos, Divinity, Beings and Ecology.” Our focus is on connections and relationships among people, animals, and the powerful elements necessary for life. Natalie’s painting “Salmon River” (2022) beautifully captures the vitality of living waters and the intention and spirit of our program.

Natalie  is a Wolastoqey Indigenous multidisciplinary storyteller from Tobique First Nation, New Brunswick, Canada. For her, creating visual art awakened her connection with land and her Wolastoqey knowing and being.

Her community and Ancestral landscapes (New Brunswick) are her teachers and are home to where she navigates stories and creativity. She realized early in her painting career that she was not painting just for herself-she was also painting for her people.

Natalie dedicates much of her time creating stories in her Fredericton Studio and carries a passion in the advocacy of Arts, Culture, Two Spirited Sacredness and Indigenous Youth Mentorship. She believes Wellness and Art strand together and Indigenous stories carry the medicine of spirit and voice that protects our Mother Earth.

See the multi-talented artist’s website here as it develops. In addition to her paintings and murals, Natalie has a passion for sharing stories and engaging with people through sharing of public works and workshops; read more about her work here and learn about her play “Finding Wolastok Voice.”

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Non-member Registration for 2023 ASWM Conference

“The Waters of Life: – Exploring Water Mythos, Divinity, Beings & Ecology”

May 5th and 6th, 2023 at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Syracuse NY

“Salmon River” by Natalie Sappier

Non-Member Registration Form  Your registration includes live panels, presentations and workshops, lunch and snack breaks for both days of the conference, as well as access to recordings of the conference for six months.

Non-Member Live Streaming Registration Form  This $150 option includes keynotes and all panels in the Main Conference room.

Non-Member Rates:

  • Early Bird Rate–before February 5: $355
  • Regular Rate–February 6 to April 28: $395
  • Walk In Rate–after April 28: $450

NOTE: If you were a member your registration rates would be

  • Early Bird Rate–before February 5: $290 (savings of $65)
  • Regular Rate–February 6 to April 28: $350 (savings of $45)
  • Live streaming rate $95 (savings of $55)

Annual dues for membership start at $30. Join now to take advantage of all benefits including discount rates for this conference. (Complete your membership sign-up here first, to be given access to the member registration page.)

More General Conference Information here

Optional Excursion on May 4

The day before the conference, we will have a bus tour to sites important in women’s history. We plan to include the Harriet Tubman Home and the National Women’s History Museum. The tour rate of $90 includes a box lunch, admissions, and transportation fee. You may register for the tour on the event registration form.

Lodging at Crowne Plaza Hotel

Use this link (also on your registration form) or call 315 479 7000 to reserve your room. Conference rates are $129/night plus tax and fees. If you call be sure to mention our conference in order to get the special rate.

The hotel has a complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport but you must arrange for your ride at the time you reserve your room. Parking in the hotel garage is discounted to $5 per day for conference attendees; you can ignore the $15 amount given on the registration form.