​AWAWS Panel proposed for MAARC 2, Online Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, 2022

Extant visual representations of ancient, medieval or early modern Mediterranean women are layered with meaning, whether those representations depict human or divine, historical or mythological, Christian or Muslim women. Physical manifestations of the human female form beyond the children born of living women all still embody social, political and cultural spheres in which they were created, received and then transmitted to the present day. Over time, most of these physical images of bodies have been altered, sometimes violently, and all have endured through multiple changes of viewership and significance across myriad cultures and times. Their encoded meanings have been reinterpreted, remade or even wholly reimagined.

Modern and now Post-Modern (or Anthropocene?) and culturally-specific perceptions of women, the female body and gender have also greatly influenced the ways in which ancient and medieval female imagery has been interpreted. Ancient and medieval imagery of women has been, and still is, harnessed as a positive encouragement for self-confidence in some spheres and weaponised in others, either to action or to attack modern feminist (and other) agendas in academic, popular and international discourse.

This online panel for the 2nd Mediterranean Archaeology Australasian Research Community (MAARC) free meeting will explore a variety of ways in which women are represented in the material culture of the ancient, medieval and/or modern Mediterranean cultures (or their receptions); the processes by which these images were made, and how meaning was created, attached to these images, and changed; and the ways in which specific physical depictions of women have changed over media, time and different cultural contexts.

Papers are invited that:

• contribute to the discussion of women and gender representation in ancient material culture;
• examine reception of ancient, medieval or modern imagery of women in late ancient, medieval, modern or post-modern Mediterranean cultures; or
• engage with intersectional discourses such as queer studies, race and ethnicity studies, or disability studies.

This panel is organized by Dr Amelia R. Brown (UQ), with the assistance of Candace Richards (Chau Chak Wing Museum, USydney), on behalf of AWAWS. 

Abstracts for papers of circa 20 minutes are solicited from contributors in Australia, New Zealand or wider Australasia on current archaeological research on the ancient female form, and its reception, by email to MAARC and Dr Brown by December 19, 2021, at the MAARC email: mediterraneanarchaeology@gmail.com. If you have any questions please email Dr Brown via a.brown9@uq.edu.au.             

AWAWS Brisbane, in partnership with the AWAWS Academic Mentoring Program, is hosting The Cancelled Conference 2.0 in order to showcase the work of mentees and provide an example of what can be achieved through the program.
 
The conference will be held over held over  Wednesday 29- Thursday 30 September, with a plenary session on the mentoring program on the first day. Attendance is open to anyone, and in particular we would like to encourage those who are interested in learning about and fostering postgraduate research to attend. 

​If you would like to register to attend the conference please email Brianna, Tyla and Janette (Conference Conveners & AWAWS Brisbane Co-Chairs) - awawsbrisbane@gmail.com

Representations of ancient women, whether human or divine, historical, literary or mythological, are always layered with meaning. Physical manifestations of the human female form embody the social, political, and cultural spheres in which they were created, received and transmitted. Over time, most of these physical images of bodies have been altered, sometimes violently, and transmitted across myriad cultures and times. Their encoded meanings have been reinterpreted, or often wholly reimagined.
 
Modern perceptions of women, the female body and gender have greatly influenced the ways in which ancient imagery has been interpreted. Ancient imagery of women has been, and still is, harnessed as a positive encouragement to self-confidence in some spheres and weaponised in others, either to drive or to detract from modern feminist (and other) agendas in the academic and popular spheres.
 
This panel hopes to explore a variety of ways in which women are represented in the material culture of the ancient world (or its receptions); the processes in which meaning is created and attached to these images; and the ways in which physical depictions of women have changed over time and in different cultural contexts.
 
Papers are invited that:

• contribute to the discussion of women and gender representation in ancient material culture;
• examine reception of ancient imagery of women in medieval or modern cultures; or
• engage with intersectional discourses such as queer studies, race and ethnicity studies, or disability studies.

If you would like to participate in the panel please send your EOI including an abstract (max 250 words) and short bio (max 200 words) to candace.richards@sydney.edu.au by Sunday 12 September. Note: The due date is earlier than the ASCS abstract deadline to allow for organisation of the panel. Participants must be financial members of ASCS.

This week we launched a new e-newsletter to bring you all the latest happenings from the AWAWS membership. We hope to bring you a newsletter update every two months. If you havent got yours please check your spam and then send us an email socawaws@gmail.com

Diversity Officer
AWAWS as a group is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone, with a particular focus on supporting minority and underrepresented groups and individuals. We aim to support diversity both within AWAWS and within ancient world studies as whole, including diversity in culture, language, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, socio-economic status, and religion. This role will help further support these aims.

The Diversity Officer will:
- help foster diversity and intersectional awareness
- liaise and affiliate with other groups (including passing along intersectional material of interest to be shared on social media by our web officers)
- advise on diversity presentation questions or code of conduct issues relevant to diversity should they arise.

Local Chapters representative
The aim of this role is to help streamline communication between the executive and the local chapters, to ensure events are well publicized, and to provide further support to Local Chapter Heads.

The Local Chapters representative will:
- liaise with local chapters about events, marketing, and funding opportunities
- liaise with web officers to ensure events are promoted to our membership
- raise any issues or challenges faced by local chapters in the Monthly executive meetings.

To nominate for one of these roles please email your expression of interest to the executive committee on socawaws@gmail.com. Expressions of interest will be accepted until 15 September 2021, with an election window (if required) of 20-24 September, 2021. 

In March of 2021 the AAIA, in collaboration with CCANESA, The Chau Chak Wing Museum, Australasian Women in Ancient World Studies, and the University of Sydney Departments of Archaeology and Classics and Ancient History, hosted an international online conference ‘Modern’ Women of the Past? Unearthing Gender and Antiquity. What had begun life as a series of informal discussions between myself and Louise Pryke around a public outreach event on the theme of women in antiquity exploded into a dynamic, global affair which attracted contributions from over 60 speakers from more than a dozen countries. The conference was held over two intense 12-hour days on the 5th and 6th of March.

The response to the call for papers was both humbling and overwhelming, and we discovered the exciting degree of connectivity that an online conference can bring. Freed of the (often prohibitive) costs of international travel we were able to accommodate the voices of emerging scholars from far-flung nations. We were inspired by the work of Dinara Assanova (Kazakh National Pedagogical University) who has single-handedly created a national Online Museum of Women of Kazakhstan. Her work is both a means of preserving Kazakh heritage and amassing a wealth of sources for an expanding research archive. Oluwafunminiyi Raheem (Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding) sparked tremendous discussion with his research into votive practices, dedicated to Olokun Seniade in in Ile-Ife, Southwest Nigeria. Speakers overcame the tyranny of distance and international timezones to share their research. Tais Pagoto Belo (LARP Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of Saõ Paulo) presented her work on early Imperial Roman coinage at 3am Brazilian time in what was for her a second language, an impressive feat.

Beyond the demonstrations of stamina and linguistic flexibility, we were pleased to showcase impressive research by both emerging and established scholars, who were prepared to cross disciplinary boundaries and engage in enriching discussions and debates. Graeme Miles (University of Tasmania) examined the challenges Eunapius faced in his efforts ‘Representing Sosipatra in Eunapius of Sardis’ Lives of Philosophers and Sophists, while Lakshmi R (Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University) wrestled with the use of forms of Naṅkai or Naṅkaiyār in early medieval references to royal women in Tamil epigraphy.

Heidi Koepp-Junk (University of Trier) not only delivered a thought-provoking paper on ‘Women, Music and Eroticism in Ancient Egypt’ but went on to treat us with an impromptu performance, singing in ancient Egyptian, while playing a replica ancient Egyptian lute.

Discussion time at the end of sessions, and during break periods was rich with debate. Amjad Alshalan (King Saud University) revealed a razor-sharp scholarly intellect that marked her out as an emerging scholar to follow. Her paper ‘Euripides’ Medea: An Exploration of Male Representation of Women’, was a mere prelude to the pearls of wisdom she shared during discussions. Similarly Athenodora Nguyen received kudos as the non-speaker delegate who posed the most astute questions. Session after session they cut to the core of tangled issues of gender representation and interpretation, with a wit and humour that encouraged speakers to reveal their deeper thoughts on their chosen topics.
The first day of the conference concluded with the first of two keynote lectures. Dr Rachel Pope (University of Liverpool) delivered a powerhouse public lecture, hosted by the Chau Chak Wing Museum. With devastating precision, she laid bare the lack of representation of female scholars in the discipline of archaeology, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, and the deep impact this had on how the archaeological record – as it relates to women, especially powerful women – has been interpreted. She went on to explore the challenges that women working in the field face today, and the ways in which this continues to impact on how we understand the women of the ancient past. Beyond simply quantifying the nature and extent of these problems Dr Pope offered ameliorating measures such as support for women with caring responsibilities and critical re-appraisals of past interpretations of the archaeological evidence to offer more holistic understandings of the diverse experiences and roles of women who lived in the deep past.

At the commencement of the second day’s proceedings Professor Gina Luria Walker (New York School) delivered our second keynote lecture, outlining the New Historia initiative which redresses the ignorance of earlier female figures and the erasure of female historians through the creation of new biographies of female historians. She began this project with the British historian Mary Hays, whose own work Female Biography: or Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of All Ages and Countries set the course for Gina’s efforts to put women back into the histories from which they have long been erased, overlooked or underplayed.

This theme continued through the day as speakers examined the ways in which women’s roles and experiences are ripe for re-evaluation. Valentina Limina (Università di Pisa) shone new light on the shifting reception of Arria from Roman times to the Renaissance, while Pablo Varona Rubio (Università degli Studi di Perugia) re-examined the roles of women in small Roman communities through a case study of Varia Gestiana Urvinum Hortense.

Staff and associates of the AAIA were well-represented at the conference. Beatrice McLoughlin delivered a paper on the Women’s Works and Days project which incorporates ethnoarchaeological research to rediscover the agency of female potters in Cyprus. Andrew Hazewinkel challenged perceptions of masculinity and femininity through the myth of Herakles enslavement by the Lydian queen Omphale and their switching of conventional gender roles. For my own research, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to share research into perceptions of female power and influence through reception of the British queens Boudicca and Cartimandua during the Roman conquest of Britain.

The conference concluded its second day with a publication session during which speakers were put in direct contact with the editors of the book series Women in Ancient Cultures at University of Liverpool Press. Led by Commissioning Editor, Claire Litt, the team outlined the entire process from proposal through to finished publication, answering many questions from our speakers.

It was a true joy to be able to host such an expanisve conference and I am incredibly thankful to Dr Louise Pryke, Dr Emma Barlow and Candace Richards for their dilligent hard work, patience and support in our endeavours to bring the conference to life.

A final word goes to our speakers who offered their gratitude in numerous emails of thanks in the days following the event:

All AWAWS members are invited to our Anniversary Panel discussion celebrating the first 10 years of AWAWS. Members of the panel will include the founders of AWAWS and long-term members of the Executive Committee, including the Foundation President. The panellists will discuss the genesis of AWAWS, the challenges over the past 10 years, chart the highlights and discuss what the future might hold for the association. Discussion will be opened to the membership at the end. The panel will coincide with our annual AGM. The new committee, the winner of the annual research grant and this year's virtual bouquets will be announced afterwards. 

The Sydney chapter of AWAWS is hosting a panel discussion on disablism in Ancient World Studies on Tuesday 29 Jun 2021, 17:00 AEST (UTC + 10). We are delighted to be joined by five ancient world scholars living with a disability. Our incredible panel includes

​Alexandra F. Morris is currently a PhD student in history and the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Law’s Postgraduate Student Representative at Teesside University. Her PhD research focuses on disability during the Hellenistic/Ptolemaic Period. Other research interests include making museums more accessible and inclusive for the disabled community, Ptolemaic Egypt, Alexander the Great, and ancient Egyptian and Greek art, medicine, politics, and religious practices. She has an MA in Museum Studies from New York University, and an MA in Near Eastern Languages & Civilisations (Egyptology) from the University of Pennsylvania. Her BA is in Archaeological Studies, Anthropology, and Art History with minors in Classics and history from SUNY Potsdam.  
 
More from Alexandra
https://therockstaranthropologist.com/the-archaeology-of-disability-an-interview-with-alexandra-morris/
https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/persons/alexandra-morris-morris

This workshop is intended to be an introduction to making research and teaching practice and research outputs accessible. It will cover the basics of classroom design and alternative assessments, as well as the core accessibility features of PowerPoint and some considerations when publishing and disseminating research. The workshop will be run by members of AWAWS, and we invite anyone in Ancient World Studies in Australasia who is interested to attend this event.

Date: Friday 25th June 2021
Time: 11:00 AEST (UTC + 10)
Duration: 1 hour
Format: online, via Zoom
Registration: via Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/awaws-workshop-accessible-research-and-teaching-practices-tickets-157441274089)

We are delighted to be joined by five ancient world scholars living with a disability from Australasia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, who will cover a range of topics about navigating Ancient World Studies and academia and studying disability in the ancient world. The panel discussion will be followed by a live question and answer session, and we invite anyone in Ancient World Studies who is interested to attend this event.

Date: Tuesday 29th June 2021
Time: 17:00 AEST (UTC + 10)
Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes (including a short break)
Format: online, via Zoom
Registration: via Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/awaws-panel-disability-in-ancient-world-studies-tickets-157442742481)
​
Please note: these sessions will be recorded, and closed captions (CC) will be enabled on Zoom. A copy of the recording, PowerPoint, and edited transcript will be made available after the workshop upon request to awawssydney@gmail.com.

For our upcoming panel discussion on disablism in Ancient World Studies we are delighted to be joined by five ancient world scholars living with a disability. Our incredible panel includes:

• Alexandra F. Morris
• David Chapman
• Kyle Lewis Jordan
• Prof. Isabel Ruffell
• Mason Shrader

Every day NEXT WEEK (14-18 Jun) we will be introducing our panel profiles. Stay tuned to hear more about these wonderful scholars via Twitter and Facebook!

And make sure to RSVP for the panel Tues 29/06/2021, 17:00 AEST (UTC + 10). It will be online, via zoom.

We are seeking contributors for our History of Women in Ancient World Studies blog. The blog aims to capture the often neglected stories of women in the fields of classics, ancient history, archaeology, ancient languages, and adjacent study areas in our region of the world. These women could be academics, independent scholars, teachers, mentors, museum workers, administrators, philanthropists, and supporters who through their generosity, ideas or scholarship contributed to the flourishing of ancient world studies in Australia and New Zealand. We are also interested in posts on methodologies and research projects that aim to highlight the contributions of women in the field. Posts can be in the form of biographies, personal reflections or interviews - and if you have another idea, we’d love to hear it.

If you are interested in contributing and have an idea for a subject please get in touch with an outline of the article you would like to contribute. If you are interested in being part of this project, but don’t know where to begin, that’s ok! Get in touch with blog co-ordinator Candace Richards either via socawaws@gmail.com or candace.richards@sydney.edu.au. We can help you discover more about women in the field and find an appropriate subject who you want to learn and write about. Student members are particularly encouraged to get involved.
 
If you have any questions or feedback on the blog so far, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Just leave us a comment below!

Last year AWAWS Brisbane hosted The Cancelled Conference, and asked postgraduate students to put their cancelled conference papers to good use. The conference was a great success and one of the most rewarding aspects of the conference was the feedback presenting postgraduate students received from senior academics who attended. 

This year, in partnership with the AWAWS Academic Mentoring Program, AWAWS Brisbane is hosting The Cancelled Conference 2.0: a postgraduate conference designed to give students the opportunity to receive feedback on their work from established academics who are invested in supporting and fostering postgraduate scholarship.

There will be a number of AWAWS mentors in attendance and chairing the panels. This will ensure every presenter has the opportunity to receive critical and constructive feedback from leading academics in their field. There will also be a plenary discussion panel about the AWAWS Academic Mentoring Program. This session will highlight the benefits of academic mentoring and showcase positive academic outcomes achieved through the program by past mentors and mentees. 

Who is this conference for?

• Postgraduate students involved in the AWAWS mentoring program who would like to showcase their work to their mentors, their peers, and the broader community of ancient world studies
• Postgraduate students who are interested in joining the AWAWS mentoring program and would like to see what the mentoring program can do for them
• Postgraduates students seeking critical and constructive feedback from academics in their field 

This conference is open to all AWAWS postgraduate members. It will be held online to give students an opportunity to meet and mingle with academics in their field of study from across Australia and New Zealand who might be otherwise inaccessible due to distance. 
​
Date and Location 
The Cancelled Conference 2.0 will be held between Wednesday 29 September – Thursday 30 September 2021.
The conference will be held virtually through Zoom. Once the program has been finalised information on how to register and attend each session will be circulated. Please save the date in the meantime. 
Conditions 

• 20 minute paper + 10 minute question time 
• Paper submissions are open to all AWAWS postgraduate members: renew or join here.
• There is no set theme for this conference, all topics are welcome 
• Audience attendance is free and open to the public
• We stress that the aim of the conference is to support and encourage postgraduate research, and we invite all postgraduates, academics, and industry professionals to attend and share this aim. 

How to apply
To apply for the conference please send an abstract and your completed submission form to AWAWS Brisbane awawsbrisbane@gmail.com - Submissions are due by Monday 26 July. 

If you have any further questions about the conference, you can contact us via our email address or Facebook page. 
Email: awawsbrisbane@gmail.com
Facebook: @awawsbrisbane 

​Conference Convenors
Brianna Sands, MPhil candidate (UQ), Co-chair AWAWS Brisbane Chapter
Tyla Cascaes, PhD candidate (UQ), Co-chair AWAWS Brisbane Chapter ​