The Brisbane Chapter of the Australasian Women in Ancient World Studies organisation would like to welcome you to The Cancelled Conference. We hope that this conference provides an alternative platform for AWAWS postgraduate members to share their ideas and present their research. This programme offers a diverse range of presenters from the UQ School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry and AWAWS postgraduate members with our presenters representing a variety of interests and disciplines.

The conference will be held on zoom and requires you register for each session. All the links and instructions for accessing and participating through zoom are provided in the conference program below.

The convenors of this conference are Tyla Cascaes and Brianna Sands. They are both MPhil candidates at the University of Queensland and co-chairs of the Brisbane Chapter of AWAWS.​​ Please feel free to contact us via email at any time in regards to this conference and follow us on facebook for all the latest updates from the chapter.

Email: [email protected] 
​Facebook: @awawsbrisbane

For many postgraduate students the mid-year break is usually a time to attend conferences and workshops to gain academic and professional experience. These events provide great opportunities for postgraduates to share their research ideas, practice public speaking, further their professional development, and meet fellow peers. Due to the unfolding circumstances most conferences and workshops for 2020 have been cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future. As a postgrad-led chapter we are particularly aware of the impact these cancellations can have on academic development for postgraduate students, especially for new students planning to attend their first conference.

To combat these cancellations and to make the most of our time in isolation, AWAWS Brisbane will be holding The Cancelled Conference to provide AWAWS postgraduate members with an opportunity to put their cancelled conference papers to good use. The conference will be held virtually over Zoom in mid-July. Although we cannot fully recreate or replace attending an academic conference, we hope The Cancelled Conference will be a useful alternative.
 
Date and Location
The Cancelled Conference will be held Monday 13 – Tuesday 14 July depending on numbers.
The conference will be held virtually through Zoom, UQ’s preferred video-call software.
Zoom links for each panel session will be provided in the conference program.
 
Conditions

• 20 minute paper + 10 minute question time 
• Audience attendance is open to the public
• Paper submissions are open to all AWAWS postgraduate members  
• There is no set theme for this conference, all topics are welcome  

 
How to apply
To apply for the conference please email AWAWS Brisbane ([email protected]) with the submission form below:

A reminder that our next AGM will be held online from Monday 15th until Sunday 30th of June, with the new committee to be announced at the start of July. In advance, we are calling for nominations for all positions, closing at 5pm this Friday 12th of June. We would like to add another position this year for a postgraduate representative whose primary responsibility would be to advocate for our postgraduate members.

• President
• Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Australasian Society for Classical Studies Liaison
• Mentor Program Coordinator
• 2 Website Officers 
• Postgraduate Representative

Two documents are provided below outlining position descriptions, together with the AWAWS Rules. If you would like to nominate yourself or another member, please email [email protected] by Friday 12th of June. Include in that email the 1) nominee's name, 2) institution and 3) the position for which you are nominating. If you are nominating another member, please first seek their approval. All nominees must be financial members of the organization.

If only one nomination for a position is received, then the society's Rules state that the nominee is deemed to be elected. For those positions where more than one nomination is received, voting will open on Monday 15th of June. Voting will take place online at the same time as the AGM.

Finally, there will be a handover period so any incoming committee members will be guided through relevant responsibilities. This is a recurring commitment throughout the year, but it is not overly burdensome, and it is an excellent opportunity to develop working relationships with scholars throughout New Zealand and Australia.
If you have any questions with regard to the AGM, please feel free to email Anastasia Bakogianni, AWAWS Secretary.  
With very best wishes in these challenging times,

The AWAWS Executive Committee
 A/Prof. Lea Beness, Macquarie University
Dr Diana Burton, Victoria University of Wellington
Dr Anastasia Bakogianni, Massey University
Dr Gwynaeth McIntyre, University of Otago
Dr Amelia Brown, University of Queensland
Dr Alexandra Woods, Macquarie University
Ms Emily Chambers, University of Adelaide
Ms Candace Richards, University of Sydney

About the Blog
​The contribution made by women to ancient world studies in Australia and New Zealand has often been overlooked and neglected. Our blog aims to bring you new research and insights into some of these remarkable women. Written by AWAWS members, these entries will hopefully be a starting point in terms of discovering more about the diversity of people who have shaped our understanding of the ancient world.
 
Write for the Blog
​We are currently seeking contributors to the blog from a wide range of voices. Entries can focus on an individual and their contribution to the discipline including (but not limited to) scholarly research, teaching and mentorship of others. Alternatively, entries can focus on an aspect of the writing of the history of women in the discipline, new avenues for research or even the development of societies, research collectives or groups related to the development of the discipline and the role of women.

Entries should be around 500 words in length (and strictly no more than 800 words) and ideally include 2-4 images (72dpi preferred, maximum size: 1000 x 2000 pixels). If a longer entry is desirable, a two (or more) part feature may be considered. References (to be included only if essential) are to be in text using the Harvard referencing system (Author Year, page number), with a list of cited works provided at the end of the post. Footnotes cannot be accommodated.
Topics covered in the blog will be listed under ‘Blog Subjects’ so that previous posts can be found easily as we build up our content. As we grow the blog, multiple entries can be written on the same subject from different perspectives.
​
A brilliant first entry was written by Natalie Looyer from the University of Canterbury on Marion Steven . A similar blog on international archaeologists is trowel blazers, and we hope to follow that example for easily accessible biographies of the history of women in the discipline.

If you would like to contribute to the blog, please email us with details of your subject and a brief outline of the post to [email protected]  or get in touch with any questions about the project of becoming a contributor.

We are excited to announce that this year we are hosting an online lecture to mark our AGM.

• When: Wednesday June 24th, 5pm (AEST)
• Where:  Online presentation via Zoom (log in details provided on RSVP)
• RSVP essential: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/for-love-and-money-cults-of-aphrodite-for-ancient-greek-mariners-tickets-106694247366

 
Abstract: Aphrodite was a widely-worshiped ancient Greek goddess, with shrines all around the Mediterranean Sea. Modern scholarship prioritises her depiction in poetry, nude cult statues and putative Eastern origins, not her everyday cultic significance. Yet she was a patron goddess for sailors and courtesans, brides and generals, even whole cities. Key aspects of her network of sanctuaries on harbours and heights, and her controversial connections with prostitution, may best be understood in relation to her role as a patron of ancient Greek mariners. Her cults from Cyprus to Corinth, Eryx to Paestum, clearly developed through travel by sea. Greek, Phoenician and Italian common use of sanctuaries is clear from archaeology, and can clarify ancient comments by Herodotus, Strabo and Pausanias. Offerings made by hopeful or grateful mariners occur at all of her shrines. Maritime Aphrodite’s cult was practiced both at the port and with a view of the sea, with a focus on statues rather than monumental buildings. Aphrodite's network of maritime cults and sanctuaries casts light on many otherwise immaterial rituals of the ancient merchant marine, and the interlocking networks of colonization, trade and religion which linked Magna Graecia with Greece, Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean.