Archaeology and the Goddess:
between past and present

A one-day symposium at Trinity College Dublin

Saturday June 28th 2008

  Davis Theatre, Arts Building

Morning session: 10 a.m. – 12.30 p.m.

 Panel discussion: The Goddess between Past and Present

Carol P. Christ; Mary Condren; Lucy Goodison; Christine Morris; Kathryn Rountree.

 Buffet lunch, 12.30- 2 p.m.: Classics seminar room (B6.002)

 Afternoon session: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Lecture followed by discussion: Carol P. Christ will speak on “Ecofeminism, the Goddess, and Process Philosophy”.

Her widely reprinted essay “Why Women Need the Goddess” published 30 years ago originally had the title: “Why Women and Other Living Things Need the Goddess” and this talk will refer to the “Other Living Things” part of the equation.

Carol P. Christ is a pioneer in the academic study of Women and Religion and is a leading figure in the Goddess, women’s spirituality and feminist theology movements. This is her first visit to Ireland; her great-grandmother emigrated from County Cork to New York City with her family after the potato famine.

 ·                Do we still need the Goddess?

·                Why have archaeologists turned away from Goddess-focused interpretations of their material? 

·                How can the past inform and inspire the present? 

Female divinities were a recognised part of the rhythms and rituals of life in much of the ancient world, and Goddess imagery has become important again as a spiritual focus in our troubled modern world.  This one-day symposium brings together a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, theologians and practitioners, all of whom engage with female divinity in different ways.

Feminist theologians and Goddess practitioners explore spirituality in the present and for the future, often calling upon the past as inspiration or metaphor. Archaeologists are concerned with rediscovering and interpreting the past, but are increasingly conscious that their interpretations are shaped by the world views and agendas of the present. For all of us, the interaction between the past, as expressed through archaeology and mythology, and the present is important. In the morning, our panel will reflect on how we each engage with and experience the dialogue between archaeology and the Goddess, between past and present. In the afternoon session Carol P. Christ will speak about her recent work.

This event will appeal to anyone interested in archaeology, ritual and religion, Goddess studies, women’s spirituality, feminist theology.

Cost for the day with buffet lunch -  € 20 (concessions  € 10)

For information contact:

Christine Morris – cmorris@tcd.ie or Mary Condren mcondren@tcd.ie

Website: http://www.tcd.ie/Classics/goddess.php

 
About our speakers

Carol P. Christ:

Director of the Ariadne Institute, and Adjunct Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Publications include: She Who Changes: Re-imagining the Divine in the World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); Rebirth of the Goddess (Routledge, 1998); Odyssey with the Goddess (Continuum, 1995); Laughter of Aphrodite (Harper, 1987); Diving Deep and Surfacing (Beacon, 1980/1986/1995), and co-edited, Weaving the Visions (1989) and Womanspirit Rising (1979/1989).

Mary Condren:

Director of the Institute for Feminism and Religion

Publications include: The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion, and Power in Celtic Ireland (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989: Dublin: New Island Books, 2002); and many articles on feminism and theology and the relationship between gender, religion and violence.

Christine Morris:

Leventis Senior Lecturer in Greek Archaeology and History, Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin.

Publications include: Editor with Lucy Goodison, Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence (London, British Museum Press, 1998); “From Ideologies of Motherhood to 'Collecting Mother Goddesses'” in Y. Hamilakis, N. Momigliano, eds, Archaeology and European Modernity: Producing and Consuming the 'Minoans.' Padua 2006; and articles on shamanic elements in Minoan religion.

Lucy Goodison:

Archaeologist and author.

Publications include: Editor with Christine Morris, Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence (London, British Museum Press 1998); Death, Women and the Sun: Symbolism of Regeneration in Early Aegean Religion (London 1989); Moving Heaven and Earth: Sexuality, Spirituality and Social Change (Women’s Press/Pandora 1990/1995).

Kathryn Rountree:

Associate Professor of Social Anthropology, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Massey University, New Zealand.

Publications include: Embracing the Witch and the Goddess: Feminist Ritual-makers in New Zealand, Routledge, London and New York, 2003; “Journeys to the Goddess: Pilgrimage and Tourism in the New Age”, in On the Road to Being There: Pilgrimage and Religious Tourism in Late Modernity, ed. William Swatos, Brill, Boston, 2006, 33-60;  “Archaeologists and Goddess Feminists at Çatalhöyük: An Experiment in Multivocality”, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 23 (2), Fall 2007, 7-26. 

Archaeology and the Goddess: between past and present

 A one-day symposium at Trinity College Dublin

Saturday June 28th 2008

Application form

 I enclose payment of: 

     20 euro

    10 euro  (student/unwaged/pension)

Cheques, drafts or postal orders should be made payable to Trinity College no.1 account.

To secure a place, please return your form as soon as possible, and not later than Wednesday June 26^th 2008. 

Return form with payment to: Goddess Symposium, Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2.

 Contact/queries:

Email: Dr Christine Morris:  cmorris@tcd.ie; Dr Mary Condren: mcondren@tcd.ie.
Telephone: Dept of Classics: 003531-8961208