We’ve found for you an opportunity to present a paper at the upcoming conference, Swords, Sorcery, Sandals and Space: The Fantastika and the Classical World, 29 June – 1 July 2013, hosted by the Science Fiction Foundation.

Those studying the Fantastika (science fiction, fantasy and horror) know that the genres have some of their strongest roots in the literature of the Graeco-Roman world (Homer’s Odyssey, Lucian’s True History). At the same time, scholars of Classical Reception are increasingly investigating all aspects of popular culture, and have begun looking at science fiction. However, scholars of the one are not often enough in contact with scholars of the other. This conference aims to bridge the divide, and provide a forum in which sf and Classical Reception scholars can meet and exchange ideas.

Deadline for submissions is 30 September 2012, and for more information, email conferences@sf-foundation.org, or visit   http://sf-foundation.org/.

Heads up, here’s some exciting news! The Open Inquiry Archive is calling for papers for their upcoming issue: Rapture’s Path: The Legacy of Joseph Campbell.  If you are interested in submitting a paper, please send a letter of inquiry and an abstract of about 150-200 words to: openinquiryarchive@aol.com no later than July 15, 2012. Papers selected for full review are due no later than September 30, 2012.

For more information visit http://openinquiryarchive.net/about/

 

Don’t forget! Opus is screening the documentary, The Heart Has Reasons, featuring James Hillman and Ginette Paris, tonight!!!  Join us from 6:30 to 9:00 (check in begins at 6:00 pm), tonight, May 18th, for this provocative film exploring the many-chambered heart and its roles played throughout our cultural history. A discussion with Dr. Safron Rossi, Executive Director of Opus, will follow the film.

For more information, call 805-969-5750. Tickets can also be purchased at the door. Please come join us at Pacifica Graduate Institute, 801 Ladera Lane, Santa Barbara, CA.

Prince Five Weapons Faces an Ogre:

“Ogre, why should I be afraid? for in one life one death is absolutely certain. What’s more, I have in my belly a thunderbolt for weapon. If you eat me, you will not be able to  digest that weapon. It will tear your insides into tatters and fragments and will kill you. In that case we’ll both perish. That’s why I’m not afraid!”

(Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces,  p. 87)

The deadline for the 2012 Christine Downing Dissertation Fellowship is quickly approaching!!!

Deadline:  June 30th! Apply for this  annual scholarship which will be awarded to one  dissertation student of any accredited graduate level institution in the fields of depth psychology and mythology.

Once awarded, the winning student must use the collections at OPUS for a significant amount of her or his dissertation research.

The archival collections available for research at OPUS include Joseph Campbell, Marija Gimbutas, James Hillman, Jane and Joseph Wheelwright, Christine Downing, Marion Woodman, Adolf Guggenbühl-Craig, and Katie Sanford.

 

GUIDELINES

Applicants must demonstrate the necessity of substantial on-site use of OPUS’ collections.

Eligible Candidates. Students in doctoral programs writing within the fields of depth psychology and mythology whose proposal and /or first two chapters of the dissertation has been accepted by their dissertation committee.  Further, the student must plan to use the collections at OPUS for a significant amount of their research.  The fellowship will be awarded September 15, 2012.

Amount and Duration of Fellowship. The fellowship award is $5000.

These funds are for one (1) year of research to be conducted between October 1, 2012 and October 1, 2013.

Dates and Deadlines:

Deadline for Submission: June 30, 2012

Notification of Awarded Grants: September 15, 2012

Selection Committees. Proposals will initially be screened by OPUS staff. Final selection will be made by the Fellowship committee which includes Christine Downing, David Miller, Richard Tarnas and Lyn Cowan.

If You’re Interested.  Please visit our website and review the application and instructions – www.opusarchives.org.

If after reviewing these pages you have further questions, please email cddf@opusarchives.org

Visit our website for more information on guidelines and procedures.

 

Our April 2012 eNewsletter is now available. Click here to read!

“I have wanted, also, to keep in our minds the common language about the ‘good’ earth’s shadows: soil and dirt; fears of being buried alive; quicksand, sinkholes, and dust bowls; earthquakes and avalanches; dust to dust… the unfathomable autonomous depths. Of these shadows, the figure of Mother Earth herself is the deepest. As Sam Gill contends, the collapsing of many female goddess figures into a single goddess named Earth Mother ‘at least for North America would seem to be historically and ethnographically an error….’  My main aim is to draw us away from imagining the earth as a good mother, passive, nurturing, and supportive, and to recognize the idea of earth to be a complex phenomenon requiring efforts of thoughts and imagination.” (James Hillman, Mythic Figures, pp. 308-319)

Opus Archives and Research Center:  2012 Peace and Reconciliation Travel Grants


Opus is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2012 Peace and Reconciliation Travel Grants. These three doctoral students are in the Depth Psychology with Emphasis in Community Psychology, Liberation Psychology, and Ecopsychology Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute.

Lizzie Rodrigues who will be traveling to Rwanda to study an approach to peace and reconciliation called Healing and Re-Building Our Communities. It is offered through the African Great Lakes Initiative.  She will then be bringing this work home to Santa Barbara and sharing it with mediators.

Linda Ravenswood will be traveling throughout California with Social and Environmental Justice Advocate and Community Theatre Leader, Kristina Wong. With others they will  create a theatre action piece reflecting on aspects of social and environmental justice work with The Environmental Justice League’s 2012 Summer Program for Reconciliation Through Arts project.

Liz MacLeod will be an intern at the Kerulos Center’s Aves Sagradas (Sacred Birds) Sanctuary in Costa Rica. The sanctuary rescues parrots suffering as a result of the pet trade while partnering with indigenous peoples in the region.

Please consider making a donation to this travel fund so that students working in the field of peace and reconciliation at any accredited graduate school can apply next year for the same opportunity. Contact Dr. Safron Rossi, Executive Director – sr@opusarchives.org or (805) 969-5750.