Tag: Public

This is content meant to be accessible to the public regardless of current membership, registration for events, or volunteer status.

Posted on

2023 ASWM Conference “The Waters of Life” Call for Proposals

Conference Call for Proposals

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

May 5th and 6th, 2023

Crowne Plaza, Syracuse New York

This conference will provide the opportunity to explore myths from around the world of water Goddesses, water creatures and water itself in cultural, spiritual, historical, and ecological contexts.  Water as one of the Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) is recognized as a building block of everything on earth from the spiritual to the mundane in multiple spiritual traditions and Water as 50%-60% of our bodies is scientifically recognized as an elemental component of life, crucial for survival.   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.  Potential topics include, though are not limited to: 

  • Water Mythos Grounded in Reality & Science
  • Exploring Beings, Myths and Ecology of our Aqueous Worlds
  • Oceans Infinite but Endangered- Exploring Water-based Mythology and Ecology
  • New views on key species in myth and in the real world such as: cranes/waterbirds, sharks, whales, octopuses
  • Indigenous sciences and traditional technologies
  • Interrelationships of water, water beings and ecosystems in myth and science
  • Ethical perspectives in the use of sacred stories
  • Emerging new perspectives in post-humanism that grant agency to non-human beings
  • Methodologies for inclusions of mysteries in traditional and academic research
  • Place wisdom, environmental resilience, identity and myth
  • Examining racial and gender intersectionality in history and myth, nature and society
  • Indigenous science and climate change: decolonizing environmental and ecological knowledge, environmental justice
  • Violence against women and the planet: commodification/pollution of water, extinction of species
  • Transnational perspectives on climate change, indigenous women’s knowledge, and the role of non-human species
  • Natural resource management and indigenous methods

Given the location of our conference, these topics are also relevant:

  • Narratives of women, social and environmental justice related to Seneca Falls
  • Exploring history, myth, inclusions and exclusions of the early Women’s Suffrage movement at Seneca Falls

We especially encourage proposals from First Nations women of the Americas,  Indigenous women, internationally, and women of color.

We are accepting proposals for papers, panels, and posters. All proposal abstracts (no longer than 250 words) and a short (70 words or fewer) bio for each Presenter are to be submitted on this form.

Check out our tips on writing proposals.

Deadline for papers, panels and posters  is February 1, 2023.

 

Posted on

Important Contingency Plan for 2023 Conference

2023 ASWM Conference Contingencies

Thank you to over 100 members and friends who responded to our recent survey. You told us that you prefer an affordable in-person event, and so do we! We are working diligently on plans for our Spring Conference. We will be in beautiful (and very affordable) Central New York on May 5th and 6th with a special optional event planned for the 4th.

 However, as you know, ASWM is a small nonprofit organization funded through memberships. As such we have to have a contingency plan, especially in these uncertain times. For 2023, our plan relies on early commitments to attend. 

Our plans for an in-person event are based on an adequate number of paid registrations by February 5th 2023. Otherwise, we will have to modify our conference from a live, two-day, face-to-face event, to a one-day, completely virtual format.  We will continue to update you through our newsletter and website as time goes on. 

All accepted presenters will be notified of acceptance by January 27th and decisions regarding our event format will be announced by February 6th.  See below for Call for Proposals and Submission Form.

Please plan to join us by registering for our 2023 ASWM Conference no later than February 5th, 2023.  Registration links are forthcoming, with early bird pricing.

We deeply appreciate the flexibility of our members and friends over the years, and the feedback that you give us about our event planning. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

2023 Call for Proposals ASWM

2023 Proposal Submission Form

Posted on

Dr. Vandana Shiva keynote: Living with Other Sentient Beings

“Vasudhaiva Kutumkam: Living with other sentient beings as One Earth Family”

ASWM 2022 Online Symposium

Sunday, April 10 at 11:45 AM Eastern Time 

Spiral by Helen Klebesadel

Most indigenous cultures including the ecological civilisation in which I was born, see the Earth as living and see humans as members of one Earth Family interconnected through sacred bonds of diversity, mutuality, synergy, living intelligence, care and respect. A few centuries of colonialism, anthropocentrism, capitalist patriarchy and a mechanical paradigm constructed the earth as dead matter, with other beings as objects to be owned, manipulated and exterminated by a few privileged humans.

The ways of knowing our earth relatives non-violently, through care and compassion, that women and indigenous peoples have evolved over millennia, were declared “not knowing,” ignorance, superstition or heresy. 9 million people were killed as “witches” during inquisition, most of whom were women. The Monoculture of the Mechanical Militarised Mind rose to dominance. The voices of our relatives were silenced. Their intelligence and agency was denied. Biodiversity loss and species extinction are symptoms of the denial of the earth and her beings as living and sentient. Regenerating Biodiversity is restoring our humanity as earth beings related to and dependent upon other beings, caring for them with love and compassion, listening to their pain and cries, and learning from their intelligences the power of healing and regeneration.

Besides being a physicist, ecologist, activist, editor and author of numerous books, Dr. Vandana Shiva is a tireless defender of the environment. She is the founder of Navdanya, a movement for biodiversity conservation and farmers’ rights. She is also the founder and director of the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Natural Resource Policy. Intellectual property rights, biotechnology, bioethics and genetic engineering are among many fields where she has contributed intellectually and through activist campaigns. She fights for changes in the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food: “I don’t want to live in a world where five giant companies control our health and our food.”

See the Symposium page for more information.

REGISTER HERE FOR SYMPOSIUM:

Posted on

Announcing Scholar Salon 29: Register for Sept 9

“Taino Goddesses of the Caribbean”

with Marianela Medrano

Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time 

REGISTER HERE

Atabey, principio femenino del mundo

This salon will focus on the Taino cosmogony and the salient impact of the Goddess as embodied by five deities: The Great Mother Atabey, Guabancex, Mama Jicotea, or Caguama, Itiba Cahubaba, and Guabonito. The divine feminine had a significant role in forming the sense of self of our indigenous and contemporary people of the Caribbean. We’ll discuss why it is essential to move from the fragmentation brought by colonization and return to the wholeness of our ancestral lineage. We’ll focus on the difference between collective and individualistic mindset and the impact of each on the growth and development of people.

Marianela Medrano

Marianela Medrano was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and has lived in Connecticut since 1990. A poet and a writer of nonfiction and fiction, she holds a Ph.D. in psychology. Her first two collections of poems were published in the Dominican Republic. Her poetry has been recognized for its capacity to build daring images redefining womanhood. She has published six poetry books, a children’s story, and numerous essays. Marianela  lectures throughout the world on spirituality and the divine feminine among the Taino
people of the Caribbean.

Marianela’s work is featured in “An Exaltation of Goddesses,” a poetry performance created for ASWM’s 2021 online Symposium, “Wisdom Across the Ages,” by the Poetry Witch Community.  Her 2015 TED Talk, “A Ciguapa Speaks:  On How I Came to Value Wholeness,” was presented at St. Ursuline College.

.

Save the dates for upcoming ASWM Salons:

September 23, 2021 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
” Yarb Women: Traditional Female Healers of Appalachia”
Byron Ballard

October 7 at NOON Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Sites of Cornwall”
Cheryl Straffon

October 21 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Instructions”
Sherri Mitchell

November 11 at NOON Eastern Standard Time
“The Old European Roots of Women’s Circle Dance”
Laura Shannon

Benefit of Membership - ASWM

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