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 [email protected] or [email protected]. 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!

We're writing to wish you all a very Happy International Women's Day. The theme this year is very fittingly 'Choose to Challenge' 

International Women's Day 2021
International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality. IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people.

AWAWS celebrated International Women's Day this year by co-sponsoring an online conference "'Modern' Women of the Past? Unearthing Gender and Antiquity' from 5-7 March.  
 
It was a truly international conference with 409 delegates and close to 140 institutions represented, from Australasia, Africa, India, the UK & Europe, the Middle East and North and South America. 
 
Brilliantly, we had 64 papers delivered by scholars from a dozen different countries around the world.  
 
We were also treated to two outstanding keynote lectures. The first, by the dynamic Dr Rachel Pope (@preshitorian) from the University of Liverpool and Founder and Director of British Women Archaeologists, was entitled "Women in the Present, Women in the Past". Rachel examined, in the context of the UK and Europe, how preventing women’s access to academia and the heritage sector, both in the past and in the contemporary workplace, has impacted our understanding of women in the past.
 
The other keynote delivered by Professor Gina Luria Walker, Professor of Women's Studies and Director of The Center for The New Historia (@TheNewHistoria), The New School, New York city, was entitled "Where are the Women in Eternity?" and juxtaposed the reality of millennia of ignorance about earlier female figures in the context of sixty years of Feminist Historical Recovery. 
 
If you were unable to listen to these two lectures, please stay tuned as links to the recordings will appear on the AWAWS website in the very near future! 
 
With warmest wishes and have a fabulous day!
 The AWAWS Executive Committee

The AWAWS ASCS members meeting will be held online Thursday, February 4th at 12.00 midday AEST.
In the meeting we will briefly report on our activities during the past year, announce the winner of our Annual Research grant and, most importantly, hear from you about what you’d like to see the organization do in 2021!

If you haven't renewed your membership for AWAWS now is the time to do so! Renew your membership online.

Normally we hold during ASCS conference, but to avoid zoom fatigue we are a week ahead this year.
Links to join via Zoom will be sent directly to members via email. If you have not received a link, or have questions about your membership, please email us [email protected] 

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.