International Event

CIAC researchers participate in the conference ‘Modern’ Women of the Past? Unearthing Gender and Antiquity, organized by Australian Archeological Institute of Athens, Center for Classical and Near Eastern Studies of Australia, Australian Women in Ancient World Studies, Chau Chak Wing Museum and University of Sydney Departments of Archeology and Classics & Ancient History.

Researchers Teresa Oliveira (IEM, NOVA), Isabel Cristina Carvalho (CIAC-UAb) and Christiane Heemann (UNIVALI) attended the ‘Modern’ Women of the Past? Unearthing Gender and Antiquity, on March 5 and 6, where they presented a communication on two examples of female resilience, the biblical characters Debora and Esther, two stories of overcoming, a legacy for the 21st century, which demonstrated that gender does not offer a barrier to active and pioneering participation in the society in which they lived.

According to the organizers in the 21st century, a balanced representation of gender in a diversity of societies and cultures remains a work in progress, and a more complete understanding of our past can remedy distorted perceptions of women’s capabilities and contributions, both historically and as a whole. as we move into the future. Despite restrictions on their autonomy from the (mostly) patriarchal societies in which they lived, women of the past were astronomers, chemists, warriors, politicians, philosophers, and medical practitioners (to mention just a few examples).This conference sets out to tell the frequently neglected history of such women. It illuminates the remarkable historical contributions of the invisible pioneers of the past, and considers how a distorted perception of past women has shaped the realities and inequalities of our modern world.

More information available here.