Promotional material for the Bonds Between Women and Water conference, to be held at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, September 28-30, 2000:

The Bonds Between Women and Water will bring together scholars, artists, policy makers, and members of the community to explore the multiple and diverse ways women and water are connected. The theme of the conference will stress the bonds between women and water, and how those bonds find expression in cultural, artistic, and spiritual ways that enable compassionate action on behalf of both women and water. It will also explore the treatment of both women and water in patriarchal culture and the impact of this on the health and well-being of women and water regionally, nationally, and globally. Plenaries, panels, and special programs will present and weave together the practical, spiritual, scientific, medical, recreational, cultural, and artistic interconnections of women and water. Possible topics will include: the role of women as water gatherers; water quality and women's health; water goddesses in world religions; water as a spiritual symbol in women's lives; images of women and water in art, poetry, and music.

This highly interdisciplinary conference will include concurrent sessions in a variety of disciplines: Women's Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, English, Religious Studies, Public Policy, Biology, Medicine, Environmental Studies, Geography, Engineering, Interdisciplinary Studies, etc. Because of its setting in Duluth, Minnesota, the conference will highlight regional water issues affecting women, as well as the natural setting of the conference—the many rivers and streams and aquatic life of Duluth, and of course, Lake Superior. Also, regional artists, musicians, poets, and dancers will give expression to the connections of women and water in live performances of their works. But the conference will also be national and international in scope, showing the interconnections of women and water around the globe.

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